Video: Tracking Success
on iMedia Connection
by Reid Carr , June 14, 2006
Red Door Interactive's president explains how you should use video to drive interaction, and why you need to gauge it.
I want to ask you, just for a moment, to think back to the days when animated .gifs hit the web scene. You'd see little emoticon-like graphics bounce around trying to highlight "the really important content," or there would be dancing flames that would tell you that something was "hot." I also recall when Flash first allowed companies to welcome you to their website, product line and corporate tagline, all in one 15 second intro. Thankfully, the "skip" button was invented shortly thereafter.
I have to say that I am happy to see that video has started to make a home in the interactive arsenal. Sites that were once static and uninteresting have now come to life by trucking broadband content through the same old pipes. Flash, an old favorite, is the primary driver of this movement. It is now allowing commercial-quality actors point at air in front of green-screens with the knowledge that they are helping people find their way through some tricky websites.
Flash and other ad-serving technologies are also allowing advertisers to extend the life and reach of TV commercials with traditional play, pause and sound on/off controls. It is just like having the TV on the web. Where's my TiVo?
As agencies and advertisers investigate the opportunities provided by broadband, rich media and easy-to-use technology, they need to bear in mind not to forget the details that make the web so useful and addictive. We love the ability to control what content they consume and when they consume it. Intrusive experiences are shunned. Additionally, users often are consuming web content at the same time they are watching TV (which is to say that they are complementing their TV experience with online activities).
There have been some excellent creative executions lately that have garnered some great results; however, there is still a lot of "me too" that is cluttering the web. Everyone wants the viral pass-along, but that does not immediately mean that all you have to do is add video and rinse. Unfortunately, a lot of advertisers are using video just as they would in a broadcast commercial, but simply extending the length because they feel like they have the user locked in. On the web, there is more distraction than any other media for users to move on to and forget you. Creative needs to not only quickly deliver a message (which is what traditional broadcast may do), but also give users control and inspire them to pass along the good word.
Depending on the purpose of the site, the use of video should not generally drive the navigation of a site, either. In most cases, even over a broadband connection, if the navigation or content depends on a human in a video to deliver it, a user has to wait for the information they need. This is the same concept as the Flash intro. If you are an informational or transactional site, limit your use of video to navigate or interact, instead use it to complement content or ease information gathering.
Right now, rich media is hot with both consumers and advertisers. That is the "wow factor." However, that will soon become yesterday's old ad format gone the way of the 468x60. Most likely, people will click and interact with it now just to see the way things move, but not necessarily come away with the point of the message. So, that being said, metrics that measure how long users spend with your creative are not necessarily indicative of "message received." Try to find out if people are just toying with the functionality.
There are lots of ways to usefully track the success of the rich media. Right now, the popular methods appear to be using metrics, such as time spent on site or interactions with the ad. However, using qualitative methods, eye-tracking or imbedded analytics can deliver more useful findings about user confusion, message resonance and true path information. All of these things can help us to gain greater understanding of how consumers interact with the latest and greatest creative application of interactive rich media.
Advertisers and web developers need to act quickly and jump on the bandwagon now to gain the positive short-term results that are being reported in current statistics. In order to avoid taking the user for granted, the key to long-term success will be realized by taking the time to implement the appropriate tracking and testing methods in order to gain the findings needed to propel this movement forward to maturity.
Reid Carr is president of Red Door Interactive, helping clients -- such as the San Diego Convention Center, SkinMedica, Leap Wireless, Intuit and Sharp Systems of America -- to lay out business-oriented strategies for improving the success of their Internet presence.
by Reid Carr , June 14, 2006
Red Door Interactive's president explains how you should use video to drive interaction, and why you need to gauge it.
I want to ask you, just for a moment, to think back to the days when animated .gifs hit the web scene. You'd see little emoticon-like graphics bounce around trying to highlight "the really important content," or there would be dancing flames that would tell you that something was "hot." I also recall when Flash first allowed companies to welcome you to their website, product line and corporate tagline, all in one 15 second intro. Thankfully, the "skip" button was invented shortly thereafter. I have to say that I am happy to see that video has started to make a home in the interactive arsenal. Sites that were once static and uninteresting have now come to life by trucking broadband content through the same old pipes. Flash, an old favorite, is the primary driver of this movement. It is now allowing commercial-quality actors point at air in front of green-screens with the knowledge that they are helping people find their way through some tricky websites.
Flash and other ad-serving technologies are also allowing advertisers to extend the life and reach of TV commercials with traditional play, pause and sound on/off controls. It is just like having the TV on the web. Where's my TiVo?
As agencies and advertisers investigate the opportunities provided by broadband, rich media and easy-to-use technology, they need to bear in mind not to forget the details that make the web so useful and addictive. We love the ability to control what content they consume and when they consume it. Intrusive experiences are shunned. Additionally, users often are consuming web content at the same time they are watching TV (which is to say that they are complementing their TV experience with online activities).
There have been some excellent creative executions lately that have garnered some great results; however, there is still a lot of "me too" that is cluttering the web. Everyone wants the viral pass-along, but that does not immediately mean that all you have to do is add video and rinse. Unfortunately, a lot of advertisers are using video just as they would in a broadcast commercial, but simply extending the length because they feel like they have the user locked in. On the web, there is more distraction than any other media for users to move on to and forget you. Creative needs to not only quickly deliver a message (which is what traditional broadcast may do), but also give users control and inspire them to pass along the good word.
Depending on the purpose of the site, the use of video should not generally drive the navigation of a site, either. In most cases, even over a broadband connection, if the navigation or content depends on a human in a video to deliver it, a user has to wait for the information they need. This is the same concept as the Flash intro. If you are an informational or transactional site, limit your use of video to navigate or interact, instead use it to complement content or ease information gathering.
Right now, rich media is hot with both consumers and advertisers. That is the "wow factor." However, that will soon become yesterday's old ad format gone the way of the 468x60. Most likely, people will click and interact with it now just to see the way things move, but not necessarily come away with the point of the message. So, that being said, metrics that measure how long users spend with your creative are not necessarily indicative of "message received." Try to find out if people are just toying with the functionality.
There are lots of ways to usefully track the success of the rich media. Right now, the popular methods appear to be using metrics, such as time spent on site or interactions with the ad. However, using qualitative methods, eye-tracking or imbedded analytics can deliver more useful findings about user confusion, message resonance and true path information. All of these things can help us to gain greater understanding of how consumers interact with the latest and greatest creative application of interactive rich media.
Advertisers and web developers need to act quickly and jump on the bandwagon now to gain the positive short-term results that are being reported in current statistics. In order to avoid taking the user for granted, the key to long-term success will be realized by taking the time to implement the appropriate tracking and testing methods in order to gain the findings needed to propel this movement forward to maturity.
Reid Carr is president of Red Door Interactive, helping clients -- such as the San Diego Convention Center, SkinMedica, Leap Wireless, Intuit and Sharp Systems of America -- to lay out business-oriented strategies for improving the success of their Internet presence.
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