The Triumph of Online Videos
Being found online is one thing, convincing potential customers to stay awhile another. In a time of information overload and decreasing attention spans, long descriptive texts are skimmed at best: users want all the information they need with as little effort as possible. Video publishing presents a convenient way to inform and to entertain potential clients.
Video publishing has been emerging in recent years. Advertising revenue with online video ads is projected to increase from 226 billion EUR in 2012 to 346 billion EUR in 2015 in Germany alone. In December 2012, the German internet user spent 1.299 minutes on online videos. In this regard, the British are leading the way in Europe (1.870 minutes). Moreover, 68 percent of all internet users regularly watch videos online. All of these numbers are highly likely to increase in years to come.
Be it streaming of series and films via on-demand services, web videos on popular platforms such as Youtube or Vimeo – thanks to high-speed internet, audio-visual media have migrated from movie theaters and television screens onto computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets. The infrastructure is there and will continue to improve. There are three reasons why you should take advantage of this:
- Create a dynamic experience
- Increase traffic
- The wow-factor
A well-made video will be very beneficial to the way people perceive your brand. There are many types of videos – it all depends on what you are trying to achieve. A creative viral video, for example, will make you appear young, modern and sympathetic. 3D-visualization and product animations enable you to present whatever you have to offer in the best way possible. Image videos allow viewers a peak behind the curtains of your company, which will make you more accessible to them and thus establish trust. Moreover, not every site provides video content. Use this to differentiate yourself from the competition.
How to Publish
Publishing videos online involves several work processes, from developing the storyboard, animation, editing, to formatting and making it available to users worldwide. And still, the process is not completed then – once the video is published, you are surely interested in its effectiveness: how many people have watched?, did everyone watch all of it?, and what are your demographics?
Keeping Rights of Use in Mind
All steps considered, video publishing can be a complex and time-consuming affair. There are, however, video management solutions that help you to manage, deliver and control online video assets. Whether this is useful depends on your video. Is it a normal ad video for which you want as much exposure as possible, then the common streaming sites like YouTube and Vimeo will suffice. But keep in mind that by doing so, you usually let go of the rights to your video.
If exposure is not the all-determining factor in your video publishing efforts, because, for example, you want to publish support videos and tutorials, video management solutions will prove to be very valuable. Unlike popular streaming sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, they allow you to retain the rights to your videos so you remain in control of what you have produced. These solutions usually include online editing, enable cross-channel publishing and provide tools to track, monitor and report user activity. Most importantly, they ensure your video can be played across platforms and devices. Video publishing can only be successful if it allows for anytime, anywhere, any-device access.
The advantages of video management solutions at a glance:
- ensuring the best image quality across platforms and devices
- adding interactive elements to your video
- editing videos online
- managing rights and licenses
- reducing hosting costs through cloud computing
- ensuring worldwide access
- unproblematic integration into existing content management systems
- encoded transmission for maximum security
W4 gladly advises you on the boundless opportunities video publishing has to offer. From the very first idea until reporting, we take care of every single step along the way. Get in touch!
