These are some of the main reasons to use online videos. Please let me know if you have any additional reasons.
to get – The current popularity of online video is obvious to most, with YouTube surpassing 100 million users in early 2009. A report from Cisco: Approaching the Zettabyte Era says: “Internet video alone will account for almost 50 percent of percent of all Internet consumers. traffic in 2012”, and that, “YouTube is just the beginning. Online video will experience three waves of growth.” We’re only in the early stages, the third (video communications) won’t arrive until sometime after 2015. But the reach is there now and will continue to grow.
free publicity – Video is a great way to advertise a product or service. Adding your own video ads to your site or to the sites of your partners and affiliates is a great way to advertise using an effective visual medium at no (or very little) cost through the sites you have relationships with.
trackable metrics – Whether you’re running an informational video or an ad, you want to know, at the very least, how many views it got. However, video players are now more sophisticated, offering metrics on demographics, most played part of the video, repeat views, content shared (and where), and more. This can really help hone a message or ad campaign.
Social media friendly – Social networks (besides video)
Affordable – Creating videos online is now not only relatively easy, but the cost of entry is very low. HD camcorders are available for just a few hundred dollars. Webcam quality is now good enough to use for blogging. Software is more affordable than ever. Check out this video software review for more information on cheap options.
Interactive- Interactive video is all the rage and Veeple is a great player to try. Direct viewers to deep web links by providing hotspot links in the video. The view simply hovers over items or people as they appear, the video pauses while a description is reviewed, and then the viewer can continue with the video or open a new web page for more information (and possibly a review). buy). And, all of this is traceable. More players are on the way. It will be fun to see the features explode.
Expectations – With bandwidth saturation exceeding 50%, site visitors expect to see video on the sites they visit. If the site doesn’t have a video related to what they sell or the service they provide, another provider might (bye bye viewer) or the view will go to YouTube. It’s time to jump in and create product demos and service explanations or video testimonials and embed them on your site. You must also create a YouTube account (at a minimum) to post videos.
advertising revenue – Some newer video players offer the option to display ads in the player. Take a look at JW Media Player for an idea. Ads can appear at the top of the player or embedded in the bottom quarter or third of the video and then disappear. This gives the video owner a chance to earn some money while their video gets views. This works best if the ads are somehow related to the video content. Research players to see how they determine ad placement and if the payout is worth it.
Multiple uses – news and announcements, product demos, associations, opinions/comments, parodies, case studies, presentations, video library, etc.
Target communities – Social networks, online communities and forums, YouTube… there are many ways to get your video seen by the right people. There are too many specific techniques to mention in this post, but if you search, I guarantee you’ll find a method that suits your time, budget, and style.
