According to a recent study from eMarketer, online advertising is expected to generate $39.5 billion in sales in 2012 – which would result in a 23.3 percent increase over 2011, Mashable reports.

It would also mark the first year that marketers spend more funds on online ads than print ads, confirming the fact that B2B marketing is headed toward a digital direction.

One of the more popular ways to initiate contact with a customer via online ads is with messages before and during videos. Consumers have become accustomed to dealing with such inconveniences in order to view their shows or videos in high quality, but marketers should be careful not to stretch the boundaries of viewing-length acceptability.

A recent study from Poll Position revealed that viewers found online video ads to be acceptable as long as they lasted no more than 15 seconds.

Specifically, 54 percent of respondents believed 15 seconds to be an agreeable amount of time to wait for a video. Only 12 percent thought 30 seconds was okay, while predictably far fewer – 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively – thought 45 seconds or 60 seconds was tolerable.

The bottom line for B2B marketers? Keep your messages short and simple or you'll lose the attention of your viewers. 

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