Archive for November, 2008

Autoplay and the VideoAd viewer’s experience

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Just for a moment, put yourself into a VideoAd viewer’s shoes.

Imagine that you’re sitting in your cubicle and you decide to read an online professional publication that keeps you up-to-date on work-related technology. You navigate to the home page that just happens to contain an online video ad for a well-known intimate apparel retailer. The video ad with audio automatically starts playing. Before you have a chance to turn down the sound on your computer, information about the latest underwear is broadcast to the colleagues who sit near you.

Ok. This example might be a little dramatic but it does highlight the user experience pitfalls with autoplay audio. It also serves as a warning sign to advertisers: Viewers who are inconvenienced or embarrassed by an online video ad are unlikely to purchase the products or services the ad is selling.

That’s why, in the Mixpo VideoAd platform, we give you the following two options for how your VideoAd behaves when a viewer lands on the page where the ad is embedded:

Autoplay with audio muted

A good choice for VideoAds embedded in pages, such as websites, blogs, or directory profile pages, opened by self-selected viewers.

In the drop-down list, you set the number of times the VideoAd automatically plays. My advice is to go for fewer replays.

Autoplay with audio muted option

Autoplay with audio muted option

When you choose this option, the video portion of the VideoAd plays automatically and viewers see text on the VideoAd that they click to start the audio.

Click to play audio

Click to play audio

Click to play

The essential choice for VideoAds embedded in online publications where viewers will stumble on your VideoAd by chance.

Click to play option

Click to play option

When you choose this option, viewers see a play button on the VideoAd. They click the button to play both video and audio.

Click to play video and audio

Click to play video and audio

Create overlays that work at any embed size

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

You add a bunch of overlays to a VideoAd. You preview the VideoAd and everything looks great.

Then, you publish the VideoAd at the 300×250 size and embed it as a banner ad in an online publication. When you play the VideoAd you notice that some of your overlays break at odd places and look pretty unprofessional.

Here are some tips for resolving these overlay problems and avoiding them in the future.

First, lets look at an example.

Suppose you created this lead capture overlay in a VideoAd for a Japanese restaurant.

Overlay in the Studio

Overlay in the Studio

It looks fine when you preview the VideoAd. However, when you actually publish the VideoAd as a banner ad, the overlay looks, lets face it, ugly and unprofessional:

Overlay in published banner ad

Overlay in published banner ad

The key to making overlays look good regardless of VideoAd embed size is to give the overlay text room to breathe and expand.

Compare these two overlays:

Constrained overlay

Constrained overlay

Overlay with breathing room

Overlay with breathing room

Overlays with room to breathe look good at any embed size:

Overlay with room to breathe

Overlay with room to breathe

This same principle applies to plain text overlays. Just make sure you give them room to breathe.

Constained overlay

Constained overlay

Overlay with breathing room

Overlay with breathing room

I’d like to know more about lead capture overlays.

Display text on your VideoAd thumbnail

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

The two banner ad-sized VideoAds shown below are exactly the same except, in the second ad, text displays in the thumbnail.

The image by itself – that blue, blue water with a single drop hitting its surface – is pretty compelling. Some visitors might play the VideoAd just to see what the image is all about. But, without text, the image doesn’t give potential viewers enough to go on.

Text on a VideoAd thumbnail plays a key role by:

  • Motivating potential viewers to click the VideoAd play button.
  • Setting expectations about the subject matter of the VideoAd (in this case, legal representation).
  • Providing advertisers with an opportunity to distinguish themselves from the competition (in this case, proactive personal injury representation).

Fortunately, it’s easy to add text that displays on your VideoAd thumbnails.

  1. In the Studio, add a plain text overlay.
  2. Drag it to the far left end of the Timeline.
  3. Make it as small as possible (that is, give a duration of 2 seconds).
  4. On the Overlays tab, set the styling and interactivity options you want.
  5. Add another overlay, if necessary, and repeat steps 2 to 4.
  6. Save and publish.

I’d like to learn more about overlays.