Video ads ,if executed well, can lift an online campaign to a new level of effectiveness. To do so, advertisers need to understand the user dynamics of a video ad, how to craft it and how to employ it to target their intended audience.

Online video ads differ from TV ads in 2 key areas:
1) Control:
Users can start, pause or stop at a mouse click. Engagement is critical.
2) Interactivity & Transferability:
The viewer can interact with the content on the screen and forward the URL to their friends, upload them on their blog or send across a chat session. An ad that catches the eye of the web audience can spiral virally.

Key elements of media targeting:
1) Placement:
Video ads should be placed next to contextually relevant content and/or sites selected based on the demographics and/or psychographics of the target audience.
2) Customization
There is existing technology that allows for advertisers to put out different versions of an ad at different times of the day.

For video ads, less cluttered visuals and clearer audio compared to TV work best as viewers watch them on smaller screens with computer speakers.

Understanding these elements are essential to creating a video ad and campaign that has the least wastage and high returns.

The quest to reach the widely elusive internet users continues to be a challenge. Microsoft has recently joined the chorus of publishers offering behavioral targeting.

Behavioural targeting allows marketers to reach their audiences according to user behaviour. For example, an individual who has been researching new cars on MSN Autos and searching for car prices on Windows Live Search is likely in the market for a new car. When this person visits MSN, relevant ads on new cars will be displayed to him/her.

Currently this feature is not yet available across the globe, but international expansion plans are in the pipeline. Work is currently underway to ensure that what is launched is suited for each country's audience.

Behavioural targeting has been used by specialist online marketers for some time now, but with Microsoft’s entry into this area, the tool will soon be mainstreamed. Behavioural targeting will indeed become more popular in the near future.

© 2006 Zenithmedia
© 2006 Optimedia
© 2006 Equinox

Photos credited to media owners