We’re in the midst of a technological and social evolution that’s shaping where we get our entertainment, news, information, and other resources. It’s becoming increasingly clear that broadcast television and print no longer have a lock on media distribution and consumption. On-demand, online video has enjoyed a meteoric rise — becoming as commonplace as email and search on the web.
Now that 2010 has arrived, it’s time for business owners to take stock of their marketing – assess what worked and didn’t work the year before, and determine what, if anything, new to try in the coming year. In an Entrepreneur.com post 10 Marketing Trends for 2010, marketer Susan Gunelius lays out the top 10 trends that will affect all areas of marketing, advertising, branding in 2010 and beyond.
The article is certainly worth a read for any small business owner grappling with marketing strategy and priorities. We spend considerable time focusing on how SMBs and local businesses can leverage online video marketing, and certainly appreciate that online video made the list “Both online video and mobile marketing are set to explode, and we’ll really start to see that happen in 2010″.
However, we were even more excited to read Gunelius’ first point: Transparency and trust are paramount. She wrote, “[Companies] that … make a concentrated effort to be honest and open in their marketing communications will generate positive consumer responses, which can lead to brand loyalty and brand advocacy.”
These words echo the real-world results we see each day when it comes to online video that works. Today’s consumers are savvy. They’re highly attuned to weed out sales pitches. And the Internet puts them in full control — they can instantly navigate away from something that rings hollow or sounds phoney.
As a result, we find that small businesses are most successful with authentic videos where the company owner, employee, or customer tells their story in their own words. Less reliance on scripts and a more organic production process result in an honest, emotionally engaging product. This personal approach differentiates a video from the clutter of marketing jargon on the web today – compelling viewers to want to know more.
Make sure to buy Inc.’s February issue. TurnHere is featured in their list of “Best Tools for Creating Online Video”. In the meantime you can check out the article on their site here.
Now that 2010 is upon us, analysts and research firms are wrapping up their studies on last year. And if there was any doubt that online video reigned in 2009, comScore just released their numbers from November 2009. According to that data, online video viewing continued to reach record levels, as Americans watched more than 30 billion videos (30,986,670, to be exact) in November alone.
comScore found that more than 170 million U.S. Internet users viewed online video during the month of November — that represents an astounding 84.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience.
Other interesting findings from the report include:
In terms of unique viewers in November, Google Sites continued to lead the field with 129 million unique viewers, followed by Yahoo! Sites with more than 55 million viewers (8.5 videos per viewer) and Fox Interactive Media with 50 million viewers (8.9 videos per viewer).
According to a new report by eMarketer, U.S. online advertising spending is set to be down 4.6% this year — marking the first drop since 2002.
However, video ad spending is a bright spot in this down market. eMarketer’s data shows that video ad spending will far outpace any other online marketing format — averaging in the 34% to 45% range from 2009 to 2014. According to eMarketer, “These extremely high growth rates are the result of video ads moving from the sidelines to center stage, becoming the main form of brand advertising in the digital space.”
eMarketer’s analysis corroborates what we’ve known for awhile — online video has definitively moved into the mainstream and marketers are realizing the effectiveness and value of video advertising.
Of course, if we look at eMarketer’s breakdown of advertising spend by format, we see that search advertising still dominates in terms of total dollars spent. However, by 2014 eMarketer believes that online video will reach $5.2 Billion (up from $734 million in 2008). Compare that growth rate with that of banner advertising ($5.8 billion in 2014, $4.88 billion in 2008), and the future for video looks very bright.
Online video viewing continues to reach record levels. According to a new report from comScore, nearly 26 billion online videos were viewed by Americans in September, and more than 168 million U.S. Internet users watched video during the month.
You can take a look at comScore’s original announcement here (link: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS226430+30-Oct-2009+PRN20091030)
According to comScore, an astounding 84.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video. Clearly, Internet video has moved well beyond the early adopter phase and there can be no doubt that people are more than comfortable with consuming content and information online in video form.
Other interesting findings from the report include:
In case you needed any more evidence that ad dollars are moving to the online world…GroupM, a media buying agency, released a new study that projects online advertising to account for 15% of the global ad budget in 2010. That’s up from 13% this year, and from 3.1% in 2001.
The study was reported in Variety – you can check out the brief article here.
In terms of dollars and cents, GroupM believes that close to $65 billion will be spent globally on digital ads next year. And for those of you interested in the U.S. market, this same study projects that online advertising will grab 17% of the total ad spending next year (up from a projected 15.4% this year, and 13.9% for 2008).
But here’s where it starts to get interesting. GroupM also looked at how ad money will be spent online. They found that display ads are declining, while search, video and mobile ads are all on the rise. According to the research firm, display ads will account for 34% of online marketing spending in 2010, and will be overtaken by search advertising, which represents 43% of the online budget.
It’s easy to see why search advertising can be so effective, and popular among marketers. It gives brands and companies a unique opportunity to communicate their message to those very people who are actually looking for their solution (whether it’s a widget or widget repair), and at the exact moment of time that they’re actively seeking and needing the solution.
And search ads don’t just have to be limited to the four short lines of text in Google Ad Words. There are other places and ways that people search for services or products on the web — for example, Yellow Pages and other online local or niche listings — and these present powerful opportunities for any marketer.
We’re excited to announce that the winner of week #1 of our Fall in Love with Video Sweepstakes 1 is…
TurnHere creates videos for companies of all sizes, from global brands like Audi, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Simon & Schuster to thousands of small businesses across the country.
And for a limited time, we’re making a special offer to businesses with a Facebook Page.
Free Product Features
What’s the Catch?
There’s NO catch. You’ll receive a 60-second video profile of your business that will live on your business’s Facebook Page for free for up to one year.
TurnHere is giving you a video because we’re betting you’ll love it so much you’ll want to purchase additional placement options on other sites beyond Facebook (such as your own web page or other video sites.) If you do, we can offer you that service with our affordable monthly subscription plans. Either way, your video will stay on your Facebook Page for as long as you want it there, up to one year, at no cost. After a year you can choose to purchase an ongoing subscription plan or cancel your video. It’s up to you.
Research firm eMarketer just put out a new report that analyzes the growth and development of digital video advertising. Titled Digital Video Advertising: Where’s the Money?, the report offers some interesting figures that simultaneously give us confidence for the future of the industry, as well as a little perspective.
So, first for the perspective…With all the focus on the skyrocketing growth of online video and the promise of this new marketing channel, it’s all too easy to think of the traditional TV ad spot as an obsolete dinosaur, close to extinction. However, the report showed that TV advertising isn’t going anywhere anytime soon — and it still dwarfs its online counterpart. According to David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report, for every $1 spent on Internet video ads in 2009, marketers will spend $65 on TV commercials.
But now, like other recent industry reports, this paper shows that online video advertising is growing, and growing fast. According to eMarketer’s figures, 2008 witnessed a huge burst in growth — over 125%. Yet, eMarketer does not consider that phenomenal growth rate to continue; the report projects the growth will taper to 40% year-over-year growth for the next four years, and then “fall” to 30% growth in 2013. Although these forecasts anticipate a slow-down in growth rates, I’m guessing that many industries would be pretty happy to see 40% (even 30%) growth each year.