Online videos more engaging than text, study finds

We’ve all heard the saying ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Well, according to a new study, images are also more engaging.

Usurv surveyed 1,000 UK adults and found consumers are more likely to share (39%), comment (36%) and ‘like’ (56%) an online video than they are a text article. And in all cases, more people said they engaged with online video in these ways than with online articles.

And the same is true for video advertising. The findings from Usurv support earlier research that showed consumers are 27.4 times more likely to click-through online video ads than standard banners and almost 12 times more than rich media ads

So what’s driving this higher rate of engagement from consumers? According to the findings, half do so because they find the video humorous and because they know others would want to laugh along too (30%). Controversy also invokes reactions with 4% saying they had shared, commented or ‘liked’ a video because they either found it outrageous (4%) or ‘extremely bad’ (4%).

Guy Potter, research director at Usurv, said: “The important finding for digital and content marketers is that people tend to engage with video more deeply than simple text articles. And interestingly 59% of people said they are more likely to watch a video if it has already been shared, commented on or liked by by someone they know – so there is evidence to support the much-talked-about viral potential of online video.”

Video consumption has skyrocketed in recent years. Forrester figures show that 100 million internet users watch online videos every day.

And mobile is also fuelling video consumption, with 10% of all videos now being viewed on smartphone devices. Recent figures from the Internet Avertising Bureau showed that mobile video advertising grew 1,601% from £0.8m in 2011 to reach £13m in 2012, contributing to total mobile display advertising figures of £150m – an increase of 121% in 2012.

Important for marketers is knowing how and where to serve video ads that strike a chord with consumers. According to Usurv’s study, half of consumers said that they were put off videos if ads being shown at the start of play were poor quality (17%), ‘too salesy’ (15%) and not informative enough (8%),

Last year, MyCustomer.com examined the growing video trend and asked how brands can optimise their video marketing to encourage social sharing.