Video advertising has a long history and a bright future as an effective mode to reach potential customers. Embarking on your video marketing project journey starts at the distribution choice. While big businesses usually have very large advertising budgets allowing them the ability to advertise throughout all marketing platforms, like the new Dodge Durango commercials featuring Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy (Television, Web, Social, Print) for instance, most small to medium sized businesses aren’t that fortunate. Before declaring the route you wish to take, it is imperative to explore the nature of the two major competing methods of video advertising, television or web; let’s take a look at the statistics.
Online video promotion is less expensive and more specifically targeted than TV. According to voices.com the cost of a 30 second TV spot in 2008 was 342 thousand dollars to produce. TV Airtime prices range widely based on the network, duration, time of year, and time slot but on average a 30 second spot costs around 100 thousand dollars to run on the top channels (Fox, ABC, CBS). You could get a very high quality web video produced for an average price of five thousand dollars and advertise it on the web at a price tag well below 100 thousand dollars.
An article published in Forbes explores the details and growth of the video advertising platforms and behaviors of Americans regarding Internet and TV usage. Promoting your video online allows a more customizable interactive advertising experience to potential customers. In 2011 about 70% of the $103.8 billion spent on video advertising was directed to Television promotion. The other $32 billion was fostered into online video. While the total money spent advertising online was smaller than TV, the number raised 21.7% from the year before whereas TV only grew 4.5%.
Americans as a whole spend more of their time watching TV than browsing the web. In 2012, the average American spent 5 hours a day watching TV and 1 hour surfing the web. The reach of TV users exceeded the grasp of Internet by 72 million people; however, this number in the big picture isn’t too far off.
When deciding whether to advertise via TV or online it is important to look at these numbers and ideas in order to conceptualize the direction your video ad will take and which platform it will be seen and heard. If you have a decent sized marketing budget, a hybrid approach could be best. Always remember to keep your target audience in mind when thinking about where to advertise.
D-Mak Productions is a Scottsdale Video Production Company specializing in high quality video production services for web and television.
