Pinterest and GroupM team up to analyse video ad viewability
This analysis shows that the MRC view rates on Pinterest are three times higher than the average rates on comparable mobile platforms.
‘Viewability is key, and not all impressions are created equal.’
Antoine Le Nôtre, Head of Measurement & Insights, Pinterest France, Southern Europe & Benelux
Viewability is key
With many big events postponed or cancelled this year, and advertising budgets slashed, the pressure on marketing teams has ramped up yet another notch. Doing more with less has become the norm – but video ads on Pinterest may give you the solution you need to do just that.
According to IAB Europe’s report, Attitudes to Digital Video Advertising, nearly 60% of advertisers are investing in online video to grow their brand or gain a competitive advantage, while 40% of agencies are using it to tell brand stories.1 It makes sense to put ad spend where your audience is, but video ads can only be effective if they’re seen by real people.
Viewability is key, and not all impressions are created equal. That's why the Media Rating Council (MRC), based on its redefined measurement standard, now stipulates that in order for video to be considered viewable, 50% of its content must be visible on screen for at least two seconds and seen by a real person. What's more, only impressions that have really been viewed can be taken into account when measuring reach, frequency and Gross Rating Points (GRP) for video campaigns.
That's why Pinterest and GroupM have teamed up to gain a deeper understanding of how mobile platforms compare with each other in terms of viewability.
How is video ad viewability defined?
For an impression of a video ad to be considered genuine, the MRC requires 50% of the video to be seen for a minimum of two seconds by a real person.
At Pinterest, we agree with this approach. Here's why: Measuring reach without taking viewability into account can lead advertisers to believe that their campaign has reached a large portion of their target audience, when in fact, some people may not even have had 50% of the ad in view for at least two seconds when watching the video.
Benchmarking van zichtbaarheid op Pinterest
Pinterest werkt samen met MOAT, Integral Ad Science (IAS) en DoubleVerify om de zichtbaarheid van advertenties op het platform te meten. Dit zijn externe zichtbaarheidsleveranciers die zijn gecertificeerd en geaccrediteerd door de MRC. Om beter te begrijpen hoe platforms op basis van mobiele feeds zich verhouden op het gebied van zichtbaarheid van videoadvertenties, is Pinterest in september 2019 een samenwerking aangegaan met WPP.
WPP selecteerde vijf campagnes op basis van de volgende criteria:
1
Campagnes waarbij Pinterest en minstens twee andere op mobiele feeds gebaseerde platforms zoals Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat of Twitter betrokken waren
2
Dezelfde korte video-items (vijf tot vijftien seconden) die op de platforms werden weergegeven
3
Campagnes die zijn geoptimaliseerd voor bereik, merkherkenning of videoweergaven
4
Resultaten gemeten met een zichtbaarheidsleverancier die door de MRC is geaccrediteerd voor dezelfde campagne, zoals MOAT of IAS
Benchmark – Video view rate
GroupM analysed 221 million video impressions across five brand campaigns in three different categories (health and beauty products, food and drink, luxury) from September 2019 to February 2020. Based on the MRC standard, the view rate for video ads on Pinterest was three times higher than the average for social media platforms.
Video completion rate benchmark
Additionally, the video completion rate on Pinterest (the percentage of times the ad played to the end) outperformed the average social media platform by 2x.
3xincrease in video views on Pinterest in 2020 compared to 2019
Context matters
It's also important to remember that context is key. On Pinterest, there’s a natural alignment between what people are there to do (get ideas and inspiration) and what advertisers are there to do (enable them to act on that inspiration). That's why view rates for Pinterest video ads are three times higher than those of other mobile platforms where video ads can be skipped by users. Video ads on Pinterest are additive to the Pinner experience. They don’t interrupt, they inspire. And because there’s less organic video content on Pinterest overall compared to other platforms, it’s easier for video ads to capture the attention of Pinners.
In 2020, video views on Pinterest tripled.1 The bottom line: Pinterest video ads can be a great driver of ROI for marketers. That’s something to keep top of mind while planning for the rest of the year and beyond.