Video Engagement On Mobile Almost Three Times Higher Than Desktop

New data from marketing technology platform Unruly shows average CTR for mobile campaigns has tripled in 12 months; desktop engagement rates also increase in 2013.

October 15, 2013 – Online video viewers are almost three times more likely to click through to a brand’s website from their smartphone or tablet than their laptop or desktop computer.

That’s according to new data from marketing technology company Unruly, which found that video engagement rates on mobile devices have soared over the last 12 months.

Research from the global leaders in social video marketing found that the average click-through-rate on smartphones and tablets has more than tripled over the last year.  The company also found mobile interaction rates have more than doubled over the same time period. Engagement rates on desktops also increased during the year, but not at the same rate as mobile.

Using data collected from the social video platform’s 3,000+ branded campaigns, the company measured performance of both mobile and desktop campaigns against a variety of metrics, including plays, CTRs, interaction rates and replay rates.

The key findings include:

• The average CTR for mobile campaigns (13.64%) is almost three times that of desktop (5.45%);
• The average click-through-rate of mobile video campaigns has increased by 265.7% over the last four quarters, rising from 3.73% in Q4 2012 to 13.64% in Q3 2013;
• Interaction rates for mobile have more than doubled in the last year (up 105.63%), to 22.64% in Q3 2013;
• In the last two quarters, click-through-rates on mobile have been more than double what has been recorded on desktop (average rates of 11.18% and 4.25% respectively – an uplift of 163.05%);
• Not to be discounted, desktop CTR (up 151.15% to 5.45%) and interaction rates (170.74% uplift to 15.08%) have also increased over the last 12 months;
• Month-on-month mobile replay rates fluctuated throughout 2013, but year-to-date figures have still been one-and-a-half times higher than desktop rates.

With video consumption and engagement increasing rapidly across mobile devices, it’s not surprising that advertisers have followed consumers. According to the IAB’s Internet Advertising Revenue Report, advertising revenue in the US from digital video reached $1.3B in the first half of this year – a 24 percent increase from last year. The report, compiled by Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), also found mobile ad revenues jumped 145% to more than $3 billion in the first half of the year from the same period a year ago.

“Everyone knows that mobile video consumption is exploding. What we’re seeing in 2013 is an increase in brands requesting mobile-only social video campaigns, with short-form video formats which are native to mobile, such as Vine and Instagram, helping to drive this growth,” said Matt Cooke, co-founder and CTO at Unruly.

Unruly’s findings not only point to the outstanding performance of mobile, they are evidence of the success of video as an effective ad format. According to a recent report from MediaMind*, banner ad CTRs in 2012 averaged just 0.1%.

Cooke added: “Because it’s emotionally powerful and so easy to share, video is the most engaging format in the marketer’s tool box, with the potential to ignite and amplify conversations at speed and scale. In 2011, we were first to market with a social video product for mobile and we’ve found the format to be extremely effective, especially as we’ve built out the enriched functionality and calls to action in the mobile player.”

UNRULY, UNRULY SHARERANK, UNRULY VIRAL VIDEO CHART, UNRULY SOCIAL VIDEO LAB and logos and associated marks are trademarks of Unruly Group. Other marks are owned by their respective owners.

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About Unruly

Marketing technology company Unruly is the leading global platform for social video marketing and works with top brands and their agencies to predict the emotional impact of their videos and get them watched, tracked and shared across paid, owned and earned media. We use our proprietary technology to turn target audiences into engaged viewers and engaged viewers into customers and advocates. Our end-to-end solution cracks the code on social video sharing. Brands can predict shareability with Unruly Labs, engage their audience with Unruly Activate and prove social ROI with Unruly Analytics where we provide real-time competitive benchmarks across 2.7 million customizable data points.

The Unruly Viral Video Chart has tracked 365 billion video views since 2006. With an engaged audience of over a billion consumers, across the full range of mobile, tablet and second screen devices, Unruly has delivered, tracked and audited 3.5 billion video views across 3,000+ social video campaigns for over 400 brands including Volkswagen, Dove, Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Microsoft, Warner Bros and adidas. We’ve worked with 60% of Interbrand’s Top 100 Best Global Brands and our mission is to deliver the most awesome social video advertising campaigns on the planet.

Founded in 2006, Unruly has 12 offices and employs over 130 people globally. In 2012, Unruly secured a $25 million Series A investment led by Amadeus, Van den Ende & Deitmers and Business Growth Fund – the largest ever for a private company in the social video space. The company has won over 15 awards including “Best Content Distribution Service” at the Braves Awards; “Digital Innovator of the Year” at the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100; “International Management Team of the Year” at the BVCA Awards 2013 and #14 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA. To find out more visit www.unrulymedia.com.