What the Best Advertisers Know, and What You Might Be Missing

AUTHOR: Marshall Akita

Watch this video until you get bored, then come back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edx9D2yaOGs

Beforehand, if I had told you that it is only three minutes long, you would probably have thought that that wasn’t very much time at all. Faced with the reality of three minutes of nothing, however, you start to realize just how long it is. If you made it all the way through, congratulations. If not, you are like me and, moreover, like your average customer.

The best advertisers know this—namely that people don’t want to sit through long videos telling them about something they lost interest in two minutes ago. If you want to engage your potential customers, you have a very short window to do so. Geico knows this. Take a look at their “You Can’t Skip This Geico Ad, Because It’s Already Over” campaign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekICYdr5fF4), and you’ll see the beauty of short ads. The trick isn’t to convey all the pieces of information that you would like your customers to know. They trick is to get them the most important piece or pieces so that they will remember your brand and come to you.

Your advertisement is in your control, but so is where you show it. Keep that in mind when you are selecting your advertising medium. If people expect that your content is going to be an impediment, or if they can simply ignore it to get to what they really want, they will. With ad-block technology on the rise, up 41% in the past year accord ing to PaigFair, and with people expecting to be able to skip ads on formats like Youtube, you want to make sure that you are selecting a medium that incorporates your brief ad into the user experience—something that alternates your short-form ad with short form entertainment, and provided to a captive, pure play, audience that is as targeted as possible.

Those platforms are rare, but when you find them, you’ll also find your customers engaging with your advertisements, and your marketing budget will start paying off big time. Don’t believe me? Just ask the 47% of viewers who remembered the ads they saw on a digital out of home television system in a medical practice, and the 19% made an unplanned purchase after seeing advertiser messages on hospital screens. Don’t thank me; thank the research, and you can’t skip this post, because it’s already over.


About Pet Cause Media

Pet Cause Media is the national leader in veterinary pre-education and digital out of home marketing in veterinary offices. We work closely with our veterinary and sponsor partners to ensure full compatibility and maximum results. Visit our website (petcausemedia.com) or contact Marshall Akita (marshall@petcausemedia.com) for more details.

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