Thanks to high-speed Internet access and video compression techniques, the use of digital video is now widespread, and increasingly popular among consumers who frequent YouTube and other user-generated content sites. For advertisers, digital video brings sight, sound, and motion to the Internet experience.

eMarketer predicts that spending on digital media advertising will reach $4.5 billion by 2011, up from $775 million in 2007, and the number of online advertising viewers will grow from just over 111 million to almost 175 million. A survey conducted by PermissionTV shows that more than two thirds of respondents are making online video their primary focus in 2009 Internet advertising campaigns.

Marketers can create a variety of digital video formats, from straightforward advertising messages or demonstrations to creative content designed to entertain. If you’re considering this online advertising tactic for your growing business, consider these five tips from Jivox, an online video advertising company based in San Mateo, Calif.:

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1. Keep it simple. Viewers don’t want to read large volumes of text on their computer screen, and the online environment in which your ad will appear will already have a lot going on visually. To stand out, your ad needs to be clean and concise.

2. Get to the point. Research shows that people decide if they want to read more about a topic on a Web site in 8 seconds or less. Ads that contain specific, immediate benefits, such as a promotion or discount, resonate strongly.

3. Be smart about text. If you have a lot of text, you may need to vary the size of the type to allow it to fit into the ad space. Never use more than two type sizes in one ad, and avoid using all caps.

4. Use relevant visuals. The visuals in a video ad should be eye-catching and communicate a relevant message. Clean, simple graphics are more likely to attract a viewer’s attention.

5. Test and retest. Video is such a flexible medium that it pays to experiment with different creative, formats, and messages to find the combination that works best. Set aside a portion of your budget to test different approaches, so you can see how response rates fluctuate when you change the visuals, call-to-action, or price points or add a promotional offer.

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