It’s that time of year when many predictors come with their crystal ball and tell us what the video marketing expectations are for 2014. I personally don’t pay much attention to that. I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s really hard to see into the future. That being said, I’d like to look back at 2013 and look at the numbers from various reports that point to a banner year for online video production. Video is UP, big time. People are watching and more and more businesses are producing video content. Why? It works. People watch, are engaged, stay on sites longer, and are more willing to buy. One report that shows this increase in online video marketing is the 2013 Online Video Marketing Survey and Business Video Trends Report. For video production companies and marketers, this is a must have report. The research is thorough, detailed, well laid out and easy to understand. It was commissioned by Flimp Media, REELSEO, and the Web Video Marketing Council. Over 600 marketing professionals were surveyed and 93% of them used video for marketing and communications in 2013.
Surveys like this can help businesses and marketers learn from their own video production experiences and vastly improve their video content. Some will outsource more, others will build their own production facility. Because producing video content on a large scale is so new, how to best produce and leverage that content is a work in progress. Yes every form of video, be it explainer, how-to, FAQ, can be effective when properly produced. However they don’t all work all the time. They have their time and place and most importantly, they all have a standard of quality to adhere to. Sometimes that standard can be with just an iphone. (Although I’d recommend otherwise. I’ll talk about that in another post, stay tuned). Video is about the story you are trying to tell. Once that’s figured out, you’ll know what type of video to produce. (Please note, this report does not suggest what type of content to produce, the survey results are based on how online video is being used).
Again, this report is essential for all to have. Numbers don’t lie. From a marketers perspective, the production of video content is steadily increasing. However the ways to produce quality content is still new. That’s the exciting part. As much as we want to rush and play hurry up, video production takes time to learn. Will there come a time when consumers expect better quality video production? Will consumers get tired of white board explainer videos and animated infographics? Can you come up with your own creative and innovative video production ideas? Why be the follower and you can be followed. There is so much to explore and wrap our heads around that the opportunities for businesses to grow with the help of online video are endless.
I had the opportunity to interview Wayne Wall, CEO of Flimp Media. His company helped put together the Video Trends Report. It’s the third year for this report and Wayne has some very positive thoughts on video marketing. Take a look and tell us what you think. This video is Part 1 of a series of interviews with Wayne ranging from video SEO, to video email.