5 charts on video marketing’s momentum

This year, time spent with digital video will officially surpass time spent with TV among US adults. Video advertising is also moving toward digital as advertisers set their sights on connected TV (CTV) and social video, and even take advantage of retail media networks’ video opportunity.

Whether you’re pitching a video ad campaign or reevaluating a tight ad budget, here are five charts that will help with the how, what, where, when, and why of video advertising.

1. Digital video grabs the remote

TV will officially be less viewed than digital video, according to our forecast, as users spend more time streaming appointment TV, scrolling TikTok, and watching news and sports through digital options like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.

Of the 3 hours, 11 minutes spent each day with digital video, the biggest share will take place on connected devices like smart TVs and game consoles, rather than on desktops, laptops, or mobile devices.

2. Ad impressions are on CTV and mobile

CTV and mobile have been fighting for video ad dominance, according to Extreme Reach. Mobile has had more video ad impressions most quarters, but CTV’s surpassed mobile on several occasions.

“Mobile’s advantage is greater reach, but that can come with a less brand-safe environment and lower engagement,” said our vice president of content Ann Marie Kerwin, covering video KPIs on mobile and CTV.

3. TikTok passed YouTube and is climbing toward Netflix

A lot of those mobile impressions are happening on TikTok, which surpassed YouTube in 2021 for time spent on the platform per day among US adult users, according to our forecast.

YouTube still has more US users than TikTok—at 236.1 million versus 102.4 million, according to our forecasts—meaning overall more eyeballs are on YouTube’s ads than TikTok’s in the US. But TikTok’s growth is astounding, and it will continue to adopt new users as Netflix plateaus.

4. There’s a social video sweet spot

When it comes to advertising with social videos, target the attention sweet spot. Viewers are most likely to watch videos that are a few minutes long, rather than short or full-episode-length ones, according to Magnite.

But social media users, especially young ones, are extremely savvy when it comes to spotting paid content. Users will watch content that’s a few minutes long, but they won’t necessarily watch an ad for the same amount of time. Consider focusing on native ads within curated content.

5. Zoom in on native

Gen Z’s aversion to paid ads is a good argument for native video, where users may be less likely to skip since ads are embedded within content. We project US native video ad spending will increase to $38.30 billion this year. While its share of total video ad spend will decrease slightly, we project it will remain above 40%.

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