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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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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Silent Movies Are Back

I’ve noticed something about my own video viewing that I think is worth noting. Usually I like to back up my blog posts with research, but this is first-hand, first-person qualitative research.  I notice I’m watching more video content with the sound off.

In the office, I keep my computer muted.  At home, I have a mute button on the remote, and the DVR (or TiVo) shows the commercials in fast motion without sound.  During lunch the other day, with my family, I was watching some TV in a sports bar/restaurant, yet I couldn’t hear the audio.  At the YMCA, I listen to music while I’m on the exercise bike and watching the TVs.

More and more video screens are popping up in various locations, without sound.  So what does this all mean?  The next time you produce a commercial, watch it with the sound turned off.  Does it still sell?  Does it communicate?  Will it silently speak to your audience?  For sure, ask if your TV station will support closed captioning for your commercial.  I’m not there yet, but closed captioning is for the deaf and hard-of-hearing audience (which is growing) and those at the Y without a TV-radio tuner.

The one thing you should ensure is that your logo is on enough times for people to know who the communication is from and what it means to the audience.  The silent selling technique will not work for every ad or video, but you need to be aware that people may be watching your message in silence, yet you still need to speak to the audience.

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Blender Company Leads Viral Craze

The leading viral ad is not a funny chicken, a broken guitar, a crazy daredevil or a kid on a skateboard.  It is a boomer guy with a blender. 

According to Advertising Age’s Micheal Learmouth, “What’s remarkable about the top 10 is that viewers would voluntarily watch an ad 100 million times.”  What is also remarkable is that Blendtec, a maker of high-end blenders ($400+), has the No. 1 position on Ad Age’s Viral Chart of most-viewed viral campaigns.

The commercial is a somewhat funny, but the key may be that it has been around in the same form for more than four years.  Now that is consistency.  The Blendtec ”Will It Blend” series features CEO Tom Dickson in a white lab coat stuffing iPhones and iPads into a Blendtec blender.

The Top 5 are:  1) Blendtec ”Will It Blend?;” 2) Evian “Live Young;” 3) Old Spice “Responses;” 4) Pepsi ”Gladiator;” and 5) Microsoft “Xbox Project Natal.”

What is interesting is that these are, for the most part, commercials that have gained a huge audience.  The reach is incredible.  However, what is more respectable is how brave these brands are to move into the viral world.  Are you ready to blend up someone’s iPad?

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Keep Your Online Video Short and Sweet

Video is slowly taking over the Web.  YouTube, Hulu and videos on individual websites are becoming more and more popular.  However, there is a trend emerging as video takes to the Internet—we have short attention spans with this new media.

Short-form, professionally produced videos are found to be just as entertaining as watching full-length TV shows on television, in a new study found by Frank N. Magid Associates.  Magid estimates that online video watching will grow another 5% over the next year.

What is more amazing is that viewers are “OK” with Web ads associated with this content.  The majority of online video viewers find online video ads as acceptable as TV ads.  (55% in 2010, up 3% over last year.)  comScore reported a “sweet spot” of online video advertising of 6 to 7 minutes per hour.  A cable movie might have more than 5 minutes per break.  Local TV news can range from 8 to 10 minutes of commercial-like interruptions in just 30 minutes of content.  So the few ads that are actually associated with Web shows feels like much less, and that may lead to the positive online advertising experience.

The research shows that you should keep a couple of things in mind going forward with producing online video:  Keep it short and professional.  That seems like a good maxim for a lot things, not just online video.

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Web Video and Carnival Barkers

Have you ever experienced a good carnival barker?  A smooth ”engager” like the ShamWow Guy.  They are able to grab your attention as you walk by (“mystifying, bona fide wonder of the ages”)  and pull you in, in spite of all the distractions all around?  That’s what it is like getting attention on a website. People are quickly passing your midway game, and you have seconds to engage and entice and then pull them in.

In a new study by YuMe (Video Advertising Metrics Report 1/31/10,) viewers are less likely to click on pre-roll ads or watch them to completion.   Over the course of 2009, click-through rates drpped from 1.88% to .74%.  These are ads placed on various websites and not posted on YouTube. 

Most the “web ads” that I see on websites are just repurposed television commercials.  Does a car ad work the same in the middle of sports event as it does on the Web?  It would be like using your telephone sales voice and message to sell at busy carnival midway.   The Web experience is more personal and direct.  You need to remember why the person is visiting the site you have purchased space on and how your message will connect with those reasons.   

Video on the web needs to:

• Be shorter
• Engage with a specific target audience 
• Be targeted to one person
• Be straight forward
• Include a clear call-to-action

We know that website viewers’ eyes jump around at a frenetic pace, from moving images to large copy points, searching for specific information.  And we know that people will only invest seconds into web pages before moving on.  So we must take that viewer mindset into the creative process as we develop website videos.   This is no time to be understatedly elegant.  With only seconds to pull people in, the game is a foot and people are walking by.  You must find your inner barker.

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