We read the blogs, we've spoken at the conferences and we've made loads of videos for online.
Because we're committed to raising the standard of digital marketing, we've put together the salient points and big facts to help you sell online video to the powers that be.
So here's our case for why you need to be making awesome online video.
Online advertising is now the largest advertising medium in the world, and websites have become many companies primary marketing platform. The tools and platforms that a brand needs to reach its customers have never been so accessible, but that's also created a deluge of "filler" content made to try to cash in on SEO algorithms without viewability ever being a consideration.
For brands, video is now absolutely central to social and content strategy. Now is the time to rise above the pack and make great content to open eyes, change minds and shape opinions.
"Brands are being built from the inside out by their owners, refocusing on their products." Adam Ferrier, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Cummins & Partners
"Distribution is king, quality content is the icing on the cake" Karen Nelson Field, Director and Assoc. Professor at Centre for Digital Video Intelligence
Or as mobile advertising takes off, you're in theirs, literally. And with the galloping developments in programmatic and geotargeting you can target niche audiences like never before.
The mobile-first trend is now reality. If you don't already have a mobile strategy in place, get one. In internet revenue, mobile overtook wired in 2014. Mobile advertising will continue to grow rapidly In the next 5 years with the development of 5G technologies, decreasing data costs and market-wide investment in The Internet of Things.
This not only changes how you find your audiences, but also how you talk to them. You might be talking to them from their toaster for example.
52,745 TB - Volume of internet data downloaded via mobile handsets in Australia Oct-Dec 2013
A 91% increase on the same period in 2013 - PwC Outlook 2015
We recommend not starting with a "build it and they will come" attitude - just making content is not a strategy.
Content is becoming more contextual - understanding where your message sits amongst numerous touch points is vital. If you try to talk to everyone all the time you risk becoming generic and irrelevant. Boo!
It all starts with your objective - what are you actually trying to do? Back in 1900, the Michelin Brothers knew that with less than 3,000 cars in France, to sell more tyres they needed to boost the demand for cars.
Long story short, they gave away their little driving guide books for free and now as you sit in a Michelin starred restaurant impressing your date, the last thing you think of is tyres. They "built a world" around their product, but it started with a clear objective not just a burning desire to print guidebooks.
So is content marketing "a thing" and who's got a strategy for it?
Content Marketing in Australia 2015 Report: Content Marketing Institute/ADMA
Content Marketing in Australia 2015 Report: Content Marketing Institute/ADMA
Video is a unique medium. It is engaging and increasingly becoming integrated into the design of websites, which are increasingly becoming a brand's central marketing platform. The interplay of audio and visual can be used to great effect explaining complex ideas or messages.
Not everything needs to be a video, but before we go there here's a good rule of thumb about how to approach all content creation no matter what the medium.
Integration of stimulating visuals, sound design and engaging narrative towards achieving a specific goal
Audience becomes active
Visual, audio and narrative elements lack integration or are mismatched with no clear goal
Audience remains passive
(or doesn't even watch the darn thing!)
Online marketing can be a dark art and it is not uncommon for someone to want to make a video before they know what they want it to say or where they want it to go.
| Good Practice | Common Practice (this Sucks) | |
|---|---|---|
| Situation "Noone understands what our company is doing?" | "Noone understands what our company is doing?" | |
| Analysis "We need to explain our big transformation project" | "We need to engage staff" | |
| Idea "What is the overarching strategy behind this transformation and how can we explain it to staff?" | "Let's make a video" | |
| Creation Listen to audience feedback, respond to them, improve it and make it better | ||
Credit: Adapted from the Distilled Guide to Online Video Marketing
You've got sign off, you've invested in content but have you thought about where it will go?
As a good rule of thumb: YouTube is for search, Facebook is for targeting and communities, Twitter is for “joining the conversation” and your website is for driving customers to and making sure they understand what you do. Your site's primary function is for research and is fast becoming your most powerful marketing tool.
There is no one size fits all, you need different content and messaging for different platforms. What would someone need to know if they were and in a rush at work looking through your site to figure out if you were a suitable provider, and what might they want to hear from you if they were scrolling through their phone on the way home from work?
| Youtube | Your Website | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stats |
300 hrs of video uploaded every minute 1 bn users per month 4 bn hours watching videos Second biggest search engine on the web |
Due to auto-play, Facebook has surpassed YouTube in number of desktop video views in the US. Facebook - 12.3 Mill YouTube - 11.3 Mill (Aug 2014) |
82% of Twitter users watch video on twitter. 90% of the views are on mobile devices. |
You tell us. |
| Purpose |
Search, Virality, Conversations |
Targeting, Communities, Promotional |
Real-time Conversation, Creative, Non-Promotional |
Promotional (soft sell), Conversion, Explanatory |
| Goal |
Unlike Facebook & Twitter, YouTube content lives beyond the lifespan of your feed and keeps racking up views. Unless you have a global budget, "going viral" is a misnomer. Set the right goals around the right content for the right audience. |
As Facebook's organic reach dropped to below 2% (the most discussed stats of 2014) programmatic has become king. Your target audience is still out there, you just need to pay for it. |
Tweets represent an opportunity to strengthen relationships with your followers. However adding video to Tweets undoubtedly makes them richer and drives higher engagement. Test it now! |
Let's Chat. |
With the transformation of Internet the one clear medium that works across all channels and platforms is video. Video is a more accessible and dynamic medium than ever before. You know video works, it's safe to say all your competitors are doing it…..you just need to figure out how to make it work for you.
But it doesn't have to be scary. With today's reduced digital marketing budgets it's easy to start small, measure and build. It's time to embrace failure. The risk is not doing anything at all.
So think about what you need to say and find a good team to work with. We'd like to suggest ourselves, and would love to speak to you about your ideas or creative challenges. But we will leave you with these last thoughts from this year's PwC report.
"In online advertising we expect brands will continue to move away from one-off campaigns to an always-on approach, facilitated by real time data and improved software… These trends, along with continued growth in programmatic and native advertising, will ensure the growing dominance of online advertising over the forecast period."
- PwC Outlook 2015
Just because we've done the research and put this information together doesn't mean that you can't look like a rockstar.
If you'd like to have this presentation personalised (in either .ppt or .key format) for you with your name and logo and who you need to present it to then get in touch and we'll customise it and ping it out to you for free.