As mobile users spend 86% of their time in apps, the need to reach these audiences via native ads has never been greater. However, as users quickly scroll through in-app feed-based content, it is often difficult to slow the scroll and entice a user to view in-feed advertisements and drive meaningful performance.
The first hurdle lies in providing break-through, thumb-stopping content that captivates the user. As evidenced by a recent Business Insider report, video obliterates the performance of traditional display advertisements, making it the clear format of choice for in-feed placements. To compound this, AdColony mobile video performs considerably better than industry standards for mobile video.
What’s causing this performance boost, and what does it mean for the in-feed experience? The answer lies in Instant-Feed™ Native Video. Utilizing proprietary technology, Instant-Feed™ native videos begin playing automatically once the content is in view, encouraging the user to slow their scroll and watch the video.
To give the advertiser ample opportunity to captivate the user’s attention, the Media Ratings Council and IAB recommend that an in-feed video ad begin auto-playing once 50% of the video pixels are in view for one second.
Following the guidance of the MRC, AdColony Instant-Feed™ native videos automatically play when 50% of pixels are in view for 1 second and pause when 50% of pixels are out of view. This allows the ad to begin playing once a reasonable portion has scrolled into view, giving the advertiser more time to captivate the users’ attention and stop the scroll. (Of course, it must be noted that this setting is automatic on Android at the SDK level but must be set by publishers on iOS due to iOS constraints.)
Granted, there are some publishers who may be weary of replacing display ad units with video. To abate user experience concerns, recent Twitter research found that “people were 2.5x more likely to prefer autoplay videos over other viewing methods.” This translated into:
- 14% lift in video recall over other video formats
- 7x increase in video completions
Similarly, in recent ComScore studies conducted as part of the Native Video Fund, AdColony Instant-Feed™ native video delivered 18% higher brand lift than traditional in-feed ads.
So what’s the lesson in all of this? As Nikao Yang, SVP of Business Development & Marketing at AdColony puts it:
“This is further evidence to the fact that auto-play video ads, when implemented organically in the user experience, is better for both the consumer and advertiser.”
Simply, to slow the scroll and truly captivate audiences while upholding an ideal user experience, it is time to retire display ads and clunky click-to-play video in favor for highly performing auto-play in-feed solutions such as Instant-Play™ native video.
Join the Conversation
How do you captivate users in your feed-based environment? Let us know by tweeting to @AdColony. For the latest AdColony mobile news and updates, follow @AdColony on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or connect on Linkedin.
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