There is much talk about online video, but an amazing level of equivocation and ambiguity in the field. Ask someone what they consider to be an online video, and everyone will have a different answer. Consider all of these examples of online video:
A YouTube Video of guys throwing each other off a roof. (This is maybe the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen).
Evian’s babies roller-blading. (My 1 year old son’s favourite YouTube video… seriously.)
Pre-Roll Ad before a Comedic Mockumentary.
Video Display Banner
Video sharing sites for watching pirated content.
Facebook Videos of friends at a party, or of baby’s first steps….
ETC ETC ETC.
The various media blogs and publications really don’t help the matter. As much as people in the field LOVE these headlines, at the end of the day, there is a harmful level of deceiving hyperbole:
“Video Outpaces Search”
“Online Video is the Fastest Growing Medium in All of History”
“Online Video Produces ROI of XYZ%”
This makes it very difficult for marketers who are in the midst of considering a big spend on video production projects. Such flagrant and ambiguous wording also hurts the entire field of online video. So much so, that I’ve seen reputable video production companies avoid online video as a marketing tool for clients.
What do reporters mean when they say “video is bigger than search”? I happen to know that there is some substance to these claims, and that online video CAN bring a very positive ROI as compared to text ads or static mail-outs. For the uninitiated however, such headlines deceive marketers into thinking that you can point a camera at something, put it on your website, and the dollars will flow. Conversely, such headlines also fool some marketers into believing that they can spend $50,000 on video production and there will be a proportionate return.
Both extremes, in my experience are wrong-headed. You shouldn’t spend too much without understanding your target audience’s touchpoints. Conversely, you also shouldn’t avoid online video altogether, in hopes that waiting will enable you to “figure it out”. As is true with many decisions in life, the answer is not at the extremes and lies somewhere down the middle.
Here is a list of suggestions in order to help find the middle path for online video:
1) Develop a video media strategy and appropriate budget. How will people get to see this video? Are you driving them from traditional advertising? Social media? Viral? Email marketing?
2) Make sure you have measurement tools in place so you can identify success and failure at every step of the attention and marketing funnel.
3) What is the purpose of the video? Inform, entertain, build brand credibility, quick sales conversion?
4) How many videos will you likely need? This is the one question that marketers are simply not asking. I’ve talked to many clients who brag about doing a viral video, without any thought to whether or not it will succeed. Relatively speaking, they are still constrained by experimental budgets, and usually blow the whole wad on one single hail mary.
5) Choose the appropriate service provider for the location of your audience. If your audience is at work or in China, then don’t use YouTube! I had a meeting with a potential client a few months ago who couldn’t believe that a startup had greater reach than YouTube. The next day it was discovered that his own company’s IT department blocks YouTube. Generally speaking, video sharing sites are very very strong candidates for Firewall block lists. The higher the visibility of a service provider, the greater chance they will be on gatekeepers’ radars.
6) Make sure your service provider allows for your content. Don’t feel stupid if you’ve used Vimeo as a marketing tool for a commercial product (one of the most sophisticated CEOs I know was caught on this one). Most people don’t read terms of service, and even fewer believe that the TOS will actually be enforced. In the case of Vimeo, a) commercial content is not allowed and b) they are shutting down violators.
7) Identify what success/failure looks like for a video. Be prepared to say “that video flopped”. Don’t feel bad. It’s a new world of engagement and attention. Very few people know what they are doing at this stage. Every single rule in the book has been broken, and those that have followed every rule have failed.
8) Adapt. For success: scale appropriately. For failure: as long as you’ve taken heed to every other rule here, you’ll be fine. The first video may not work, but one of the next 20 will likely bring about that viral explosion. The good news here is that having a useful, relevant, engaging and entertaining library of content is an asset that you can draw upon. Maybe people will start “getting” that first video now that they’ve been drawn into your channel with video 17 of the roller skating babies!
9) Get the Right People for the Job. You do not need a big agency, and you probably can’t do it yourself. What you need is an affordable, experienced producer with an eye on your long term business, talented videographer(s), well composed and reliable actor(s), a great script, and a solid media plan. Some of these pieces will eventually land in house, but others should be left to the pros. Make sure when you ask for a quote you tell them you’re interested in a video a month for the entire year. It’s amazing what agencies will do for a recurring revenue stream, even if it’s relatively small compared to one big project.
Hopefully, with some of these tips in mind you’ll be able to spend $30,000 – $100,000 on a year’s worth of video collateral, media, and marketing rather than the $240,000 it takes to just to produce one single television commercial.