Is Online Video For Real?
Obviously at HDCityCasts.com we have a strong bias towards the use of HD Video on the web to promote products, provide testimonials, give home buyers Neighborhood Tours, introduce businesses, engage visitors in ways traditional sites just can’t seem to do, and etc etc! But the question looms…is HD video what today’s online visitors really demand from a web experience? The answer is absolutely YES.
Seems like an easy answer. Nielsen recently came out with a new study proclaiming the massive adoption trend of online video, and presented their findings in comparison with traditional TV (of course with an agenda to show advertisers new pathways to our minds). Look at these stats provided by VideoBloom who provides frequent video trend stat updates:
- In April 2009, the VIEW main index for the top 10 North American web sites was 50-100-0, which indicates that 50% of the web sites had video on their home page, 100% had video on their site, and 0% didn’t use any video on their website.
- 100% of the top 10 North American web sites have placed their videos 1 click away from the home page.
- 0% of the top 10 North American web sites have placed their videos deep into their web sites, 3 clicks or more away from the home page.
- 90% use online video in an advanced manner: contextual integration of videos, variety of video players, call-to-action tied to the video, etc.
- 80% offer a full-fledged “video center” comparable to a corporate TV channel.
- 80% give access to such video center directly from their home page (one click away).
- 0% have video on autoplay (i.e. video starts as soon as the user lands on the page).
- 10% open video in a new browser webpage.
- 0% use a pop-up window to display video.
- Video formats: 80% use Flash video, 10% companies use Windows Media Player, 10% use QuickTime, 0% use Real Player.
This is a trend, and one that has legs. I am sure in the days of radio no one thought TV would stick, and no one thought there would be a PC or MAC in every household. And if text was such a powerful way to convey a message, why wouldn’t television shows and ads be nothing but text? The answer is because it is not interesting when a richer media format is available just around the corner (or click away).
The means for video to be streamed to a household is real, is approaching critical mass, and it is here to stay. And would you challenge the fact that it is only going to get better? One more thing to consider: video uses 55% of bandwidth from Microsoft: so much that they are building their own massive CDN (Content Delivery Network).
Many are still disputing these online statistics. In researching this I have realized that the argument for online video is too far weighed on consumers and how much time they spend online watching video in comparison with TV. In reality, this just is not the right argument. We need to understand the role of video in general for businesses and professionals and understand the technical capabilities needed to support video. If we understand this, then we are ahead of the game.
It is simple really. The resources are available for business and professionals to adapt to the new way of doing business online. 10 years ago you would need tens of thousands of dollars to engage a high end agency to produce simple videos. Not anymore. Vendors exist (yes, even here in Kansas City), that can provide high production value for a fraction of the cost.
It is not too late to revisit your sales and marketing tools, and overall strategy, to incorporate the latest and greatest methods of doing business.
