Accelerated by last year’s rise in video content consumption online, publishing sites are still finding value in creating and uploading new video content. But while it’s become easier and easier to publish video content online, most digital media outlets are still looking for ways to increase engagement.
Viewer sessions, video plays, and total hours of video watched are up significantly since the beginning of last year. And while the numbers have fluctuated during the pandemic (sometimes up to 70% more than average), the number of hours viewers are watching video online is still up 47% on the last year.
That increase in viewership means a lot more opportunity for revenue. A report from Cisco reports video content will make up 82% of all content online by 2022. But besides creating engaging content with a great storyline and high-quality video/audio, it’s important to make sure your end user is actually engaging with your video content. The best content works for both your audience and your advertisers, and increasing engagement is the way to win both.
3 Things Digital Media Publishers Can Do Right Now to Increase Video Engagement
In a JW Player customer survey, over 50% of online publishers report their biggest challenge is increasing engagement. Luckily, JW Player comes with several optional features which automatically help publishers increase bothuser engagement and viewing time. As a publisher, you’ve got to create engaging videos—ones that encourage your audience to press play, stay through the end, and stay on your channel.
In a customer survey from the end of last year, 9 out of 10 people reported seeing an increase in video viewing when using JW Player. With article matching, a best-in-class viewing experience, a robust recommendations engine, and in-depth analytics, JW Player helps publishers easily increase their video engagement. Here’s how we do it:
1. Keep your audience on-screen longer with data-driven video Recommendations
Once your audience starts actively watching your expertly blended mix of original and third-party content, you’ll want to keep them engaged—and keep them engaged longer! Similar to Netflix’s, video recommendation playlists from JW Player can deepen engagement by encouraging multi-video viewing sessions while also creating a more personalized site experience.
Personalized content keeps your audience engaged longer. By using data on similar videos watched and completed, our recommendations engine delivers contextually relevant video suggestions curated for your viewers. In high traffic areas of your site, like your homepage, we recommend using a trending playlist of your property’s most popular videos, while related videos work best in individual site sections and on article pages.
The JW Player Recommendations engine guarantees your valuable library of video content keeps generating views, regardless of where your visitors spend time on your site. In one instance, Apartment Therapy saw a 30% increase of video views on their site and a 40% increase of views on The Kitchn when using the Recommendations tool.
2. Use Article Matching to target your best audience
One of the many challenges facing publishers today is getting fresh, new video content embedded within pages that don’t yet have video content. Every page of your website that doesn’t include a video embed is a missed opportunity to monetize.
With JW Player’s Article Matching feature, publishers report increases in more on-site plays and more click-throughs on their videos. Article Matching automatically inserts a relevant video from your content library into any post from the moment it goes live. Because the process is automated, you can provide this benefit without complicating your publishing workflow.
According to a Hubspot study, 83% of consumers consider sharing video content with their friends if it’s specific to their interests. There’s no question that being able to serve relevant video content at volume is a key driver for continued engagement.
National Review saw a 19% lift in video plays and a CTR on click-to-play videos by 71% after enabling Article Matching. With the ability to quickly and easily expand a video strategy, Article Matching enables publishers to see an immediate increase in revenue opportunity.
3. Get to know your audience better with in-depth Analytics
Every publisher knows the value of a relevant audience. When your objective is to boost your video ad CPM rates, you’ve got to get inside your viewers’ heads. It’s important to know who they are, how they’re finding their way to your site, and what they hope to see when they get there.
With advanced analytics (inside your JW Player Analytics dashboard), you’ve got all the information you need to optimize your content to audience interests. Make strategic content decisions to optimize both your content and your ad views. By integrating our video analytics with your existing tools, including Google Analytics, Adobe, Nielsen, Comscore, Conviva & more, you’re able to better understand your audience and deliver the content they’re craving.
If you’re publishing content online but not getting the video engagement you need, contact us to enable these important features. Increasing your video engagement doesn’t have to be hard when using features like our Article Matching and Recommendations Engine. Focus your efforts on creating more content for your audience, and let your video player work to increase engagement automatically.