by M. K. Rocha
Online video is big and getting bigger. Online video is on the verge of exploding into a multi-billion-dollar market. It's growing in leaps and bounds and knowing the uses and benefits of it can and will it change the way people do business around the world?
Online video is really no different than any other advertising medium. The real challenge concerning online video is creating video content that is both effective and high quality. Online video is a perfectly targeted communication medium. Online video is perfect for information-intensive messages.
Online Video
Most web sites now have an online video presence. Video has greater potential over other forms of content to entertain and encourage enthusiasm in your products and services. The creation of video content for online is different in many ways from creating content for a broadcast audience. Online video is emerging as a medium unto itself not necessarily an alternative to TV.
Online video is like any other form of advertising in that in order for it to perform; you have to commit to it. Most companies would simply create a video, put it online and expect it to work. While YouTube only scratched the service of online videos potential with free public storage for amateur video publishers, the real action and potential is in the commercial industry. No doubt. And the real challenge regarding online video is creating video content that is both effective and high quality.
Business
Online video is a powerful tool that can be effectively used to market property and increase your company profile. Yes, there is concern for operational costs, who and how video is making money today, but most of the majors are positioning themselves in a smart way. And it seems those who invest don't feel that web video is worth the money yet. The successful companies will understand where video was two years ago, where it is today and where it will likely be two years from now.
The Internet single-handedly revolutionized the way the whole world does business. With online video, businesses have a more and more an effective and cost-efficient way to reach millions of prospects. Online video is truly an ideal communication medium that can precisely target your audience and do it quickly, in and soon in a cost-effective manner.
There will be a wide variety of business models that can work. Because pretty soon almost every business out there is going to need and want the affordability of online video to reach more of their prospects. Online video will indeed be a sustainable revenue stream, and it won't be just one business model. Online video is so engaging that an industry study shows that 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a Web site with a video commercial than from a company that does not have one. No doubt about it, businesses of every shape and size are going to capitalize on online video, the biggest marketing opportunity since the Internet.
Marketing
Now that videos are appearing in search engines, search marketers are putting their toe in the water and learning how to do videos right, and videos that were once just viral marketing are now going to garner high volumes of visibility, not only from being viral, but also from Google's search results pages. In fact, there is an entirely new niche evolving within search engine marketing called Video Optimization which specifically tries to get videos higher in search engines. What it means any business out there: videos are going to become more and more accessible to those not actively seeking out videos via sites such as YouTube.
From an online marketing perspective it should be noted that consumers of online video are 47% more likely to click on advertisements which naturally leads to increased purchasing. So it's really no surprise online video marketing is a niche that's on the verge of exploding into a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Conclusion
Almost all of the studies out there will tell you that the popularity of online video is growing exponentially. At its best, online video is highly visible through multiple channels, effective as an on-demand, pull-medium, and innovative through the application of interactive and analytical technologies.
For the vast majority of content owners, online video is a line item cost, not a revenue generator. While it is absolutely true that many companies who are building ad-supported online video businesses are doing it at a loss today, it is not entirely true. Online video is an investment in the future, because online video is going to be used in every market imaginable. And pretty soon almost every business is going to look for the tools to make online video more reasonably priced to reach more of their prospects.
Without a doubt online video is here to stay and will only increase in importance over the next few years as the use of commercial online video skyrockets.
P.S. There are statistics to show why text is more important than audio:
CNET – Reported 30% increase in CNET traffic from Google after they started providing transcripts. “We saw a significant increase in SEO referrals when we launched an HTML version of our site, the major component of which was our transcripts.” – Justin Eckhouse, CNET, 2009
ReelSEO and Plymedia:
Online Video Subtitling Increase Video Viewing by 40%
http://www.reelseo.com/subtitles-viewing/
Posted on November 26, 2009 at 10:44 am
“The real challenge concerning online video is creating video content that is both effective and high quality. Online video is a perfectly targeted communication medium. Online video is perfect for information-intensive messages.”
From online accessibility, actually the real challenge is to make it accessible to millions of users with hearing loss and millions more who have no audio access for other reasons such as restrictive software/hardware and environments (broken speakers, noisy environments, mobile phones, etc) as well as for foreign speakers who find it easier to read text than listen to audio.
Currently, it is assumed that videos are a “must” while text versions are an “option” which gives much less accessibility to users than the other way around. Actually, text versions is a requirement by the law while audio component is just an option.
It is the text version that is “perfect for information-intensive messages”, not video. Actually, Google cannot “hear” videos and cannot index them. It is the text version that significantly improves websites’ SEO. That’s something to think about.