A recent study by comScore and EXPO reveals that professionally-produced video content used in tandem with user-generated product videos is highly synergistic in driving sales. When combined, the two media drive higher sales levels than when used alone.

The study examined results of a campaign that included a combination of a professionally-produced how-to video along with a user-generated product video created and submitted by an actual product user.

The study’s objective was to answer an important question for today’s digital advertisers: in what way do user-generated videos complement professionally-produced content, if at all? “What we found was strong evidence of incremental benefit with exposure to both forms of media,” said comScore R&D VP Frank Findley in a press release.

“In the campaign examined, professionally-produced content and product videos drove strikingly higher lifts when used together than when either was used individually. While marketers may already be familiar with the effectiveness of professional video content alone, these results suggest that even greater returns can be had by combining their use with authentic, user-generated content,” stated Findley in the PR.

According to the PR, the first group of consumers participated in a disguised exercise in order to determine the sales effectiveness of the professionally-produced content, the user-generated content, and both used together. Professionally-produced content generated a 24.7 point lift in Share of Choice for the featured product and a 16 point lift for the brand’s total line. User-generated product videos drove an 18.7 point lift in Share of Choice for the featured product and a 10 point lift for the brand’s total line.

When exposed to both professional content and user-generated product videos, lift in Share of Choice for the featured product jumped to 35.3 points for the featured product and 28 points for the brand’s total line. This shows both the value of each of these media individually and also the powerful synergy when used together.

As noted in the PR, “comScore’s Share of Choice metric is well-documented and independently-validated measure of advertising effectiveness. Share of Choice quantifies the ability of an ad to influence brand preference and has been shown to be predictive of advertising-induced sales. The metric captures actual consumer preference for a brand among a competitive set. Therefore, lifts in Share of Choice have been proven to strongly correlate with in-market sales lifts.”

Another group of consumers participated in a cued exposure exercise and were queried after being directly exposed to the content.

• Professionally-produced content alone resulted in a higher percentage of respondents understanding the importance of the key message presented than user-generated content.
• The user-generated product videos were more successful in producing emotional intensity, key message communication, and ease of relating to.
• When consumers were exposed to both professionally-produced and user-generated content, the combined increases were greater than for either of the individual media exposures alone.

“It seems that professionally-produced content and user-generated product videos are each successful at delivering different key elements to a consumer through video advertising,” said EXPO VP Marketing Jessica Thorpe in a press release. “We found that consumers perceived feature benefits as more believable when coming directly from the brand through professionally-produced content, while the unbiased user-gen videos were more believable in verifying specific product claims, such as superiority and convenience. When used together, all of the perceived gaps get filled in and consumers become more confident in their purchase decision, resulting in better sales effectiveness from the advertising.”

The results of this study revealing the synergy of professionally-produced video content and user-generated product videos in marketing campaigns is valuable information for both retailers and suppliers. For more information, comScore and EXPO will conduct a webinar on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, at 2 p.m. ET on the methodology and result