The advent of video ads on social media

Social media platforms, led by Facebook, are noticeably going all out in their attempt to encourage brands to pay for online video ads. And with the number of people now using devices on a regular basis, they might just convince marketers it is worth their while.

"These companies went from just talking about or lightly testing video to deploying it in a pretty big way. There's kind of a perfect storm now of consumer behavior, technology, development and content availability," said a research analyst at eMarketer.

The audience is obviously there and they're willingly spending much time online. In fact, it is so evident that marketers are now taking the platform seriously. What's more, these social media companies are capable of targeting certain demographics that advertisers prefer because of the trove of user data they are sitting on.

Drawn by the ever-increasing numbers of social media users, brands are now looking to spend around USD 8 billion for video ads for this year alone. Facebook is the prime choice for video ads, especially if the target user segments are those who are on mobile. Twitter and YouTube are also perfect platforms for marketing big events.

Video ads online cost almost as much as some television ads -- but that's not to say that TV is suddenly not going to matter. Television advertising is still going to be a critical point for any marketer; it's just that they are now paying equal attention online to keep up with its phenomenal growth.

However, social media platforms and marketers alike have to avoid overwhelming users with too much video ads or it will ruin their online experience.

For marketers, it is recommended to try different types of tone for the video to be sure that it catches users' attention and help them retain the information. Creative and humorous clips tailored for your brand are going to hit when done well.