The Video Imperative

In the end, video is a huge driver of engagement and our appetite for it, across demographics, is undeniable. YouTube had over 2 billion logged-in monthly users by the end of 2023, and over a billion hours of video are watched daily on the platform. Tiktok had already reached over 1 billion active users by 2021. On average, users spend about 100 minutes per day watching online videos and mobile devices account for over 75% of global video consumption.

Clearly, there's a video imperative and web publishers know they need to allocate significant budgets to compete effectively but the cost of production is high. Between hiring professionals - writers, creative directors, and a skilled crew - and buying or renting professional grade cameras, sound equipment, drones, stabilizers, etc. - the costs can be out of reach, especially for smaller publishers, so licensing video to supplement whatever they can produce is the way forward.

VideoElephant has a library of millions of videos that enables publishers to supplement their own video affordably in categories from lifestyle to sports and everything in between. Take the Olympics, for example. Many sites will run video of Olympics events as news, but there are dozens of additional ways to take advantage of the moment, with recipes for Olympics watch parties, how-to videos on throwing your own backyard Olympics, historical footage of the best athletes of all time, shareable clips of famous outtakes, celebrity sightings, and more.

Weather is another similar pillar. While there's always the pressing weather news of the day, related climate stories can include a broad array of videos from around the world including disappearing glaciers, wildfires and rising sea levels.

According to VideoElephant's most recent performance data, Lifestyle and News are the two highest-performing categories in terms of video that web publishers request and use. But there are many others including Entertainment and Sports that run close behind.

• News and Updates: Publishers create news videos to provide quick and engaging updates on current events.

• Interviews and Features: In-depth interviews, feature stories, and human interest pieces are often presented in video format.

• Live Streaming: Live video streams for events, press conferences, or breaking news help engage audiences in real-time.

Publishers use online video in a variety of ways to drive viewership, engagement, and, of course, monetization whether in the form of ads or premium subscription-based video.

The most popular ways to monetize include Instream video ads which show up within a video stream, while a user is watching video content. Instream is also particularly compatible with OTT and CTV advertising. So if you’re an OTT publisher, you should definitely consider enlisting instream ads in your ad monetization strategy.

Outstream, or standalone video ads, are not tied to any specific piece of content. For example, they may show up in a website’s sidebar, in one of its corners, or within the editorial content. Publishers can serve outstream ads natively on the web page or through a third-party video player. In addition, they don’t need to have video content in order to serve outstream video ads. Outstream ads were originally designed as a mobile ad format, but they quickly proved themselves to be quite lucrative in the desktop advertising space, too.

Instead of ads, some publishers drive additional revenue by reserving premium video content for their subscribers, behind a paywall.

Here are a few of the ways publishers use video to maximize attention and engagement:

• Embedded Videos: Videos embedded in articles provide additional context, visual appeal, and a dynamic way to consume content.

• Video Summaries: Short video summaries of articles cater to audiences who prefer watching over reading.

• User-Generated Content: Publishers may incorporate user-generated videos, enhancing engagement and content diversity.

• Platform-Specific Content: Publishers create tailored video content for platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to reach broader audiences.

• Viral Content: Engaging and shareable videos help increase brand visibility and drive traffic to the publisher’s site.

• How-To Videos: Tutorials and instructional videos provide valuable information to viewers, establishing the publisher as an authority on a topic.

• Explainers and Analysis: Detailed video explainers and analyses help break down complex subjects, making them more accessible to the audience.