In this talk, first performed at BrightonSEO 2019, Phil breaks down the problems with the way most big brands are approaching video advertising and offers some advice for how small businesses can gain a competitive advantage by being more strategic in their measurement, their processes and their creative direction.

1. SLIDESHARE.NET/PHILNOTTINGHAM@philnottingham
BIG BRAND VIDEO ADVERTISING
ON A SMALL BUSINESS BUDGET
PHIL NOTTINGHAM // Wistia //

2. First, a problem…

3. This is what most big brands are doing…

4. It starts with non-strategic
creative planning

5. In rooms like this

6. “We need to increase awareness
of our offering in the market”
CMO OF A BIG COMPANY

7. A big
advertising
campaign is
the assumed,
unchallenged
answer

8. “I’ll call Shoreditch”
MARKETING DIRECTOR

10. “We want consumers to know that we’re faster,
better and cheaper than everyone else”
CLIENT MARKETING DIRECTOR
“How about we do a thing where dogs play chess?”
AGENCY CREATIVE DIRECTOR
“Perfect. Our Budget is £1M.”
CLIENT MARKETING DIRECTOR

11. • Fluffiest Dogs
• Most Attractive Actors
• Professional Crew
• Best Cameras
• Grading
• Custom Musical Score
Arbitrary Budget Allocation
• Every Available Channel
• Every Available Targeting
• Every Available Format
• Creative agency
do this for free as
part of pitch

12. The implicit aim is to get the
best looking video in front of as
many people as possible

13. On Every Conceivable Channel

14. The KPI: # Views

15. Media Agencies Create Reports Like This

16. “Almost 300,000 Relevant Users
Watched The Video”
MEDIA AGENCY REPORT
“300,000 Browsers Delivered a 200
Response Code”
REALITY

17. YouTube Count a “View” When Users are Distracted by Other Things

18. Facebook counts a
“view” when someone
wafts past your video on
their phone

19. The Campaign Goals: Increase
Brand Awareness (+20%?)

20. Statistically insignificant awareness surveys are
under taken until they product the desired answer

21. Sometimes via YouTube surveys, where respondents are
incentivized to just give any quick answer to dismiss the ad

22. Applause
Conversation
Amplification
Aggregated Likes
Aggregated Comments
Aggregated Shares
Some companies will also track social
engagement metrics

23. Implicitly assuming is that an improvement
in these represents an improvement in brand
awareness & affinity

24. “We saw a +35% increase in brand
amplification rate”
MEDIA AGENCY ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
“This campaign had 14 more shares
than the one we did last year”
TRANSLATION

25. This video went viral

27. It did nothing for the brand

28. Viral Videos Don’t Necessarily
Increase Brand Awareness

29. £1,000,000 is a lot
of money for this

30. 1. Creative
2. Budget
3. Channels
4. Targeting
5. Metrics
6. Goals
1. Goals
2. Metrics
3. Channels
4. Targeting
5. Budget
6. Creative
The Model Needs To Be Flipped

31. 1. Goals
Target Changes in User Behaviour

32. Branded Search Clicks

33. 2. Metrics
Measure Impact, Not Impressions

34. “The number of impressions is not the
number of people impressed”

35. “The number of likes is not the
number of people who like it”

36. One person
truly engaging
with your
content…

37. …is worth far more than hundreds of people
being exposed to it in passing

38. Engaged Views
Thruplays >25% Views

39. Percentage measurement makes shorter videos
seem more effective
But a 25% view of a long video is better than a 25% view of a short video

40. The “Watch Time” Metrics We’re Given are Nonsense
In reality…. ~2000 Views & 1,301 Minutes Viewed

41. Qualified Time Watched
Efficacy Metric
Cost Per Qualified Minutes Watched
Efficiency Metric
We Can Do Better

42. Qualified Time Watched Calculator
wi.st/timewatchedyt
wi.st/timewatchedfb

43. 3. Channels
Distribute Where You Can Best Communicate

44. Active
Browsing
Passive
Browsing
Restricted Media Type
Fluid Media Type

45. “Where can you tell the best story?”
Phil Nottingham

47. Most Watched YouTube Video Ever

48. Video = Aural + Visual

49. YouTube = Aural+ Visual

50. TrueView For Action
A Direct Response Format That Builds Brand Awareness

51. 1

54. YouTube = Aural+ Visual

55. Facebook = VISUAL+ Aural

56. Carousels Allow for Multi-Asset Campaigns

57. Sequential Advertising Enables Episodic Storytelling
Everyone is served
video 1
If you watch video 1,
you get video 2
If you watch video 2,
you get video 3

58. 4. Targeting
Prioritise Behavioural And Contextual Triggers

59. Custom Audiences & Targeting Groups
• Watched >75% of other video
• Looks like existing Page Likes
• Looks like existing customers
• Custom intent based on high performing non-brand PPC

60. 5. Budget
Optimise Spend for Impact

61. “How much does production quality
matter in video advertising?”
SOMEONE IN THE AUDIENCE

62. We created three ads for our video creation
application, Soapbox

63. Budget: $1,000
Camera: iPhone X

64. Budget: $10,000
Camera: Canon C300

65. Budget: $100,000
Camera: Arri Amira

66. Production
Budget
$1K
$10K
$100K
Cost Per
Install
$12.82
$6.66
$10.87
Cost Per
Engaged View
$0.37
$0.36
$0.43

67. Avoid Arbitrary Budget Allocation

68. Align Spend With Impact

69. 6. Creative
Show, Don’t Tell

70. Creative Starting Point:
Product Value Proposition

71. Soapbox Value Proposition:
Anyone Can Be A Video Producer

73. This idea is only a problem if it’s divorced from the
value proposition of your product or service

74. It’s perfectly possible to create a fantastic ad
with an iPhone

75. Buy a
good
tripod &
adapter

76. Invest a small amount to improve the
quality of the audio

77. Split test different edits before launch

78. Remember that your video doesn’t
need to go viral

79. It just has to appeal to the few
people who will really care about
what you have to offer

80. FIND YOUR NERDS

81. Thank you!
@philnottingham