Online Video Impacts Purchase Decisions

According to eMarketer, “The effect of online video on the purchase cycle appears to be strengthening.”  In a study conducted by Google and Compete, 40% of online apparel shoppers visited a website as a result of watching apparel videos online.

The most-watched videos were “customer testimonials and reviews” followed by “email marketing videos.”  Ads with video, consumer-generated videos and video that appeared while watching content on a TV network website were also common places where consumers watched a video while shopping.

The top product videos people watched were for automobiles, electronics, toys/video games, computer hardware/software, food and wine, clothing, furniture and health & beauty items.  People found these videos primarily on homepages and product pages (Source: e-tailing group 2012).

So before you write about your product or service, you may want to think video first.  Your customers are searching for video.  It’s time to say, “action.”

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Video is Big, Like Billions Big

comScore released that American viewed 8.4 billion video ads in March 2012.  Outlets such as Hulu, Google sites, ESPN, CBS Interactive and BrightRoll Video Network all have hundreds of millions of video ads viewed.  Video ads also reach 51% of the US population.  comScore also found that video ads accounted for nearly 20% of all video viewing.   

A study from Custom Content  Council and ContentWise found that 52% of U.S. companies used video content for marketing last year.  Virtual events on video and branded video in emails and websites showed dramatic increases over the last three years.  On the other hand, podcasts and other audio were slightly down to flat over the last three years.

Video is the new black for digital strategists.  But there still are rules:

• Keep it short—We are all used to 30-second formats for selling.  You need a really good reason to go longer.
• Keep it real—We really like recommendations and reviews. Why not record reviews and post in video format?
• TV ads—If the commercial is worn out and not running on TV, why would it work online?
• Viral—Irreverent, unusual, complex, funny things go viral. Most boards or committees would never approve, so don’t set yourself up for failure.

Lights! Camera! Action!

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Call of the Wild Cell Ad Makes Me Smile

I have seen an ad that stopped me in my tracks.  This ad from Japan captures your imagination and delivers a message you will not soon forget.  The 120-second ad is for the Touch Wood SH-08C handset for NTT DoCoMo.

AdWeek called the ad a huge, gravity-powered xylophone “to celebrate a cell phone (and nature).”  The ad features Bach’s Cantata 147 which was selected because it sounds great, but it was not copyrighted.  All the natural sounds in the spot are natural—a sound engineer runs along with a gun microphone recording the ball.

“The biggest challenge,” said one of the sound engineers. “Was whittling the 413 wooden bars to achieve not just the right pitch but the right pacing for the ball to roll.” However, I think the biggest challenge was getting an idea this large approved.  A committee would immediately kill this idea.  It’s why most viral advertising is done by individuals and not organizations or companies–most viral ideas just can’t survive the approval gauntlet.

The ad was created to be online and to grow virally.  But now the client is planning to run the complete commercial on broadcast television.  When you think of video going viral, it needs to be either something radically funny (that happens to a person), or it can be a great idea with a lot of art and a ton of sweat equity.  Enjoy the music and sounds of the wood and woods.

This idea came from a picket: Thank you Maureen.  What a find.

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Video Boosts Retail Sites

According to eMarketer, video on retailer websites increases conversion rates and decreases the number of items returned. 

Video can boost search engine optimization efforts as well.  Site pages with video rank higher.  However, eMarketer found that nearly “half the retailers studied had no videos at all indexed by Google.”  A study by SundaySky found that the top 50 retailers in the Internet Retailer 500 list had few videos.  About 60% of the top retailers had fewer than 100 videos.  It found that most had fewer than 10 videos. 

Video is rapidly growing and consumers are demanding to see more about your products and services.  People with larger screens and higher bandwidths are creating a demand.  You will need to fill it if you want to really sell in this new communications world.

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Improved Web Video Increases Online Viewing

According to Online Media Daily, fourth quarter of last year saw average video viewing times online double to just over two minutes.

A study showed this increase indicated that some of the viewing could be because of the “quality of their content and connecting with receptive audiences.”  In other words, people are putting away the Flip cameras and producing quality video content for their web messaging.   Just like any new media, improvements in techniques and messaging come fast and are ever-changing.  Just look at early TV shows and today’s television programs.

A sidebar of the study also found, surprisingly, newspaper websites were one of the leaders in minutes streamed.  Obviously, newspapers are quickly realizing that the web is not newspaper on the Internet, but moving pictures on the Internet.  Broadcasting sites were number one.  The study, conducted by TubeMogul and Brightcove, showed that newspaper sites uploaded video material and video players on more pages at a rapidly growing pace.

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Eagles Are Viral

We all would like our video or ideas to go viral.  But most of what we would like people to spread virally is just not of interest to a wide public.  Baby eagles are viral.  Or more accurate, live baby eagles are viral.  (http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html)

Have you heard of the Decorah eagle cam?  If not, you will.  My wife was watching the Decorah eagles live on her computer while I was watching MSNBC in the other room.   It was Sunday at 7:50 am.  70,000 people were also watching the Decorah eagles.  MSNBC ran a story about the eagle cam and in just a few minutes, the number of people watching the eagles live on computer increased to 104,000.  Now that is viral.

What can we learn about this?  Viral video must be:

• Unique (there is only one eagle cam with babies)
• Look Behind the Curtain (someone’s life, birds in a nest, dorm room, surgery)
• Go Beyond Expected (Decorah eagle cam is live, 24/7 for days on end)
• Utilize Traditional Media to Push Viewers (MSNBC’s story pushed the viewers by 34,000 on a Sunday morning)
• Eagle Effect (This is that unknown quality that makes something incredibly compelling.  I don’t know what it is but babies, puppies, Lady Gaga and now eagles have it.)

I do believe one of the reasons this cam is so compelling is that it is live with sound: You hear geese in the background and the chirps of the little newborn eagles.  Viral doesn’t guarantee financial success, but a commercial now airs before you can watch the eagle cam.    Time for your viral video to fly.

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Are You Instructing People with Video?

I was having trouble installing a remote garage door opener.  I struggled with the instructions that were obviously written in a different language and then translated by someone who had never before installed a remote garage door opener. 

I called the company, but was on hold so long I nearly fell asleep.  Out of frustration I went to YouTube and found a video on the installation.  It showed me a key step that was missing from the instructions.  And, behold, the remote opener now works.  The video was not fancy, but it was well shot, well edited and the person doing the installation had a nice clear voice.  It communicated perfectly. 

What could you do with video to better communicate? Way-finding to that hidden office.    How to navigate your website to find key information. How to fill out a form. How to fix equipment.  How to ____________ (you fill in the blank)?  If you hear a customer ask a question, make a video answer.  We are starting to create how-to videos on working our Generator 3.0 web-building tools.  We know that people need refreshers from time to time (and usually that time is not during regular business hours.)   Videos can tell and sell even when you are closed.

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The Future is Video

Many times in this blog I’ve said that video is taking over our communications experience—from short clips and replays at live sporting events to giant screens at concerts.  Everywhere you look, video is becoming part of our lives.  Watch this video to see how video (and some clever glass) is going to be part of our lives in the future.   I can’t wait, especially for the new refrigerator door.  Make sure the next camera you buy has video capability.

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