Consumer Goods Marketers go beyond ads with Online Video.

Marketers across categories are racing to take advantage of the proliferation of online video content and consumers’ increasing engagement with that content. And the consumer products sector is no exception.

“Digital video content, whether delivered through a computer, mobile phone, handheld device or TV monitor, has the potential to ignite two-way conversations between consumers and brands,” said Tobi Elkin, author of the new eMarketer report “Consumer Packaged Goods Sector Taps into Online Video.”

“It is especially important for marketers of notoriously low-involvement consumer packaged goods, such as food, household and personal care items,” Ms. Elkin said.

Consumers appear fairly receptive to marketers’ use of new media, including online video content, according to a September 2009 Cone study.

Consumer packaged goods marketers have incorporated online video content into their marketing strategies in a variety of ways—on YouTube channels, video blog posts, content sponsorships and product placement. Typically, marketers deploy online video content in the form of short video clips, the majority of which are no more than 2 minutes long. The clips are sometimes repurposed TV ads, but increasingly they are edited versions of TV spots or original video content created by the marketer or even consumers.

Putting a hard number on the dollars spent by consumer packaged goods marketers on online video content is difficult, as outlays are not included in measures of paid advertising spending. Assessing its effectiveness is likewise a problem for marketers. The same metrics issues that bedevil marketers trying to assess the effect of online advertising on their brands also plague the ability to evaluate the performance of video content.

“Consumer product marketers need to examine consumer interaction rates with online video to determine whether their business objectives are being met and to assess the effect on brand health and return on investment,” said Ms. Elkin.

For more information at http://www.emarketer.com