It staggers me that at this time of the year, when consumers are in a virtual shopping frenzy thinking about what on earth to buy uncle Jim in Nebraska for the holidays, that for the most part, retailers are still not using video to promote their products. Here is a simple test. Go to YouTube, search for your company name and your top products. If you don’t find your company represented in the first page of results, then you have a problem. You are missing business and it is not all that difficult to fix. Triangle Direct can optimize and submit your video to the top engines in a matter of days. If you make a good and interesting video it could reach millions of consumers who are looking to buy your products. That is what viral marketing is all about, and you still have time to make an in your holiday sales tallies.
In a recent study by Marketing Sherpa, reproduced in the Marketing Pilgrim, it appears that viral video is taking off, albeit a little slower than expected. Almost 30% of marketers polled reported great results from their viral video campaigns. Only two forms of promotion received a better reception; micro sites developed for a specific product or launch with the “cool factor”, and online games or puzzles. It seems that the downside of this poll is that if you put out a dull video no-one will watch it.
Given that two thirds of the people who responded to this poll reported that they were planning on a video marketing campaign this year, the message is clear. Do an interesting guerrilla video and take advantage of the window of opportunity that video presents.
Just in case you missed them, here are a few interesting facts and observations from late 2006 about the online video market from EMarketer..
*123 million Americans will view online video at least once a month in 2007
*27% of online video viewers watch news at least once a week
*26% watch funny videos at least once a week
*66% of video viewers have watched online video ads and 44% have taken an action on what they had seen
*76% of users will tell a friend about a video they have seen
*Podcasting grew 17-fold in the six months ending April 2006.
*YouTube gets around 65,000 new video uploads a day.
*In August 2006, 110 million US internet users watched video online
*US users stream approximately 7 billion videos a month.
Pretty impressive, and these numbers are growing every day. If you are an etailer and don’t use video to promote your site and your brand, it’s time to think about where you are putting your resources, and why you are not participating in this market.
Great article by Jim Meskauskas in I Media connection talking about the value of online video compared to the traditional method of TV advertising. One of the big predictions of last year was a cataclysmic shift in advertising budgets from TV to online. Some talked of an 89% increase in online video ad spending. So we are already into March. Have we seen that shift. No. Jim compared online video to soccer in America. It is predicted to be popular, everyone assumes that it is being strongly supported, but where are all the fans? The drawback to online video advertising from an advertiser standpoint seems to be that it is difficult to measure. The success of a campaign cannot be monitored in the same way as TV, so people are suspicious.
But the growing reach of online video cannot be ignored. I did a search today on Google for “shoes”. The number 2 and 3 listings were a Youtube video of some band. If sketchers had done some video optimization and rocketed to the top of Google with a catchy watchable commercial, I think someone would be getting a raise.
There are many advantages in using video to promote your website and your products:
People love video. A consumer is a lot more likely to remember and refer back to an interesiting video than a print advertisement.
Videos are extremely cheap to produce. Compared to the cost of a traditional commercial, video is incredibly cost effective.
Broadband is exploding in usage and popularity. It is widely estimated that nearly half of all US households will have broadband by the end of the year. Now people have the ability to watch video without long download times or quality issues.
Video helps break up text on the pages of a website.
Video attracts the coveted 18-30 demographic. This generation considers video to be a reliable source of news and information. Online video for them is second nature.
And the good news for all etailers is that it is inexpensive and relatively easy to involve yourself in this advertising revolution. Contact us for video optimization. Send us your video. Done.
Great article on Advertising.com showing that online video is not going away, and will become a new area for tremendous marketing opportunities, as video optimization and video distribution through blogs becomes more and more commonplace.
According to one study, 66% of internet users over the age of 18 are viewing online video at least once a week. That leads to a logical question for etailers. Where is your online video?
Ikea is getting in on the craze of consumer generated content and viral marketing by gathering home made videos of people coming up with innovative ways of making a bed. The winning entry walks off with $5,000, but what does Ikea get out of the deal? A lot more than $5,000. People are undoubtedly going to come up with strange and unusual videos that will spread like wildfire and promote the IKEA brand all over the internet. So why are more companies not doing this? Beats me. Every company that brands its products and wants to be well known should be using blogs and video optimization as a matter of course.
I saw an interesting article on the Site Pro News blog. Jeremy Bader was discussing the possibility that mobile devices, and in particular the new Iphone from Apple, would contribute to a fundamental shift in the way websites are designed. With the increased capabity of computers and the availability and popularity of video, search engines will need to be able to recognize and rank dynamic content and multimedia. As the engines shift, the sites that react the quickest will see the best gains. Just like the companies that embrace video optimization and blog marketing. They also will see a competitive edge over their less enlightened peers.
It was only a matter of time before etailers started capitolizing on the popularity of online video. Not only are companies using video to promote their products, but they are also putting links into the ads that lead into etailers websites. Now consumers watching a video clip of the new Die Hard movie will be able to click on Bruce Willis’ watch, car or gun and be directed to a website where they can buy that exact product. This service, from Videoclix is called “hot spotting” or “plinking” and will be available soon. This will open up paid search to a whole new world of revenue streams, and will make video and video optimization increasingly important. The more places your video goes, the more exposure your ads will receive. Imagine having this technology available in all video search results, regardless of where your listing is positioned.
Interesting article from Pew Internet. Apparently, over 55% of all teens aged 12-17 use online social networking sites. 48% of teens visit social networking sites more than once a day,and a whopping 91% said they use these platforms to stay in touch with friends. Myspace is by far the most popular site for this demographic, with over 85% saying they updated their MySpace profile most often, with Facebook coming in a distant second with 7%.
So what does all of this mean for etailers? It means that consumers in general and teens in particular have a new way of forming opinions and sharing information. And what are they most likely to share? An online video that catches their attention. Etailers who are not using video and video optimization techniques to pique the interest of this prized demographic and crack into their MySpace world are missing a tremendous marketing opportunity.
