Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Top 9 Online Video Sites

comScore Video Metrix service shows that 171 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in January for an average of 14.5 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in nearly 4.9 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month.

Top 10 Video Content Properties by Unique Viewers:

Top US Online Video Properties by Video Ads* Viewed.


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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Three Ways Brands Can Act More Like Partners On YouTube


Videos made by YouTube Partners have been completely trouncing those made by brands and posted on YouTube. That's right -- I said trouncing.  Last year, TubeMogul reported that 43% of YouTube's top 100 videos were from YouTube Partners. Only 4% were uploaded ads. YouTube opened its Partner Program to its most popular users back in 2007, allowing them to share in the revenue generated by ads placed on their videos. Today, an ever-growing number of YouTube partners make their livings through this program, and because their livelihoods depend on expanding the size of their audiences and getting views, partners have found new and innovative ways to gain exposure. As an experiment, I took a look at the YouTube Charts to see if I could find any brand videos in the top 20 this month (Spoiler alert: I didn't.) Other than music videos, Partner videos were the only other videos on the list. In fact, one partner alone, Ray William Johnson (with a channel of the same name) had six of the top 20 spots.  So what are these top YouTube Partners doing so much better than brands? I took a look at the most subscribed-to channels of all time and found three things that brands can start incorporating into their YouTube strategies right away. Asking for Comments and Ratings. Comments and ratings are forms of engagement in YouTube's eyes, and videos that get consistent comments and ratings will generally rank better. Partners understand the value of comments and "likes" so they ask for them in their videos. It's a simple thing to do; however, too many brands treat the end of their videos like the end of a TV commercial: Flash the logo and get out. Top YouTube Partners don't just ask viewers to comment, they provide specific questions for their audiences to answer. A fine example of this comes from YouTube's third most-subscribed-to channel, ShaneDawsonTV. Shane asks a specific question at the end of each of his videos, and viewers flock to the comments section. By just asking for people's opinions, Shane has elicited more than 70,000 comments for each video.  When was the last time a brand video asked for your opinion? Incorporating Viewer Feedback. As a kid, I loved "Sesame Street." My favorite part was when a character would talk directly to you and ask you to yell out an answer (usually a letter or a number). I foolishly thought the characters could see directly into my living room and hear my response. At one point I remember yelling out an obviously wrong answer only to have Elmo say, "That's right! Good job." It was at that moment I realized that Elmo couldn't actually hear me. While you're still not able to peer into viewers' living rooms, you can respond to and use viewer feedback in ways that were never possible before. As you engage your audience, you will get posted comments and video responses, sometimes in the form of parodies that can help shape and guide the types of videos you create in the future. One partner who has this down to a science is YouTube's second most-subscribed-to channel, RayWilliamJohnson. Ray not only asks his viewers questions, he features his favorite comments at the end of every video. Viewers commonly send videos to Ray to be featured on his show, and when he does, he gives the senders credit. Viewers subscribe to Ray's channel not only because he showcases funny videos, but also because their comments and responses may end up being part of the show.  Drive Engagement with Hotspots and Annotations. What happens after a viewer watches one of your videos? Odds are they leave YouTube, hit up the search bar, or watch a related video. What if there was a way to showcase other videos you've made and direct viewers to those instead? Enter YouTube annotations and hotspots. You've probably seen YouTube annotations before. They are the sometimes colorful boxes that pop up over your video with text in them (think VH1's Pop Up Video). These annotations and hotspots can also act as links, and many YouTube Partners have found new and innovative ways to use these to keep their audiences engaged. Another YouTube Partner,  MysteryGuitarMan, creates amazingly edited musical videos that regularly get millions of views. If you watch one of his videos, odds are you're going to watch another thanks to his clever use of annotations and hotspots. Joe Penna (the Mystery Guitar Man) uses the last minute or so of his videos to feature viewer comments, ask questions, and link to past videos. For his last video of 2010 he created a clickable menu of all the videos he created in the past year organized by category. All using annotations. A handful of brands have used annotations to create fun, interactive video experiences, but in general I have not seen brands embrace annotations the way that YouTube Partners have. All three of these tactics boil down to one thing: engagement. YouTube Partners don't usually start with any fame, notoriety or large advertising budgets. Instead, they use the tools and equipment available to them to create a community where every video is a touch point. - Matt Ballek, Video Insider Get started today! Call the video experts at VMakers. VMakers.com 888.712.8211 info@VMakers.com Custom Video Solutions From The "Hollywood" Pros. The team behind your favorite TV shows and movies, including: Ellen, Seinfeld, $#*! My Dad Says, How I Met Your Mother, The Disney Channel and more.

Monday, February 14, 2011

How to Profit From Online Video - 6 Tips

Customers want to know more about you, your company and the brands and services they purchase. Video is the perfect tool to educate and build relationships between you and your customers. It enables viewers to get a sense of who you are, your personality, and what makes you and your firm/product(s) unique. What's more, video helps build a sense of trust between you and your customers, and people buy from those they trust.

Did you know?
YouTube is the No. 2 search engine, according to comScore.
And 75% of C-level executives said they watched work-related videos on business websites at least once a week, Forbes/Google survey.

To foster relationships, build trust, increase your position on Google, and grow sales, make sure to include your videos on your website, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, your blog and more.

Before you dive in, consider these tips:
1. Develop a plan. Know your target audience, what you want to say and what your objectives and goals are.
2. Create a professional quality video. It's better not to use video than to risk damaging your brand with unprofessional videos.
3. Offer unique content viewers can't get elsewhere. Something valuable and useful.
4. Use a simple branded format. Use reviews, Q&A or Tips and Tricks, etc.
5. Be authentic and use your personality.
6. Promote your videos online and offline. Optimize tags and headlines for search.


Get started today! Call the video experts at VMakers.

VMakers.com

888.712.8211
info@VMakers.com

Custom Video Solutions From The "Hollywood" Pros.
The team behind your favorite TV shows and movies, including: Ellen, Seinfeld, $#*! My Dad Says, How I Met Your Mother, The Disney Channel and more.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Growth Rate of Online Video Skyrockets

The trajectory of online video use has been on a hockey stick path for years, but the latest year-end review of 2010 from comScore duly underscores just how firmly the medium has taken hold as a digital mainstay. The comScore 2010 U.S. Digital Year in review finds that the average number of people in our market who watched video online each day skyrocketed 32% to 88.6 million between December 2009 and December 2010. All other key metrics grew as well: number of viewing sessions per person (+13%), hours spent (+12% or 14 hours in December 2010), and number of streams per person (+8%).
Time-shifted TV viewing online continues to be a key driver of these metrics, with both Hulu and individual on-air brands being the main beneficiaries. ComScore finds that in the last quarter of 2010 Hulu accounted for 323 million hours of viewing (+17%, year-over-year) while the combined viewing at the major network sites (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW) attracted about half of that (162 million hours). But it was the rate of growth among the individual networks that proves most interesting. Direct viewing of TV from the TV brands' own sites had increased at a much higher rate than Hulu, up 82%. In other words, the networks are succeeding in pulling viewers over to their online hubs.
One can imagine how this migration works, although it doesn't necessarily mean a disaffection from Hulu, per se. The fresh and new online brand of Hulu may well have been more appealing and familiar to time-shifting early adopters, who drove the early spikes in Hulu growth. As online video audiences grow to embrace a broader market of viewers who are more familiar with the tried and true TV brands, they may tend to consult the networks online rather than a third party. Or something like that. But clearly the online TV re-viewing habit has taken hold.
The monetization of online video appears to be on a healthy growth curve as well. ComScore has been pushing its argument that online video has an unusually low ad load compared to TV. Ads comprise only 1.6% of all time spent with video (but up from 1.2% in June). But when it comes to overall numbers of total streams viewed, 16.4% of videos are now ad content. This increase in the share of videos comprised of advertising increased substantially just in recent months, from 9.8% in June.
Bottom line: ever so slowly, consumers are starting to treat the Web like a DVR and publishers and advertisers are starting to apply successfully similar business models. -Steve Smith, Media Post
Contact us today to get started with video marketing.
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888.712.8211
info@VMakers.com

Custom Video Solutions From The "Hollywood" Pros.
The team behind your favorite TV shows and movies, including: Ellen, Seinfeld, $#*! My Dad Says, How I Met Your Mother, The Disney Channel and more.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Social Video and Sharing: Why You Need Online Video

An online video share is one of the highest compliments a consumer can pay an advertiser. The thought of someone selecting, viewing, and then recommending an advertising message to friends is intoxicating brands and agencies alike.

By now it is understood that popular "viral videos" such as the Evian Babies and the Old Spice Man are the result of sophisticated and well-funded media strategies, not alchemic word-of-mouth. But the siren's lure of sharing has not waned.

Social video (video that users actively seek out and share) is a hot sector in online advertising. Millions of opt-in video views are happening every month for major brands on social networks, mobile devices, P2P and YouTube. Every one of these campaigns generates social activity (Facebook "Likes," shares, tweets, comments, ratings, etc.) all of which is tracked. But how much sharing should a brand expect?

Obviously, the answer depends on the content. A special effects-laden celebrity extravaganza may be expected to outperform a side-by-side kitchen demonstration, but since more and more brands are creating videos specifically for online distribution, we thought it would be useful to create sharing benchmarks.

We ran a study that examined six million U.S.-based social video views of ad campaigns for Fortune 500 brands in the latter part of 2010. Each view was initiated by a consumer who actively selected the video.

More than 90% of those who selected a social video watched it to completion and between 3% and 5% went on to share them. This sharing was dominated by Facebook. In fact, people share videos on Facebook 218% more than through Twitter and e-mail combined.

And content wasn't the only factor that affected sharing. Social video ads of 15 seconds or less are shared nearly 37% more than those between 30 seconds and one minute, and 18% more than videos over a minute. This finding is consistent with video completions rates that we've tracked for more than five years. Videos of :15 seconds or less have consistently delivered higher completion rates than longer videos. When it comes to social video, clearly, shorter is better!

The average social video viewer is 27 years old. Women account for nearly 57% of social video views, and they share social video 30% more than men. More than half of all social video is viewed and, subsequently, shared by 18-34 year olds.

From a geographic standpoint, Midwesterners watch the least amount of social video, but they share at a higher rate than any other part of the country by nearly a quarter (23%).

Social video is a new and rapidly evolving medium that holds tremendous promise. For the first time, advertisers can reliably reach millions of consumers without interrupting them or forcing them to watch. This self-selection is one of the biggest reasons we see such strong and consistent sharing. It won't fulfill dreams of viral fame and glory, but the underlying value of millions of consumer-initiated interactions should more than compensate.
-VideoInsider


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888.712.8211
info@VMakers.com

Custom Video Solutions From The "Hollywood" Pros.
The team behind your favorite TV shows and movies, including: Ellen, Seinfeld, $#*! My Dad Says, How I Met Your Mother, The Disney Channel and more.