Video advertising is set to keep on growing and spend is predicted to reach $3.4bn by 2012 according to eMarketer. Video advertising is an evolved form of banner advertising. Regular banner adverts no longer get the click through rates they once did because internet users have learnt to tune out from standard flash banners.

Companieshave to come up with increasingly innovative ways to get people's attention and video advertising is a great way to do this. When video advertising was first introduced the cost was a barrier to many advertisers. Prices are falling now and it is a great way to increase the click through rate of your banner campaigns.

Video Advertising vs. the TV Commercial

Video advertising can be a great way to extend the reach of a TV commercial. This is because research performed by BARB has demonstrated people who use broadband watch less TV. With the migration of more people online it is time for advertisers to work with online video to help increase their reach.

What's more, online video advertising is more measurable in terms of interaction and view rates, than a standard television commercial. It is easy to laser target specific demographics online to create a more effective campaign. Plus, the added benefit is consumers can go direct to the advertiser at the click of a button.

Types of Video Advertising

As video advertising continues to grow in popularity there are a number of options available to advertisers wishing to use this marketing method. Advertisers can place videos around other videos or television programs which are being shown online. The various slots which are available are pre and post role, which is where your video advert is shown before or after the video; or interstitial video ads which appear during a video similar to an ad break on television.

With videos now being included in the SERPS (search engine results pages) video advertising can be used for SEO and created specifically for submission to the growing number of video sites to help increase brand awareness and drive traffic to a website.

Video advertising can also be a good way to increase conversion rates on your company’s website. Videos can often help to explain things better to site visitors then words and pictures alone.