Contents
| 1. Introduction 2. Reporting challenges 3. Why video duration is important 4. Applying video duration in your taxonomy 5. Final thoughts |
Introduction
Whilst there’s an ever-growing number of breakdowns, metrics and report types available directly from DSP or social platform reporting, there’s many limitations in extracting key parameters you need to analyse performance and make data-led decisions.
Limitations include the inability to report on certain parameters that you would assume are available, or the inability to generate a single report that unifies parameters due to restrictions on the report settings.
In the latter case, a suitable workaround is to pull multiple reports and stitch the datasets via campaign, ad group or ad IDs. So, whilst it’s possible to manoeuvre around this challenge, it requires more time and effort to get the outcomes you need.
Utilising platform APIs also removes barriers as they offer an increased set of parameters and provide, in cases, the ability to do this in a single report. However, not all brands may have the necessary means to benefit from this approach, and relying on platform reporting is necessary.
An effective workaround that all brands can adopt, is creating a mandated naming taxonomy across all levels of platform set up that enables you to report on data points that platforms don’t offer in their reporting. This article will walk through an example of an important data point, video duration, commonly not available across platforms, and how an effective naming convention enables you to report on this.
Reporting challenges
Many brands I’ve worked on have requested to see spend and performance delivered by the video durations they’re activating. However, it surprises many that this isn’t as easy as it should be as it’s often not a specific breakdown you can select when creating your platform report.
Below is an overview of where video duration is or isn’t available as a breakdown in social platform reporting:
| Platform | Video duration reportable? |
|---|---|
| Meta | No |
| TikTok | No |
| Snapchat | No |
| Yes | |
| No |
Why video duration is important
Paid Social video assets are delivered on fast and frequent user scrolling environments, with an infinite amount of content – everyone is fighting for any user attention they can get.
Brands should adhere to platform recommend video durations, for optimal user experience and performance. On Paid Social, this is anywhere between 6-15s across the board.
It’s beneficial to test videos at different durations to understand what is engaging users and driving the outcomes brands want from their campaigns. From here, buying teams can turn off sub-optimal video assets mid-flight, and improve future campaign planning.
It doesn’t seem plausible that many major platforms do not offer easy video duration reporting out of the box. This is why including video duration in naming taxonomy is pivotal for effective analysis.
Applying video duration in your taxonomy
Video duration needs to be included in the ad-level taxonomy as your video assets are uploaded and assigned to the ad level in platforms.
See below an example of ad-level taxonomy, including video duration:
Taxonomy:
Market_Brand Name_Campaign Name_Creative Asset Name_Creative Asset Version_Month Year_Format Type_Video Duration
Example:
UK_FreshFlow_WinterWarmers_Duvet_V1_01-26_Video_15s
Parameters in your ad-level taxonomy should focus on the creative asset that’s being served so when you pull ad-level reporting, you can easily identify what assets are performing best to your campaign goals. Format type is also a great addition to your ad-level taxonomy, as it can also be challenging to split performance by a static image or video asset.
Other fundamental information such as objective and audience targeting can be covered at higher levels in the platform, such as campaign and ad group to avoid repeating parameters and making your taxonomy relevant to the settings applied at each level in the platform. However, it’s not incorrect to include these parameters at ad-level should you wish.
It’s important that your taxonomy is easily readable and interpretable. Whilst coded or abbreviated terms are often deployed to shorten taxonomies, it can often create confusion and requires more effort to interpret.
Final thoughts
Still to this day, I observe many brands not applying a video duration parameter in their ad-level naming taxonomy, highlighting negligence of fundamental information and a potential misunderstanding of what is available in platform reporting.
Video Duration is just one of many data points that is not easily available in platform reporting, and it requires experienced taxonomy builders with knowledge of platform reporting capabilities, to work around these pitfalls.
If you’re starting your taxonomy from scratch or want to quality check your existing taxonomy, feel free to contact me below.
Slevin Consulting 