With the ever-shortening attention span and short form content, short-form videos have also become necessary.
When YouTube introduced its 6-second bumper ads, both marketers and advertisers welcomed the decision with little applause. Viewers, on the other hand, were overjoyed as now, they would not have to spend 15 excruciating seconds watching the video and locating the ‘Skip’ button.
Earlier, 30-second videos were a norm. They provided marketers with ample time to build a story, deliver dialogues, include a tagline and add emotions. This was then cut down to 15-second videos which also meant enough time to build up a story and hold viewer’s attention. But coming down from 15 seconds straight to a 6-second video was something that left us all wide-eyed. But, over time, brands developed a way to successfully harness this challenging feature of Advertising on YouTube, profiteering all parties involved. For YouTube, it’s revenue stream was maintained, for advertisers, brand awareness was created at minimum costs and for consumers on the go, brand messages were accepted and retained.
The question that ponders is, “Are bumper videos effective?” Absolutely, yes! In Google’s own words,
“And while Bumpers are short on time, they’re long on impact. Bumpers can work well on their own or when paired with a TrueView or Google Preferred campaign, delivering incremental reach and frequency. They’re ideal for driving upper-funnel goals like ad recall and awareness, and are a cost-effective way to reach your target audience and ensure message delivery.”
There are no set rules to create bumper videos for YouTube but you can count on the following tips while creating one:
Create a series of videos:
With only 6 seconds to work with, it would be tempting to include a little bit of everything. But it is impossible. You may end up irritating your target audience with an irrational video.Create a series of videos and introduce different aspects of a similar idea. Set the frame first with a simple video and then bring out variations of it. The audience is more likely to accept it and relate to it.Also, focus on a single element in one video. Exploit music and emotions as they work best with short videos. The comedy will work best in bumpers.
- Be creative: This is your chance to showcase your creative skills. You have got only six seconds, make the most of it. Remember how Old Spice’s bumper clips made you laugh? Yes, that’s being creative.
- Begin with a striking visual: A visual in the opening will make prospects view the video. Don’t cram your opening with too much content. Give viewers the time to let the brand message sink in. A powerful visual in the beginning will excite audiences to look forward to watching your video.
- Retain important elements: A 60-second video is a cut down of a 30-second video. Of course, you cannot create a video similar to a longer one but you certainly can retain important elements. Pick up important aspects and emphasize on them. While doing this, make sure your brand message is not diluted.Short form videos have proven very effective, especially for mobile users who watch videos on the go. Importantly, they help reduce ad budget. Use a variety of combinations such as TrueView, 360-degree videos, display ads and create compelling bumpers.