Advertisers will be spending more on video advertising next year than ever before, due to an increase in consumption of video on mobile devices.
According to a report released by international marketing intelligence firm WARC, in 2018, advertisers worldwide will spend about $US29.8 billion on online video advertising.
That represents a jump of 27.5 per cent on this year.
The WARC report indicates that the majority of advertising spending will be directed at mobile video purchased via social media platforms.
The jump in advertising investment is in line with the rise in online video consumption, which is expected to grow from 66.5 minutes per day to 84.1 by 2020.
Facebook has been quick to leverage this trend, recently rolling out an app for creating video advertising made especially for mobile.
The app lets advertisers create basic videos from available creative in just minutes.
Marketers working in the video space will be well advised to tread carefully, though, as video advertising can be costly and comes with risks.
Chocolate maker Mars famously pulled a video campaign, worth an estimated $US6 million from YouTube when a pre-roll ad for a product was placed on a music video, which was later revealed to be tied to alleged criminal activity.
In fact, a report recently released by media and data firm Sizmek has revealed that about 40 per cent of brands run video ads on sites considered ‘unsafe’.
The problem is a result of not having in place any third-party brand safety solution for video advertising.
However, the study also cites some good news – 90 per cent of advertisers plan to increase brand safety efforts in the next 12 months.
The rapid rise in mobile video viewing makes online video the fastest-growing advertising format in the world, and with it comes new strategic and creative opportunities.
The bottom line is, brands that do not currently have a strategy for online video need to think about getting one.