Internet Videos the new promotional venue?
August 20, 2008
There’s no doubt it’s the web video generation. YouTube blew into the web scene and a whole new world grew up around it. There are numerous video hosting services besides YouTube: Google, Yahoo, Revver, Crackle, Veoh, Vimeo…and more coming.
The news rumbling along the weblines is that web videos are here now and they’re nudging traditional advertising methods out of the way. You might not read that in newspapers and magazines, or hear it on television because the owners of those venues prefer their readers and viewers remain ignorant of the new kid in town. That’s because the new kid has already scooped up some share of the advertising budget of people willing to take a risk and try new methods of advertising.
Howard Dean proved how effective the web was back in 2004 when he, in his role as chief Democratic honcho, brought in millions of dollars through working the web.
Political candidates are utilizing web videos to get their message out to millions of voters.
Advertisers who are willing to see what it’s all about are discovering that Internet videos can be very effective.
With the rapid growth of the Internet video audience, media companies now view online video as a serious business, increasing available inventory and creating opportunities for agencies and advertisers that think creatively about the market.
According to MediaShift, online video ads are “ready to bloom” thanks to:
-audience and ad inventory exploding on sites like Hulu or CNN Online
-standard advertising guidelines created by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) that would unify advertisers
-Google allowing longer independent films on YouTube to increase professional quality of content and allowing video producers to sell their ads
-small and medium businesses (SMBs) began using video ads, thanks to online Yellow Pages, Google’s AdSense and video production start-ups like PixelFish and TurnHere
Short one-minute videos, similar to TV ads and infomercials, may sometimes be more effective for small businesses that don’t have the resources to produce their own video ads. Video production companies like TurnHere provide documentary type video profiles created by independent producers.
PixelFish, a popular video production company, has had 20 % average revenue increase every month in 2008, according to John McIntyre, CEO.
Video ad formats: pre-roll or not?
Video ads are interesting for newspapers, according to Eric Janssen, online director of Memphis newspaper Commercial Appeal. His newspaper has used various advertising formats but he said “advertorial formats work better from a selling perspective.”
At Web Video Productions, we not only load our clients’ videos on venues like YouTube, Google, Yahoo, Veoh, and Vimeo, we also post them on their websites and on their page on our WebMall. The load onto the YouTube route sends them into the world. Clients can then lean on our WebMall and their website to gather in local customers through printing that information on their business card and flyers.
