Key Findings
- The ideal time for driving clicks is towards the end of the work day and into early TV primetime. Click-through-rates are slightly higher for 0:30 second ads during working hours, but fall off during the evening hours
- 0:30 second ads see 6% higher CPMs than 0:15 second ads and pricing remains relatively steady throughout the day for both video lengths
Background
While most video ad campaigns are designed to raise awareness and persuade customers (click here to see TubeMogul’s previous research on the subject), clicks remain a key metric for many advertisers. Whether the goal is getting people to share a link on Twitter, driving people to have a deeper conversation on a brand’s Facebook fan page or getting viewers to take an action like filling out a product review or actually buying a product online, a large contingent of advertisers use clicks as a barometer of specific campaign goals, especially where survey and other metrics can fall short (i.e. measuring word-of-mouth sharing among friends).
The question then arises for these marketers: you might have reached the right viewer, but did you reach them at the best time to drive these clicks?
Methodology
Analyzing over 23 million pre-roll ad views in the U.S., TubeMogul utilized its real-time-buying data and campaign statistics to take a closer look at pricing and click-through-rates by time of day. Campaigns spanned multiple industry categories, including top brands in the consumer packaged goods, restaurant and retail industries. Both 0:15 and 0:30 second pre-roll ads were included.
The primary metrics considered were click through rates (CTR) and completion rates. TubeMogul is planning follow-up research looking at other branding and engagement metrics as trends occur and more data becomes available.
Every timestamp in the data was localized in order to account for the differing time zones within the United States.
Results
Overall, completion rates do not differ significantly throughout the day. 0:30 second ads, while mostly stable, dip in the early morning hours and late afternoon, falling 10% by 3PM from their peak close at midnight.
In contrast, click-through-rates follow a distinct pattern during the course of a day, bottoming out around 2am and then steadily climbing during business hours to a peak around 5pm. After 5pm, clicks decline abruptly, reaching less than half the peak value by midnight.
Click-through-rates are slightly higher for 0:30 second ads during working hours, but fall below the rates for 0:15 second ads during the evening hours.
CPMs for 0:15 and 0:30 second pre-roll ads decline slightly late at night and rebound gradually during the day. However, the variance over the course of the day is only approximately 10% for both video lengths.
While CPMs for the two video lengths closely mirror each other over the course of a day, 0:30 second ads consistently commanded a higher CPM than 0:15 second ads ($9.96 on average, compared to $9.42).
Cost-per-click (CPC) is very similar for both video lengths during the main part of the day (7am-7pm). However, as the CTR of 0:30 second ads fall in the evening, the CPC becomes more attractive for 0:15 second ads served between 8pm and midnight.
Conclusions
- There are clearly more favorable times to serve an ad in order to maximize traffic from clicks, suggesting media buying platforms that use optimization algorithms can maximize ad efficiency by buying at ideal times.
- Longer ad formats are in higher demand by advertisers amidst less supply, resulting in an average price premium of $0.54 for 0:30 second ads.
- The variance of CTRs and CPMs between the two video lengths is very minimal during business hours – making CPC essentially the same for each length in the middle of the day. However, for advertisers using both ad lengths with clicks as a goal, they might consider increasing volume for their 0:15 second ads during primetime hours to take advantage of higher CTRs during this time.
While most video ad campaigns are designed to raise awareness and persuade customers (click here to see TubeMogul’s previous research on the subject), clicks remain a key metric for many advertisers. Whether the goal is getting people to share a link on Twitter, driving people to have a deeper conversation on a brand’s Facebook fan page or getting viewers to take an action like filling out a product review or actually buying a product online, a large contingent of advertisers use clicks as a barometer of specific campaign goals, especially where survey and other metrics can fall short (i.e. measuring word-of-mouth sharing among friends).
The question then arises for these marketers: you might have reached the right viewer, but did you reach them at the best time to drive these clicks?
Methodology
Analyzing over 23 million pre-roll ad views in the U.S., TubeMogul utilized its real-time-buying data and campaign statistics to take a closer look at pricing and click-through-rates by time of day. Campaigns spanned multiple industry categories, including top brands in the consumer packaged goods, restaurant and retail industries. Both 0:15 and 0:30 second pre-roll ads were included.
The primary metrics considered were click through rates (CTR) and completion rates. TubeMogul is planning follow-up research looking at other branding and engagement metrics as trends occur and more data becomes available.
Every timestamp in the data was localized in order to account for the differing time zones within the United States.
Results
Overall, completion rates do not differ significantly throughout the day. 0:30 second ads, while mostly stable, dip in the early morning hours and late afternoon, falling 10% by 3PM from their peak close at midnight.
In contrast, click-through-rates follow a distinct pattern during the course of a day, bottoming out around 2am and then steadily climbing during business hours to a peak around 5pm. After 5pm, clicks decline abruptly, reaching less than half the peak value by midnight.
Click-through-rates are slightly higher for 0:30 second ads during working hours, but fall below the rates for 0:15 second ads during the evening hours.
CPMs for 0:15 and 0:30 second pre-roll ads decline slightly late at night and rebound gradually during the day. However, the variance over the course of the day is only approximately 10% for both video lengths.
While CPMs for the two video lengths closely mirror each other over the course of a day, 0:30 second ads consistently commanded a higher CPM than 0:15 second ads ($9.96 on average, compared to $9.42).
Cost-per-click (CPC) is very similar for both video lengths during the main part of the day (7am-7pm). However, as the CTR of 0:30 second ads fall in the evening, the CPC becomes more attractive for 0:15 second ads served between 8pm and midnight.
Conclusions
- There are clearly more favorable times to serve an ad in order to maximize traffic from clicks, suggesting media buying platforms that use optimization algorithms can maximize ad efficiency by buying at ideal times.
- Longer ad formats are in higher demand by advertisers amidst less supply, resulting in an average price premium of $0.54 for 0:30 second ads.
- The variance of CTRs and CPMs between the two video lengths is very minimal during business hours – making CPC essentially the same for each length in the middle of the day. However, for advertisers using both ad lengths with clicks as a goal, they might consider increasing volume for their 0:15 second ads during primetime hours to take advantage of higher CTRs during this time.
Overall, completion rates do not differ significantly throughout the day. 0:30 second ads, while mostly stable, dip in the early morning hours and late afternoon, falling 10% by 3PM from their peak close at midnight.
In contrast, click-through-rates follow a distinct pattern during the course of a day, bottoming out around 2am and then steadily climbing during business hours to a peak around 5pm. After 5pm, clicks decline abruptly, reaching less than half the peak value by midnight.
Click-through-rates are slightly higher for 0:30 second ads during working hours, but fall below the rates for 0:15 second ads during the evening hours.
CPMs for 0:15 and 0:30 second pre-roll ads decline slightly late at night and rebound gradually during the day. However, the variance over the course of the day is only approximately 10% for both video lengths.
While CPMs for the two video lengths closely mirror each other over the course of a day, 0:30 second ads consistently commanded a higher CPM than 0:15 second ads ($9.96 on average, compared to $9.42).
Cost-per-click (CPC) is very similar for both video lengths during the main part of the day (7am-7pm). However, as the CTR of 0:30 second ads fall in the evening, the CPC becomes more attractive for 0:15 second ads served between 8pm and midnight.
