360 Degree Video

Updated March 3, 2025

The New Betamax Or An Advertising Opp

Keeping ahead of the latest digital marketing trends can be a struggle. With 360 degree video and photos becoming more mainstream, Google looked into their initial data on advertising to see if the concept worked and how advertisers can best use the technology.

360 degree video is currently available on YouTube. The technology is also available in a similar way on Facebook with 360 degree photos and videos now available to share. As the technology matures, do you think this new video iteration is Betamax? Or, will it evolve into a mainstream opportunity?

360 Degree Video Ads

The idea beyond 360-video is the viewers’ ability to rotate their visual perspective. It’s an immersive and interactive experience, giving them a fuller picture (get it?!). National Geographic has done a great job showing off the technology. Swim with a hammerhead shark or see New Zealand’s famous glowworms.  However, the examples of 360 linked above, don’t yet show much promise. Without a VR headset at least the videos are difficult to follow, and don’t add anything more than a well-filmed HD video.

From initial experiments with 360 video and advertising, Google found:

1. 360 ads in normal videos don’t perform well. There’s a number of potential reasons behind this. But mainly it seems that people aren’t expecting 360 ads. As such, they may not notice or want or be prepared to interact with them.
2. The people who did interact interacted more. Perhaps understandably, those that did interact with the ad did more so than normal ad interactions. That’s the nature of the technology. It shows that if you find the right audience, you should expect more interactions from it.
3. 360 video ads were shared more. 41% more. Part of this, of course, is due to the novelty of the technology. But while they are relatively new, it is an excellent opportunity to ride the wave until the novelty wears off.

What does all of this mean? In summary, I think that if you have the technology to do 360 video, especially for a product or service that suits it (like travel), it may be worth the effort. Training videos are a natural extension for this technology.  If you’ve got the budget, consider investing in a camera. On the consumer side, 360 video cameras cost approximately $350. On the pro side, they can range from $500 to $60,000 (!).

Do you think this immersive video format will take off? Or fizzle like the Betamax of the 1970’s?