Effective, Customizable Rich Media Remains Red Hot For 2009

Despite many industries’ economic struggles in 2008, online marketing continued an upward trend of growth and demand and is expected to do the same in 2009.

Last year, rich media--particularly video--remained one of the highest growing and most effective online marketing tools. The New York Times even went so far to say that interactive marketing was virtually recession-proof [1].

A quick look at the numbers illustrates why this isn’t hype. Video ad spending increased 81% in 2008 [2] in attempts to get a slice of 129.5 million online video advertising viewers [3]. In 2009, spending is expected to increase 44.9% [4] in hopes of reaching an estimated 144.1 million viewers [5].

If you aren’t yet integrating rich media on your site or aren’t considering it as a priority for 2009, you may now be asking yourself why you aren’t or are questioning whether it is actually effective. Here are some points to consider.

Everybody Else is Doing It

This potentially flimsy argument recalls a parent asking a child, “If everybody else jumped off a skyscraper, would you still do it?” The difference is that the millions being spent on rich media are not hypothetical, and presumably, and there’s clearly something that is driving demand for it.

Although spending on search optimization and marketing remains the top format for online advertising (nearly $11 million was spent last year [6], and that is estimated to reach $12.2 million in 2009 [7]), advertisers spent a hefty $1.8 million on rich media in 20088, and approximately $2.1 million will be spent this year [9]. So what is it that is making rich media so attractive to advertisers?

Why Rich Media Works

There are numerous reasons for why and how rich media is effective. Some key factors include:

-- Video is more effective than still images: If “a picture is worth a thousand words,” then video is worth millions of words--and that translates into serious ROI. Research suggests that rich media performs better than GIF/JPG ads, particularly for ad awareness and message association [10].

-- More people have broadband: Quickly streaming smooth and interruption-free rich media requires bandwidth that dial-up simply can’t provide. With a reported 55 percent of Americans now having broadband Internet service [11] (compared to an all-time low of 10 percent that still use dial-up [12]), consistently delivering quality content to a large audience is more possible than ever.

-- Rich media expands and enhances content: Ask most people about their site’s content, and they’ll often immediately--and exclusively--think about text and perhaps still images. Although not entirely incorrect, they are, however, missing out on what makes rich media “rich” and how it enhances content.

More importantly, they are missing out on rich media’s ability to generate visitor interest, Web traffic and ROI. Video has also been show to increase the duration of a visitor’s stay more than 15 percent.

-- Unprecedented customization: The increasing ease of producing highly customized rich media content ensures an exciting, dynamic and informative experience for users.

For example, AVID Design recently completed Vida Sana, a Spanish informational vodcast video for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. An ensemble morning-show format video was written, cast, filmed and produced entirely in-house. Colors and themes were selected during set design to appeal to the market, as well as to accommodate the Vida Sana campaign logo. Post-production motion graphics and video editing were completed at AVID Design’s state-of-the-art facility in Atlanta.

Vida Sana is expected to help open doors for Blue Cross into other Latin markets across the United States, broadening the company’s reach and ability to grow in an insurance industry leadership role within this rapidly expanding demographic.

References

1 “Some Recession Proof Corners,” nytimes.com, 19 May 2008
2 “Economy Deals Online Ad Spending a Hit,” eMarketer.com, 25 November 2008
3 “Online Video Growth Continues,” eMarketer.com, 15 January 2009
4 “Economy Deals Online Ad Spending a Hit”.
5 “Online Video Growth Continues”.
6 “Economy Deals Online Ad Spending a Hit”.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Marissa Gluck and Rick E. Bruner, “The Evolution of Rich Media Advertising: Current Market Trends, Success Metrics and Best Practices╙, doubleclick.com, September 2005
11 “55% of Adult Americans Have Home Broadband Connections,” pewinternet.org, 2 July 2008
12 Ibid.