Video advances in recent months have allowed advertisers to roll out creative on a par with anything seen on TV. Here's how to maximise your own use of online video.

According to a report released by eMarketer earlier this year, the U.K. online video viewing audience grew by 10 per cent during the past year to almost 30 million unique viewers. It should come as no surprise, then, that online video is currently one of the fastest growing ad categories (evidenced by another report released in March by the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers).

No doubt there is a lot of excitement around online video and the opportunities it offers to marketers. However, with the excitement, it is essential that advertisers, brands and marketers understand the environment in which online video operates, as well as the challenges to growth and development.

Many marketers embarking on online video campaigns kick-off with in-stream (which includes pre, post and mid-roll). At first glance, this may seem to be an obvious choice -- after all, in-stream is the natural extension from TV -- as with TV advertising, it's a linear experience and the user knows what to expect.

There's more to video than in-stream -- the obvious example being in-banner, which offers greater interactivity, scalability and is also targetable. By its very linear nature, in-stream limits interactivity -- and while it's a great way to engage viewers, online video marketers must embrace digital for its best qualities. This means thinking beyond 'display VS video', 'network VS portal' or 'video VS search'. Put simply, online now has the ability to serve the equivalent of a television commercial, then an outdoor billboard, then a magazine ad, all frequency capped and sequentially targeted -- i.e., use pre roll, then retarget with in banner video and then display and display again. If the campaign calls for it, use any combination of the above.

Having understood that online video operates within a malleable and fluid environment, the next step is getting to grips with the two greatest challenges to the growth of online:

• Scale
• Access to premium content

Scale and content are inextricably intertwined -- and it's only by finding the right balance of the two that marketers can have a better chance at succeeding with online video.

So what do we mean when we talk about 'scaling' online video? In a basic sense, we're referring to the amount of time agencies must invest in planning and buying online video to achieve enough effective reach and frequency to move brand metrics and sales. To put it in TV terms, a TV buyer could buy ad space on three stations and reach 70 per cent of a specific demographic; by comparison, for online video to move brand metrics, a media planner would need to buy about 15 sites and several networks... and would maybe get to 40-50 per cent of the target demographic. The point – TV is easy to scale, whereas online video has been tough.

Then there's the fact that online video has traditionally been driven by the site destination 'pull model'. While still an important part of the communication plan, the 'pull model' is limited by its targeting and interactivity; not to mention limited reach.

This is where networks come in and add value, addressing this limitation by pushing interactive video experiences through in-banner ad units. This not only standardises creative production and planning and buying procedures, but also leverages the full reach and targeting capabilities of the network. Moreover, not only can networks sequentially target (remember, the combination of in-stream, in banner and display I mentioned earlier?), they can also drive media efficiencies through the use of different valued ad types and take users on a specific communication journey.

This brings us to the question of content -- without quality content reassurance, premium brands are cautious to commit -- and premium content does not come cheap. The big challenge here is having the right mix of relevant content to engage a broad section of audiences, but also attract advertising spend. This creates a vicious circle: you need the premium content to attract the eyeballs, which will in turn attract advertising revenue -- but you need scale to make money. Scale is what adds value and helps move brand metrics.

So this is the big industry problem: you're either producing content and need a syndication platform to make it work, or you're a portal and you require premium content to attract viewers (and, in turn, advertisers). Video portals that invest into premium content need marketing to drive traffic to be able to monetise.

How do you resolve this? By finding a way to combine premium content with scale. Only with a complete understanding of the potential of online video can it provide your organisation with the tools for more effective interactivity, a greater reach and allow it to engage with a wider audience. Surely that's news worth broadcasting.

Nick Higgins is director of global video at Adconion Media Group.