Succeeding with Sponsored Video on Social Media

Johan Rikner, CEO at N365 Group and official speaker at Native Advertising DAYS 2017, gives his best advice on doing sponsored videos on social media and takes a look into the future of native ad videos.

Try the video on a small scale first, analyze the results and if it’s not working, try something else.

What is your best advice for publishers and brands doing sponsored video on social media?

Spend your money wisely. There is no use spending a lot of money on content that is not engaging the audience. Try the video on a small scale first, analyze the results and if it’s not working, try something else. And please make sure to adapt the video to the media where you are going to publish it.

 Distribution on social media can definitely be the most cost efficient there is if it’s done properly

It can quickly become costly to secure the distribution of content on social media -- how do you measure the value and secure ROI?

KPIs are of course different for different customers, but the distribution on social media can definitely be the most cost efficient there is if it’s done properly. The most common mistake is that you don’t take into account what type of social media it is and adapt the content to that channel. If you neglect that, it can definitely become costly.

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One good way to measure value is to set up goals and then achieve them, i.e ask yourself what is it worth for us to reach 100 000 people with our message and then invest that amount into reaching your goal. The key is to always to analyze your progress.

Can video be useful for 'harder' KPIs than brand lift and engagement?

Definitely, it depends on the targets for the campaign but we see many clients performing great on direct sales with videos.

The media landscape is going to change, and fast, but if you can tell a story that moves people you will probably be alright.

Where do you see video going in the coming years when it comes to native advertising? What are some of the most interesting formats, developments or monetization opportunities?

We’re just at the start of it and for a lot of advertisers, it’s a fun test. I think going forward they will start asking for more results. Both in terms of interactions and reach but also in measuring hard ROI. Now it’s up to agencies and publishers to make sure we deliver, but I think we will and then video will increase dramatically. But the only thing we can say for certain about the future is that the media landscape is going to change, and fast, but if you can tell a story that moves people you will probably be alright.

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DOWNLOAD: Native Advertising Trends 2017 - The Magazine Industry