Enlighten's creative director looks at what's hot with video ads and why you should make sure online video is in your current and future programs.

For years, automakers have employed video to promote their models online. The format is ideal for underscoring messages of vehicle speed, performance, luxury and versatility to potential car buyers. And with no shortage of consumer interest in the medium (123 million Americans watched 151 minutes of online video on average in January, according to comScore), online video has become the go-to ad unit on automotive research, news and lifestyle sites. 

Traditionally, manufacturers have taken a quick fix approach to video ads, employing their broadcast spots for in-stream pre- and post-roll placements. But new alternatives and best practices might warrant a more progressive strategy.   

Originality online
By now most marketers know that despite the appeal of repurposing broadcast spots, using unique video online is ideal. Not only does it give consumers a reason to watch on the web, but it also allows manufacturers to target by audience segment, offering content that's specific to different lifestyles and interests.

Still, manufacturers have been slow to adopt this approach. Mitch Golub, president of automotive research site Cars.com, regularly sees advertisers spend millions on their campaigns but use the same creative over and over. "They need to take better advantage of online advertising capabilities," he says. "Re-edit their existing content for the web, or use footage that's completely unique."

This year may finally be the year that advertisers put this best practice into action. "Automotive companies are trying to budget an extra 5 or 10 minutes of their video shoot for close-ups and unique shots for the web," says Chris Saridakis, CEO of rich media firm PointRoll. "This year, they feel they must incorporate some unique content. Next year, it might be a 50/50 split."

This strategy of capturing additional footage during the high-end commercial shoot allows companies to move away from a reliance on standard issue running footage: low quality b-roll video footage generally shot run-and-gun style with little brand resonance or appeal. By extending the output of the commercial production, companies can save costs, up the quality of their online product presentations and increase the sense of campaign integration across channels.

Video that clicks with consumers
When your ultimate objective is to sell cars offline, brand response advertising trumps recall-oriented branding. One approach to inciting user actions is to incorporate functionality into video ads. Another is to make videos user-initiated.

According to DoubleClick's "Video Ad Benchmark" study, online video ads typically have a clickthrough rate about four times that of image ads. The propensity of internet users to engage with them can be leveraged with such technology as clickable video from companies like United Virtualities, Avant Interactive and Klipmart. Instead of passively delivering a video to consumers, these units invite them to interact with the creative. Clickable hotspots within the video footage can bring up additional model information or deliver tips on how to integrate a vehicle into one's lifestyle. They can also deliver a call to action, such as locating a dealer or requesting a test drive.

Video by request
Though video ads have evolved over the years to give viewers more control with such features as play and volume buttons, some consumers surely continue to consider it intrusive, hence the movement toward the user-initiated ad like that offered by PointRoll. The company's new TickerBoy unit, an in-page video ad that runs alongside the video player, lets users roll over the ad to pause the site's video content, which is then temporarily replaced by the advertiser's video. Expected to launch within a month, TickerBoy stands to deliver the best of everything: it encourages interaction while being less intrusive than transitional video ads, and still has some of the elements of the in-stream formats manufacturers are already comfortable with.

If you're among the thousands of automakers who will be using online video to promote your brand and models this year, you may want to re-examine your strategy. More than ever, your customers are watching.

David Rossiter is the creative director at Enlighten. Read full bio.