Video advertising on Sanoma’s news sites stops the scroll – research shows

Video advertising is one of the most effective ways to make an impact. These three researched facts gathered by Video Commercial Manager Tuomo Sinkkonen show that the attention value of video advertising in Sanoma’s news media environment beats the social media giants.

Fact 1: Video ads placed on news sites have higher view rate than you'd think.

People tend to spend more time on news media sites compared to other websites. The strength of news sites in terms of video advertising is that they are scrolled through 31 % slower than, for example, social media sites. 

The biggest challenge for video marketing is to get your target audience to pause at your content. According to research, a video in Sanoma’s news media environment stops the scroll. With videos watched 25% through as the baseline, every tenth person (10.3% of the audience) continues to watch after the first few seconds when a video is posted on Facebook or Instagram feed, stories or reels. In Sanoma’s news environment, half (50.1%) of the audience is still watching at that point*. 

1.8% of video ads on Facebook and Instagram are viewed through. In Sanoma’s news environment, the figure is several times higher: 24.9%**. 

So, a video ad has a much better chance of being viewed when placed in a news environment. Creative execution naturally plays an important role in whether advertising is noticed or not. 

Read how dairy company Juustoportti’s bold and colourful video advertising   stopped thumbs in Sanoma’s news media and boosted the launch of their new protein products.

Fact 2: Video ads placed on news sites have better attention value than you'd think.

Viomba’s eye movement study measured the number of ad impressions on the screen, the number of the ones that loaded, how many participants at least glanced at the advertising, and the amount of time the video ad was viewed for. 

The results show that in the mobile view of IS.fi, 83% of ads are seen in one way or another, while in a Facebook feed, for example, that number is no more than 46%***. 

When it comes to measuring attention, a news environment does quite nicely compare with social media. 

Fact 3: Creative makes the figures.

More than 600 video ads were published on IS.fi from January to March 2024. An analysis of them showed that a visually clear creative works best on news sites. The best-performing ads were the ones that provided visual pleasure. Playfulness, cheerfulness and colours do the trick, as do elements moving in a surprising direction. A close-up of a human face is an effective way to capture attention. Creative content made for social media can well be used in Sanoma’s network. When measured with video metrics, it’s likely to perform even better in that environment. 

Watch this minute long video where Tuomo offers you some creative tips and shares three key insights on video marketing in Finland.

Contact us and take your business to the next level with Sanoma’s news media video solutions.

*Source: Spots of 0–3 seconds. Nelonen Media, HS, IS, Videolle. Meta Business Manager 2023–2024, 255 million ad impressions, videos viewed up to 25% in relation to starts. Sanoma’s outstream campaigns 2023–2024. 730 million ad impressions, videos viewed up to 25% in relation to starts.

**Source: Spots of 0–3 seconds. Videos viewed 100% in relation to starts. Nelonen Media, HS, IS, Videolle. Meta Business Manager 2023–2024, 255 million ad impressions. Sanoma’s outstream campaigns 2023–2024. 730 million ad impressions.

***Source: IS instream & outstream video advertising. Viomba January–March 2024. FB feed, Lumen digital panels, IG, TikTok, Lumen studies.