Barriers continue to fall for video production – an ongoing democratization process that has made its way to SMB marketing. This is a longstanding trend that goes back more than a decade with a crop of SMB video advertising players such as Spot Runner to Spotzer. But has it formed new life in the AI age?
The answer to that question bubbles up from two separate but related trends we’re watching. The art of analyst work and market watching is all about detecting trends. But it gets particularly complex – and also exciting – with disparate trends that appear to be on a crash course. A trend of trends.
For SMB video marketing, those two trends map to production and distribution. Both are being disrupted and democratized. Both were also on display at the recent L25 conference when this convergence became more evident. They flow from the recent moves of two companies: Amazon and Creatify.
Golden Age of Television
Taking those one at a time, Amazon has been making moves to broker connected TV advertising. As part of its broader diversification and growth play in digital advertising, it wants to offer video ad inventory to broaden the appeal. And it’s positioned to do so, given its Fire TV platform among other things.
“We’re in the golden age of television,” Amazon Ads’ Sam McDonnell said on stage at L25, with the average U.S. household subscribing to 5.5 streaming apps. With that supply comes fragmentation and declining ad rates. Add it all up, and the barriers to entry have never been lower for TV ads for SMBs.
Amazon has planted its flag in that movement, given its streaming stack and Amazon Studios. As noted, this makes it a formidable player in streaming TV, and the CTV ad opportunities that orbit. AmazonAds is the division that’s jumped on this opportunity with several efforts underway to provision ads.
But even though it’s Amazon, with ample size & reach, it knows it can’t go it alone. So AmazonAds is opening its doors to agency partners such as Mediassociates to help reach local advertisers. This is how it plans to scale its advertising efforts to the SMB long tail, and it’s just getting started.
L25 – What’s the Amazon Local Play in the Premium Streaming Era?
Generative Ads
On to the other macro trend that’s converging to lower barriers to SMB video marketing, the creation and production end of the spectrum is being streamlined in the age of AI. Creatify is leading this charge with a video creation engine that blends generative AI with a user-friendly video editing workflow.
In a recent product demo, we were walked through the process which hits all the marks for an SMB-frienldy UX (easier said than done). There are levels of sophistication one can choose but at its simplest configuration, users can simply enter a URL which its AI engine uses to ingest and generate content.
From there, users can do things like write scripts and upload media. Or they can edit the variations that the AI engine generates. For example, a popular format on the platform is spokesperson videos which offer thousands of options for AI personas or can create a composite of an SMB proprietor using images.
That last option will be popular for vanity-driven SMB verticals like lawyers and real estate agents. But regardless of persona, it brings video to a simple workflow and affordable price ($49 per month). And the numbers speak for themselves with 10,000 paying customers that Creatify has already attracted.
Gravitational Pull
Synthesizing these two video marketing components – production and distribution – they’re each important on their own, but will be particularly impactful together. In other words, when SMBs realize that both critical steps have come down in price and resource requirements, they may adopt en masse.
One of the reasons we’re so bullish on this opportunity is that SMBs have always coveted video advertising. The word ‘vanity’ was used above, which drives many SMBs in terms of their perceived ROI in marketing. It’s something they can show their kids, which can’t be said for things like paid search.
But like all-things SMB, it’s easier said than done. All the above has to do more than just work on paper. The proof will be in the execution, mostly hinging on scaling sales efforts to the local level. Amazon has the gravitational pull to do that, especially with its rightly-chosen route of marketing agency partners.
Meanwhile, Creatify is likewise realistic about sales challenges in our discussions with them (rare for ad-tech startups). In addition to branded sales & marketing, it will go to market through white labeling with partners such as social media companies. And who knows.. maybe Amazon will try to buy them.
Then these trends will have really converged.
Header Image Credit: Vanilla Bear Films on Unsplash
