Video boosts Brand Engagement.

Users not only click on more ads with video or rich media, but also tend to visit brand sites long after seeing the associated ad

Many marketers have moved past a direct-response-centric model for online display advertising, recognizing that despite low clickthrough rates, banner ads also have a branding effect. And research suggests that adding rich media or video to those banner ads can improve both types of response—increasing the likelihood users will click the ads as well as boosting the lingering brand awareness that results from viewing.

Ad solution provider MediaMind found that web users in North America who were exposed to a campaign that included rich media display ads were nearly three times as likely as those who saw only standard banners to end up at a marketer’s website—either by clicking on the ad directly or by navigating to the site at a later date. Those exposed to banners that included online video were about 5.6 times as likely to visit a marketer’s site as those exposed to standard banners.

The study indicated that rich media and video boost metrics on both the direct response and branding sides. Rich media and video made users significantly more likely to click directly on display ads—in the case of video, the likelihood of clicking on an ad went up more than ninefold.

The branding effect was smaller, but still evident. Web users exposed to a campaign who did not click on the ad when first exposed to it but who later visited the marketer’s site were about twice as likely to be driven to do so by video or rich media as compared to standard banners.

eMarketer expects strong growth in spending on display advertising, especially video, this year. In the US, eMarketer projects advertisers will increase video ad spending by 54.7% and up investments in standard banners by nearly 20%. eMarketer predicts much lower growth for rich media ads, however, at just over 4%, as brands turn to true online video instead.

December 2011 research from digital ad agency ValueClick Media found that video was second to mobile as the leading channel marketers said they would increase spending on this year.

For more information at http://www.emarketer.com