The Internet radically changed the way that consumers are getting their entertainment. Television viewers aren’t stuck with the same 5 or even 100 or 1,000 television channels. They now have endless choices on Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Vimeo and more as big investments in “streaming series” becomes more common across all viewing devices. The convergence of TV and the Internet is an exciting time for marketers in all businesses.
YouTube reaches more U.S. adults aged 18-34 than any cable network.
Because of that, the power of advertising on television is quickly losing ground to other online sources. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), in 2013 the money spent on online advertising surpassed the amount of advertising money spent on broadcast television for the first time in history. Advertisers and marketers know that the future of advertising is now through the Internet and not in the prime time Friday night slot.
This really levels the playing field for businesses of all sizes. In the past, business marketers would have to invest hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars buying ad time during prime time television viewing hours. The ROI on these commercials is fairly low, depending on the time slot and existing brand awareness. TV commercials are broadcast to millions of people who may or may not be interested in the goods or services advertised, and once the commercial is over, the chances of them remembering your business’ name is low. That causes a low return on per ad investment, with an untrackable per ad conversion rate. This is about as effective as a door hanger campaign unless a company has many millions to invest in repeating the same message.
Broadcast advertising is now left to the established brands maintaining mind share and not new brands establishing market share.
Because the internet offers inexpensive marketing opportunities, you can now use online video marketing and specifically target the consumers who are most interested in your business. This isn’t just about uploading a video on YouTube (although that’s a good start). Videos for your business can be used on your website to quickly relay a lot of information in a short amount of time, as well as gain customers’ attention on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. By properly tagging and targeting your videos, you can use them to find the right customers and achieve an incredible conversion rate. And because your business can have a video made for a fraction of the cost of your ad buy for television air time, your ROI will be much, much healthier.
Top five online marketing videos every small and medium size business should produce:
- Overview & Brand Story
- Product Education & Demonstration
- Customer Testimonials
- Employee Profiles & Location Tour
- Event Videos
Remember with online video marketing it’s about the customer, not the company.
Remember with online video marketing it’s about the customer, not the company.