New Trend In Mobile Video Advertising Is All About Going Vertical
Is your dealership ready for the next wave of the mobile-first evolution?
Watching video horizontally has traditionally been the norm, but the world is evolving due to mobile technology. Today, 72% of millennials say they don’t rotate their phones to watch videos horizontally.1
Due to black bars appearing on either side of the video and a narrow viewing angle, shooting and watching horizontally just seems to make more sense. However, smartphone users hold their phones vertically about 94% of the time and have little motivation to rotate them.2
Research done by Snapchat, one of the media platforms that popularized vertical video, has shown that vertical video ads are watched all the way through nine times more often than horizontal video ads on the platform.3 Vertical video ads drive 11% more awareness and 5.4% more purchase intent than horizontal videos, according to a Think with Google study.4
While it isn’t appropriate for all video to be shot for vertical viewing, it should be considered for advertising on digital media platforms where the majority of people will watch from their mobile devices.
Adopting a Mobile-First Mindset
As mobile viewing continues to increase, vertical video ads and their ability to reach specific audience segments can have a dramatic result on a dealership’s digital marketing strategy. Vertical video takes up 78% more real estate on a person’s smartphone than landscape video, and it costs significantly less to advertise.5
In response to these new mobile trends have come a variety of new video advertising ad units for dealers to try, such as YouTube Vertical Video for TrueView, Facebook/Instagram Carousel and Collections, Instagram Story Ads, Pinterest Promoted Video Ads and Snapchat Collection Ads.
Video sizes to choose from, depending on the media platform, include full landscape (16:9), square (1:1), vertical (4:5), vertical (2:3) and full portrait (9:16).
Traditional full landscape video is still great for theaters, Connected TV (CTV) and desktop, but it’s not as successful on mobile. Viewing habits cannot be ignored, and dealers now have the ability to choose an aspect ratio that better fits mobile devices.
Next Steps
- Leverage new video viewing habits with mobile-first video ad platforms.
- Push your team/agency to make full use of new video ad options and get better ROI.
- Drive more traffic to your dealership by using dynamic inventory video ads.
- Become smarter about your marketing by using metrics to your advantage.
- Be creative and experiment. At the end of the day ask, “Did it sell more cars?”
- Remember to “Go big in the small mobile world!”
We can help
Target low sales funnel auto intenders with Custom Model and Dynamic Inventory video ads across multiple media platforms. UnityWorks’ proven and tested video exceeds industry benchmarks for completed views, clicks and showroom traffic. Our high-quality, brand-compliant video ads market your dealership, offers and inventory. Find out how UnityWorks can help you design your video strategy or call 1-800-293-2056.
About the Author
Thomas Pearce, Senior Director of Interactive UX Strategy at Autodata Solutions, has over 20 years of interactive marketing, data-driven video, UI/UX online strategies, including 10 years leading interactive marketing teams in the automotive vertical. He has worked with/for many recognizable brands such as Ford, GM, FCA, Seagate, Google/YouTube and Napster.
Sources
1 Blasphemy! Millennials prefer vertical viewing when it comes to phone videos, The Denver Post
2 Mobile Overview Report (MOVR), 2019 Q2
3 Vertical video pays off for Snapchat, USA Today
4 How Mobile Video Can Drive the Future of Brand Marketing, Think with Google
5 Square vs. Landscape Video – $1.5K Worth of Experiments: Here’s How They Compare, Buffer
