Hi All - We have been using Video Pre-Roll for a few months now. If I was to base a decision on whether to keep using it just by looking at Google Analytics it would be a major NO. Our bounce rate for shoppers on our site that come through the Video Pre-Roll is over 80% (all traffic sources combined it is 28%). Pages per Session from Video Pre-Roll users is 1.17 (all traffic sources combined it is 3.44). Average Session Duration is 40 seconds versus 3 mins 12 seconds for all traffic sources combined. So it looks like to me these folks are not interacting with anything other than the page they land on, are blowing out of it very quickly and they are not spending time on site or really engaging at all. We have had zero conversions - all the Goals we have set up in Google Analytics show 0. But I keep hearing how amazing Video Pre-Roll is and dealers are raving about the results. Any feedback as to what I am missing here? Thanks in advance.
Yeah In-Stream (Pre-Roll) ads aren't typically the best if you're judging them solely on their direct response performance.
There are ways to improve the direct response performance though. What audiences are you targeting?
Remarketing lists will typically perform the best, followed by in-market new vehicle brand shoppers. If you're targeting solely on demographics, affinity audiences, topics, or keywords you'll most likely be disappointed with the direct response results.
The video ad you use will also greatly affect your performance (negatively or positively). Yes throwing your regular run of the mill TV spot up is the easiest but you'll get the best results producing a custom video just for youtube to try to grab the viewer's attention in the first 5 seconds.
The more drilled down and segmented you can get with your audiences and video ads, the more direct response results you'll see (conversions). You need all three of these to be as relevant and in-sync as possible: Audience, Ad, Landing Page. Show the right ad to the right person and take them to the right landing page to convert.
You also have to be careful to not focus solely on the direct response performance because if you're targeting the right audiences, you have to also think of it as a branding expense to get in front of people just like with TV and radio.
Hope that helps some!
PS: Anytime a dealer raves about the results take it with a grain of salt until you see the actual data. Unfortunately I've seen dealers rave about some of the worst products simply because they liked their sales rep.