Here’s a nice little success story on InternetRetailer.com about a company getting a sales spike after posting online video clips of its products in action. Not every company needs to spend as much as this one did, but the results are encouraging for anyone considering taking the plunge.
Naomi Grossman at bMighty.com explains that it’s easier and cheaper than ever for small and mid-size businesses to add video to their sites (she also gives a shout-out to Fliqz and CEO Benjamin Wayne). The upshot: video makes your site stand out, and there are more companies than ever (including Fliqz) dedicated to helping smaller businesses beef up their marketing efforts with video.
If you still have doubts, Cantaloupe TV lists 14 misconceptions about online video marketing. So what are you waiting for?
You know an industry is in the maturation stage when all
sorts of guidelines come out of the woodwork. The latest: American University
For each principle there are some limitations. And some of the principles, like the one about purposes of launching a discussion, are sure to raise more questions than answers, so it’s debatable whether this report will bring more clarity to a notoriously vague concept. But with major content providers up in arms over their copyrighted works making the rounds all over the Internet—and going to great lengths to find out just how widespread the problem is—any attempt at clarification is welcome.
If you want to know what will be the key driver of online video ads, think small. Mark Glaser at Media Shift notes the disparity between the number of people watching online videos and the advertisers trying to reach them. He cites comScore’s report that Americans watched 10 billion online videos in December 2007 alone, while pointing out that advertisers spent only $554 million for the entire year. But Glaser quickly points to signs that bode well for online video advertising, such as the IAB’s video advertising guidelines and, most notably, the fact that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are getting hip to the advantages of online video.
The Kelsey Group certainly concurs, predicting that SMBs will spend 11.6 percent of their online advertising budgets on video ads by 2012. The consultancy forecasts U.S. SMB video advertising to grow to $1.5 billion by 2012 from $10.9 million in 2007. According to Kelsey, the growth will be driven by local advertising opportunities, particularly from Internet Yellow Pages.
“Opportunity exists in the increasing segment of video production companies targeting SMBs and growing interest among Yellow Pages publishers in adding video to their local sales bundles,” according to Kelsey. “Demand for video will drive Internet Yellow Pages to execute tighter sales and fulfillment, and the medium’s favorable margins will further compel publishers to embrace it as a means to offset print revenue declines.”
Any SMB looking to jump on the online video bandwagon should read this post from Jeff Porter on Search Engine Land. He has good tips on how and where to reach your target audience.
Fliqz CEO Benjamin Wayne is quoted in this Small Business Computing piece on online video advertising for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Most notably,Wayne spells out when marketers should opt for pre-roll vs. overlay.
Good reading for SMBs wondering whether—and how—they should jump on the online video bandwagon.
We’ve been following the recent moves toward standardization in the online video advertising space with a positive attitude. But as Steve Robinson points out on MediaPost’s Online Video Insider, there’s still too much “technical chaos” in terms of video player implementation and the variety of downloaded players.
Robinson compares the current online video situation with that of broadcast television. That is, a single, standard television model eliminated all of the technical hurdles for advertisers. Robinson outlines a four-point plan for developing ad-delivery standards. The key: a consortium similar to the Society of Cable and Television Engineers that will create, promote, and lead the utilization of advertising standards.
A group of the largest tech companies, publishers, and media buyers acting as the standards police for the industry won’t sit well with those who believe online video is about completely breaking the broadcast mold. But tossing aside all of the old methods isn’t necessarily a formula for success, either. Surely there’s a middle ground that incorporates what works in the broadcast model while encouraging what’s new and innovative about the online video space.
Robinson’s idea may or may not gain traction, but it’s a good reminder of how much work needs to be done.
It’s official. The Interactive Advertising Bureau completed its industry guidelines for online video ads. You can read the actual document here (PDF format).
The highlights:
-- Overlay ads should run 5-15 seconds without audio until
the viewer opts in.
-- Pre-, mid-, and post-roll ads should not exceed 30
seconds.
These practices have pretty much been in place already; the IAB has simply formalized these unwritten rules. But as paidContent points out, the industry still needs clarification on the best way to measure impressions and other metrics. Still, it’s a start.
Mashable has posted a podcast interview with Break Media CEO Keith Richman, who discusses the state of the online advertising business. Last week, Break Media formed the Online Video Advertising ROI Council, which will “analyze and determine online video advertising effectiveness and better understand the challenges in measuring ROI for the online video medium.” We certainly need someone to do that.
Richman explains the council’s goals in further detail in the interview. It’s a fascinating listen for content providers and distributors as well as marketers.
A few months ago we told you about AdItAll, which allows companies to create online video ads from a library of prepackaged clips. Today, a new service called Jivox hits the scene, allowing companies to… create online video ads from a library of prepackaged clips. The main difference is while AdItAll uses Google’s AdSense platform for distribution, Jivox distributes the free, user-created ads through its own network based on user preferences for geographic, demographic, and contextual parameters.
Making it easier for the little guy to take advantage online video advertising is a worthy endeavor, one that we aspire to in our own way. But, as NewTeeVee points out, it’s not clear whether Jivox users can distribute their videos over other ad networks. If they can’t, that may defeat the purpose for many would-be advertisers.
Update: Today’s New York Times has a piece about D.I.Y. web video ads, mostly focusing on a company called The Talk Market, which helps companies create QVC-like product demonstration videos. A sub-niche of a niche offering. Oh yes, this is definitely a trend.
At Fliqz, we’re all about providing business solutions. Real estate is one of those industries for which video provides obvious tangible benefits, as our CEO Benjamin Wayne explains in this E-Commerce News piece on “Sales 2.0.” (And if there’s any industry that needs all the help it can get, it’s real estate.) For more details on how we do it, check out our real estate case studies.
