Marketing Career Zone

Whether for a small, professional service company or for a major brand’s new product, more and more companies are using video to great effect. When it comes to your online spend, here are five reasons why online video is now an vital essential ingredient in your marketing mix.

1)    Over three-quarters of internet users are watching video online
With domestic broadband speeds accelerating and website backend technology improving, watching online video is becoming easier and a more rewarding experience. Recent ComScore’s findings showed that 77% of the total US internet audience watch video online and that the amount they watch is growing at an incredible rate. November 2008 saw US audiences watching 12.7 billion online videos, a 34% rise from the same month in 2007. And with all major UK-based broadcasters (BBC, C4 and ITV) now urging us to catch up with our favourite programmes online, familiarity with this delivery channel and broad expectations that is should be available on demand is only going to increase.

2)    Decision-makers are watching video online
People with money to spend money are watching online videos, and we’re not just talking about MySpacers micro-consuming music tracks. According to Marketing Sherpa, 98% of business technology decision-makers find viral videos more memorable than other forms of marketing. It’s not just consumer goods that are benefiting from online video; growth in b2b sales can be stimulated.

3)    Quickly gets your message across
Video is the most engaging and human way for new customers to connect to your company or brand. The combination of video and audio makes for a distinctly memorable experience. You can place the product practically into their hands, or if you’re selling a service, you can effectively have a virtual face-to-face meeting with them!

4)    Keeps people on your website longer
Engaging video keeps people on your website longer. And while the video is steaming, they will also be looking at the other content around the video. As well as direct calls to action, you can also use the video to draw attention to content within your site, whether that’s your online sales link or your collection of case studies.

5)    Costs less than you think
While big brands will often spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on their television commercials, online video production costs can be kept low. Post-production costs are lower if the end delivery is online rather than broadcast, and hosting costs are much cheaper than buying airtime. In fact, hosting on many highly influential video sites like YouTube is free!, and major league companies are already setting up ‘shop windows’ in that space. With careful, targeted seeding, you can reach even very niche demographics with great effect.