How to make your online video (OLV) advertising work harder

Online video is growing fast. UK video display spend rose 20% to £8.3bn in 2024, but spending more on video and getting more from it are not the same thing. What separates the two is rarely the creative or the budget. It is whether the channel is planned as part of a connected media strategy, and whether you can measure what it actually drove.

New to OLV? Start with what online video advertising is.

How does online video work alongside your other channels?

Online video is at its strongest when it is not run in isolation. The same person sees your ads across OLV, CTV and display through a single week, so the goal is for those exposures to reinforce each other rather than duplicate.

That depends on recognising the individual across channels and devices, matching first-party data to a person-based identity rather than cookies or device IDs, which are unreliable and fading.

Get that right and reach, sequencing and frequency can be planned across the whole plan. Get it wrong and you pay to hit the same people repeatedly while missing others.

Where does online video fit in the customer journey?

Online video is one of the few digital channels that can support both brand building and performance objectives.

It can introduce a brand or product to new audiences, reinforce messages already delivered through channels such as CTV, and re-engage people who have shown interest but not yet acted. Because video combines sight, sound and motion, it often carries more of the storytelling power associated with traditional TV while retaining the targeting, optimisation and measurement capabilities of digital media.

The exact role will depend on your goals, but the strongest campaigns tend to treat online video as part of a broader customer journey rather than a standalone tactic.

How can your video creative work harder?

You do not need a broadcast production budget to get more from a single asset. A few formats stretch what you already have:

• Branded video wraps placements in your own identity, so every impression reinforces who you are.
• Interactive video lets viewers shop or explore inside the ad, turning a passive view into engagement.
• Video banners run your video creative inside standard display placements, extending reach.
• Companion banners keep a persistent display unit alongside the video, holding your message after it ends.

Existing content, such as a longer brand film or even repurposed social or podcast material, can often be cut down to feed these rather than shot from scratch.

How do you measure online video beyond views?

Views and completion rates tell you an ad played, not that it worked. Measuring OLV means connecting exposure to what happened next, whether that is a site visit, a search, an online purchase or an in-store sale, and showing the campaign contributed rather than simply reaching people who would have converted anyway.

Because online video often sits in the middle of the customer journey, that depends on connecting the same exposure to the eventual outcome across channels. Ask any partner how they close that loop, whether they can measure performance across channels, and whether they can demonstrate incremental lift rather than relying on correlation alone.

Where should you start?

Start with the outcome you want and the audiences you are trying to reach, then judge each partner on the capabilities that decide whether OLV performs. Look for:

• A durable, person-based identity that connects activity across channels and devices without relying on third-party cookies.
• Cross-channel frequency control, so OLV, CTV and display are managed together rather than competing.
• Creative flexibility to get more from limited assets.
• Outcome measurement with incrementality, tying exposure to real actions, not just views.

Epsilon Online Video is one example of this approach. It matches your first-party data to the CORE Identity graph, creating a consistent view of customers and prospects across channels and devices. From there, machine learning ranks people by their likelihood to take your desired action, helping direct spend towards the audiences most likely to respond. Campaigns can then be activated across more than 17,000 publisher properties with frequency managed across channels, while measurement connects exposure to real business outcomes.

Cheerz, for instance, used video-led activity to boost awareness and growth while proving the impact on sales.

Download our Digital Media Buyer’s Guide to find out how a smarter OLV strategy fits into a better digital media plan.

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