What does 57.11% mean? To us, it means that Gawker's readers are far and away more engaged in the TV show ads we partner with on our sites than video ads on internet at large.
Namely, 57% of readers who click "play" on one of our TV trailer ads will be tuned in watching the entire spot.
When it comes to matching advertising content with editorial direction, Gawker Media and TV tune ins go hand in hand. With campaigns like HBO's "True Blood" and "Hung," Showtime's "Dexter" and "Weeds," Fox's "24" or Bravo's "Real Housewives," we have been proud to showcase the ads from the shows that our readers care about - and go to read recaps of. We even throw killer themed parties to tie everything together! The HBO-Starz party, for example, celebrated our commenters and we invited dozens of them to come enjoy our rooftop.
One of the most important data-driven success metrics for these campaigns is the video tune-in trailer that we run in widescreen 800x250 Panorama ad units. Users can click play on the unit to initiate the preview or trailer video of the show, complete with sound. We then track how many users pause, mute, or unmute the video during the course of its viewing. We can even track how far each user made it- we know whether he or she watched 25 or 100% before moving to another page or stopping it.
According to Doubleclick's 2008 Benchmarks Report, the average video complete rate was 54.52%. We took that goal and raised it - our viewers complete our TV tune in videos at 57.11%. Compare that with our already-impressive average of 55.20% for all categories of video advertising (includes video game ads, alcohol-related videos, and anything in between from men's razors to Wendy's burgers) and the conclusion is clear- Gawker users are engaged. Essentially, our thousands of readers who complete watching one of our panoramas - after clicking on their own will - are therefore some of the most valuable user groups that online advertising can generate.
Kate Maxwell is an Advertising Operations Associate at Gawker Media.
