Online video has traditionally been a space for funny clips of dogs on skateboards or sneezing pandas. But, as ‘pull’ marketing prospers with the rise of digital and marketers adapting to economic pressures, web TV is quickly becoming a regular part of marketers’ arsenal.
In the strictest sense, web TV is regarded as broadcast television playing over the Internet – for example the consumer application iPlayer. In business marketing lingo, however, the term has been adopted to reflect strategic ongoing campaigns of video content on a brand’s website. “These are not one-offs but a regular stream of content,” clarifies Jake Ward, director at corporate video company BroadView.
Video’s supple nature that enables it to elicit an emotional response, clearly demonstrate a product or service and communicate a brand’s identity, should not be lost to savvier marketers – a fact reflected in MarketingSherpa’s 2007-2008 Business Technology Marketing Benchmark Guide, which showed online video second only to word-of-mouth for its ability to influence decision-makers in every stage of the purchase lifecycle.
At the same time, in comparison to some other marketing methods, video footage is anything but cheap. Costs will vary depending on what approach you decide to take, but they’re well worth it, says Marina Kenny at specialist agency Wax. “Online videos can be online forever – any time of day or night,” she points out.
Power of the moving image
“There can be little doubt that video is the ultimate engagement tool,” says Rebecca Kane, head of content syndication at agency Simply. “Human beings are televisual creatures and there is a vast body of research to support the proposition that when it comes to the delivery of key product or service USPs and the definition of a brand, video has no equal. Video can change perception, implant memorable messaging and dramatically enhance brand recall very efficiently.”
As a consequence, the medium has been adopted for a number of purposes.
One function that web TV can achieve with great effect is the demonstration of new products. “[Web TV] can be used to create sales collateral to help the launches of new products and services or in brand communication through virtual presentations and video case studies,” says Ward.
Mads Holmen, international account manager at branded content distribution experts GoViral, agrees. “Many companies underestimate the emotional power of video to introduce your brand, demonstrate products or present key USPs to a potential customer in an easy and accessible way,” he says. Holmen gives an example of Nokia’s new N97 telephone, which received more than 3.5 million unique views of a demonstration video online. “The video is neither funny, nor very viral,” he says, “but it is certainly relevant if you are taking a decision about buying phones.”
Another way is for virtual meetings or exhibitions, where web TV is used to webcast live events/launches/speeches. One example is ActiveWorlds, a virtual environment similar to Second Life, where a real-world conference is fed into a virtual environment, and visitors are given the option to interact, as well as wander around a virtual exhibition space.
Ogilvy UK, on the other hand, has found web TV an effective tool for internal communications and keeping employees up to speed on the latest campaigns and marketing material. The company has used Blinkx Beat to play videos as a desktop screensaver, without the need to open a browser.
Furthermore, web TV as a business education tool can do wonders for your brand, says Sally Winter, head of marketing for Video Arts, a digital learning resources producer and distributor. “[The] content is entertaining so people remember the learning messages for years. They associate the positive learning experience with the employer that provided it, which enhances the reputation of that organisation as an employer of choice and promotes the employer brand,” she says.
Engaging content
Using web TV isn’t just as simple as ‘film it and they will come’. There are a number of points to consider to get maximum effectiveness out of this marketing channel. “Web TV is moving beyond being a tactical tool developed as part of a single campaign and moving towards being part of a strategic planning process,” confirms Ward.
Growing numbers of B2B brands have seen the potential of web TV as a hook to snag customers and draw them further into their site.
One such brand is enterprise software giant Oracle, which has used a number of web TV sites to open up new audiences and improve lead-generation performance.
“Research showed us that boredom with existing formats was increasing and we needed to lift the Oracle messages above all the noise,” explains Pamela Edmond, group account director at Volume, the agency that is overseeing the initiative. Edmond continues: “The web TV concept or online video allows us to condense messages through analogies and story-telling in a much more engaging format.”
Oracle decided to kick start the initiative with a short video to draw viewers to the site. There, an extensive web TV library featuring industry experts on different relevant topics was used to engage visitors. This way, Oracle positioned themselves as thought leaders, explains Edmond. From here, further tools designed to engage viewers – from aggregated twitter comments to social networks, a blog and forum and white papers – were used to keep people returning to the site.
“A short viral video was the perfect sting to drive interest and traffic to the site. Our seeding plan covered a multitude of media to gather interest from new verticals and types of decision makers, opening up lead generation in new areas. This combined with a full library of white papers, expert debate and online benchmarking tools, means return visits continue to grow incrementally to new site traffic,” says Edmond. Key to this approach is keeping video content updated on the site, she adds.
A core factor of engaging visitors is to turn web TV into a two-way dialogue, says Ward. “One of the key elements for engaging audiences is building web TV into an interactive platform, rather than simply a one-way medium,” he says. “These forms of interactivity can include users distributing the content, submitting questions, expressing opinions, posting their own video responses or even attending events in virtual environments such as Second Life,” he says.
The rewards of doing this effectively are many. “Those organisations who use live programmes to offer an interactive experience to their customers find that, on average, 72 per cent of customers interact with their programmes by taking part in polls, asking questions or for more information. This builds a strong relationship between the brand and the customer and leads to directly trackable sales,” he adds.
Spreading the message
Just because you have great content, it doesn’t mean people are watching it. “A common misconception is that because we are online and users are active in finding and sharing video content, distribution is somehow a secondary thing. Nothing could be more misleading,” stresses Holmen. “Professional and relevant distribution creates momentum for your video and guarantees that you reach the right audience in a timely fashion. Like any commercial campaign, it is the distribution that makes or breaks a campaign,” he says.
The most recommended strategy for syndication is the ‘hub and spoke’ model for the web, advises Jeff Whatcott, SVP of marketing for video publishing company Brightcove. “The hub is the brand’s website destination where it can build a community around its key messaging, provide high-quality viewing experiences, and control the context,” he explains. “Spokes represent controlled syndication opportunities for providing samples of content to social networks, video sharing sites, and portals. These spokes help promote content, drive traffic back to their own website properties, and provide an ‘audience network’ that greatly expands the reach and influence of online video content.”
YouTube: Channel of choice
Indisputably the most well-known channel for syndication is that old favourite, YouTube.
“YouTube kicked off a true revolution, driven by increasing broadband penetration and an unparalleled demand for watching and sharing video content,” comments Holmen.
And it’s not just for funny clips either. The idea that YouTube is only suitable for funny or absurd virals is a misconception, says YouTube spokesperson Oliver Rickman. “We’ve seen a huge amount of experimentation from the business community trying out new ideas for compelling videos, and video is now a core part of the communication strategy for many companies,” he says.
While admittedly popular, YouTube is not always the best option for your web TV stream, according to Whatcott. “[It is a] risky portal for brand marketers to push out content,” he says. “Control over the content is lost and tracking playback and influence becomes far more difficult. Furthermore, video quality and page design are not up to scratch, which is unacceptable, as website design increasingly influences the customers’ brand judgement.”
Quality over quantity
While it has its perks, reaching millions of people with your video should not be your only distribution objective. You should take a quality over quantity approach, says Holmen. “Often video content developed for B2B campaigns has a more specific objective audience, so reaching 50,000 of the right viewers can be a great success,” he says.
Another effective video syndication channel is email, says Deborah Cox, newsletter specialist for Newsweaver. “People love to share videos. This is what makes videos particularly appealing to marketers – the enormous pass-along potential,” says Cox.
Cox gives the example of Euromech, a supplier of pallet racking, steel shelving and mezzanine floors. The company created its own short videos, generally around two minutes, featuring its equipment in action. It used a YouTube channel, Euromech1, and announced the channel’s launch in its regular newsletter. This email link attracted 50 per cent of its traffic, Cox notes.
“Online video has certainly become a powerful tool for B2B marketers to expand their brand presence and reach customers and prospects in a new way,” observes Whatcott. Given the considerable advances in such a short space of time, it only remains to be seen what the future holds for marketers using online video.
