It's no secret that online video is currently experiencing tremendous growth:
And so on. There are many research reports showing the growth in the rate of consumption of online video, but this is not unusual for new technologies in interactive media. We are used to seeing reports that tout 200% increase, etc. of some newfangled thing. What is compelling about online video is the size of the audience, the mass in mass media. Like email, online video is rapidly on its way to a pervasive audience. Moreover, in terms of raw audience size, online video is catching and passing other ballyhooed technologies along the way--blogs, rss readers, and social networks (these technologies certainly serve valid roles and have sizeable audiences of their own, but it appears that online video is set to have a wider appeal in terms of the sheer number of all people on the internet who engage with the media in some way).
The question, then, is what to make of online video. How to use it, what to use it for, how is different from other forms, or is it not different?
The are clearly a variety of ways to employ it. The first and most obvious is to post it to your web site. This is actually not a new feature, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. The second is to use video for sharing sites such as YouTube, Crackle and Revver. Sometimes a video can be used for both, but I would argue that it is a more effective strategy to treat each as distinct strategy. A third is for video advertising, video clips that get placed in banner ad space, but this is such a new space that there doesn't exist a lot of available advertising inventory so chances are the average marketing won't be using it anytime soon.
Following are my own thoughts for using video in each strategy:
On-site Video (video that is targeted to an audience that is engaging content on your web site)
- Create video that occurs within the context of a web page with copy around it. While video is great for bringing a story to life, it's not so good for search engine optimization. Copy and content that is related to the video will make sure that your page can be found by users who are looking for it with a search engine.
- Place the video inline in an article--do not link to a video that is on a separate page. It's a funny thing, but users don't like to click away from a page. I've seen this with email newsletter forms and information request forms--as soon as they are placed inline, user engagement goes up significantly.
- Keep the composition simple. Simpler layouts and compositions make for a clear message.
- Push to use type and motion graphics in your video. Make friends with an After Effects guru and use them for all they are worth. Not all subjects lend themselves to video, some need to be illustrated. More importantly, if you want to use web video on a timely basis, you won't have time to schedule (or afford) new video shoots on a regular basis unless you have a nice budget or an in-house team.
- Tell a story! Make sure the video has a beginning, middle and an end. Use mystery, surprise, and suspense. Build and then relieve tension to craft a story that has appeal.
- Pay attention to music. Use it when appropriate, scrap it if it is not. Good music selection can truly take a video to a whole new level. If it is not good, don't use it. Nothing undermines the story more than bad music (there is no middle ground, mediocre music is bad music).
Off-site Video (video that is posted on a sharing site)
- Use buzz tactics to create content that fosters sharing of the video. One of the best overview of crafting word of mouth messaging is provided in Emanuel Rosen's The Anatomy of Buzz. In creating stories to foster word of mouth, Rosen offers up several tactics that can be adapted to nearly any business model: Sneak previews, create mystery or sense of scarcity, provide inside information, get beyond the obvious, be outrageous, give people a here, and/or use events to create buzz.
- Seed the video: This is where having an email list comes in handy. Once the video is posted, send out a link and message to your newsletter list, your friends, your family.
- Keep it short: Online video is a "snack", a timekiller, something people do to avoid doing something else or while waiting for something to begin. In one of the studies above about viewership, the average length of videos watched was a little less than three minutes, which is similar to the length of the average music video or song. Use this as a guide for the length of your piece.
- Keep the composition simple. Even though YouTube can now go full screen, most folks watch the videos in their original windows, which is a small space in the overall content pane.
- Use motion graphics (see #4 above for previous reasons). Plus, motion graphics will allow you to create a custom "look" for your video, something that will help your piece stand apart from the crowd.
As you can see, there is some overlap between the types. I mainly split them into different camps to highlight a few of the tactics that more audience specific, particularly the content strategy. In general, I think of on-site videos as offering some complement to content that is around them, while off-site videos have to stand alone and therefore must tell a more complete story.
That's it. So far. If you have ideas, suggestions, feel free to share!
Labels: online video
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