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Online Videos and Meatball Sundaes: A Bit of Sanity Amongst the Hype
Is online video the “next big thing” for online marketers? No.
Online video has been hyped as the new shiny of online marketing and pr, but video is not the panacea for your program and will not assure you success in 2008.
Here’s some fun anecdotal evidence that proves nothing and is completely non-scientific, but provides a nice diving board for my points… Over the holidays, my family and I got into a conversation about “what I do” in the online marketing world and how that impacts their daily web usage. During the conversation, I asked if anyone had watched an online video on YouTube or embedded on a website. Out of the twelve people there, the two young people (under 18) said they had. There were four 20-something’s, a couple of 30 year olds ands and the rest were 50 or over. The most common response was “why watch a video on the internet when the stuff on the TV is better?” When I asked who had read a blog, almost everyone said they had. When I asked about podcasts, about half of the twelve said they had. Even my father said he avidly listens to a podcast about motorcycles and a podcast about Nascar that he burns onto CD’s to play in his vehicle (he travels a great deal) while he’s on the road or working in his office. Clearly, I need to buy my dad an iPod.
Of course online video is still very young in mainstream adoption compared to blogs or even podcasts. However, the perception of online video by the mainstream (non-tech/geek/early adopter/techmeme reading crowd) is that it is competing with television. That isn’t the case (most of the time), but it is a steep hill to climb. Try throwing marketing messages into an online video and that hill becomes even steeper.
I am normally very eager to adopt, explore or promote new media and means of spreading your marketing messages. However, I remain bullish on video. Some of that can be chalked up to personal preferences (I’d much rather listen to music or a podcast than watch a movie or a TV program), but much of my video bullishness comes from the realization that video is much more difficult, expensive, time-consuming, and viewer intensive than other media. In order for video to add anything to your program, you have to find a highly relative sweet spot that balances the input you make with the experience of your viewers.
Most businesses engaged in the online marketing world, let alone online marketers, are not at the point where they can justify the type of experimentation needed to make video work. In general, the bar is just still too high for both businesses and web users to make online video solve problems that aren’t already being solved by other media. Accordingly, most online businesses and marketers are still struggling with the idea of text driven blogs or voice driven podcasts.
I do see a place for online video, but I’m becoming more and more convinced that it is not for every business or marketer and is more buzz than substance at this point.
I know that online video evangelists like Jim Kukral and Shawn Collins feel differently than I do about the potency and potential of online video. They’ve both provided great examples of what video can do to augment a marketing program or affiliate site. But are they exceptions to the rule? I think so.
By all means, experiment with video and see if there is a fit for your audience, publishers, customers, users or community. But keep things in perspective and keep in mind your audience. However, don’t throw together a quick skit on YouTube and force it on top of your existing marketing program. Otherwise, you’re just adding fudge sauce to meatballs.
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I agree that there is a time, place, and demographic for it.
I’ve been happy with the returns of video to the degree that I’m increasing my video output.
In fact, I just churned out 5 videos this morning (1 product review for weviews.tv, 3 answers to questions for my blog, and a promotional video for Affiliate Summit).
Based on the metrics from the video sites, there is most certainly an audience for the no overhead videos I’m putting out - I use a MacBook and Sony Vegas software to put them together.
The result is more visibility for my personal brand, further penetration for Affiliate Summit, and revenue from the videos themselves and affiliate links for the products reviewed.
So, I’ll keep evangelizing about the bright future of video (while secretly hoping everybody keeps sitting on their hands, so I can own more SE results).
I agree! There is a time and place for video. I think blogs will probably always be slightly more popular as you can spend less time browsing than video or a podcast where you have to sit for the 5 minutes (or whatever it is) to watch/listen. Podcasts are more convenient in that you can turn it on and read while you listen. Video demands full attention. And videoblogging doesn’t seem all that interesting when all you do is watch someone talk to you. However, I do see more possibility as TV programs move more online. With Hulu and networks offering their programs for online viewing, maybe it will draw people away from the TV? Those are my thoughts anyways!
There are two challenges that online video present that, so far, no one has really figured out how to address when it comes to using it as marketing tool — especially a B2B marketing tool. For one thing, it requires audio (generally), which means that the viewer of the video either needs to throw on headphones or find a place to watch where they are not disturbing others. The other, which I see as a bigger issue, is that most video is not “scannable.” I can read a 1,000-word blog post in 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, or 15 seconds, depending on how on target and relevant it is to me. I can “scan” the written word, which I can’t do with video. So, if it’s a 2:06 video, I wind up either watching 2:06 or watching 10 seconds. Those are my only options. When CNN.com rolled out their site redesign several months ago, their “feedback on the beta” discussion forum had *rampant* posts by people begging them to always post text versions of their stories.
It seems like video is good as a “hook,” but it’s not an efficiently consumable medium in many situations…yet.
The headline of this linkbait should have been “Video solves no problems for me!”
> I can “scan” the written word, which I can’t do with video.
I agree, which is why I post a transcription of my video with the video on my blog.
Also, if you’re looking on a video site, like YouTube or Revver, the videos include a description and tags, which hopefully provide an accurate idea of the content.
> I can “scan” the written word, which I can’t do with video.
I think you’re dead on as well with that point Tim. I’ll be releasing a new web video show soon that is formatted to stop that problem, I think. We shall see.
You’re right though, staring at a talking head is fine for 30 seconds, but then your eye wants something else to “read” while you listen. This is either accomplished by b-roll footage or other creative ways.
I appreciate most of what you said in today’s context. After all, businesses are slow to even enter the blog world (let alone use it effectively). Videos like most anything in life is about choices - what can you afford, what’s creative, who can you reach, etc. An array of high-caliber videos can be seen below. Some took considerable money to produce - no doubt. Others are simple; the “cost” is in the value of the minds that conceived them. It doesn’t have to be a buzz video to draw the right crowd. Holistic marketing, including well-placed teasers on a website, blog references, newsletters and more can draw attention to something as simple as a product video. But a constant concern should be: What am I not working on that can be making me money? Of course, another question should be: What am I not trying that could be making me money?
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