I
believe Michael Scott said it best when he stated “When I
discovered YouTube, I didn't work for 5 days.” Now, obviously this
is exaggerated for humor, but the sentiment is pretty on point. It is
astounding how much time we (and by we, I especially mean I) spend
looking at videos online. It has come to the point where YouTube is
actually the first place I go when I want to learn a new skill.
YouTube helped me fix my dryer when it stopped working. My dad didn't
teach me how to tie a tie, but YouTube sure did! Get this—almost 5
Billion videos are watched on YouTube every single day. That's
Billion with a ‘B’ people. Plus, in an average month 8 out of
every 10 people (18-49 years old) have watched at least 1 YouTube
video. It adds up to over 30 million visitors per day. AND THAT IS
JUST YOUTUBE! Those numbers don't include all of the other online
video platforms like Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, and embedded video.
With
all of that being said, it amazes me how few of our clients come to
us wanting to make video specifically for online distribution. Oh,
but you better believe they start thinking about it real quick. TV or
live distribution is still the #1 tool many clients think of when
putting their advertising out into the world. And don't get me wrong,
it can still be a great way to reach your audience, especially if you
are targeting a demographic that will already be in that location.
For instance, making sure your commercial airs during the college
football games on Saturday. However, in 2017 a study by YouTube found that 6 out
of 10 people prefer online video platforms to live TV. And that
number is growing every single year.
So
let's look at some of the real perks of online video:
- There
is no time limit
A :15 commercial can fly by on TV without you
really being able to get your company’s message across. Sure you
can bump the airtime up to a :30 or a :60, but then your price goes
up as well. And anybody who has ever advertised on television knows
that it can get pricey real quick (especially in the most desired
time slots). Now you can upload multiple versions of your video,
including one that may be 2, 3, 4, etc. minutes long to really show
off your business. Think of every advertisement like a movie trailer for your company. The better the trailer, the more likely customers will flock to your business.
- DVR
With viewer's ability to skip the breaks in their favorite
shows, your command of their eyeballs has really gone down. Think
about it...you spend all of that money for airtime and they don't
even see it. Let YouTube do the work for you. The more views your
video has, the more likely your video could go viral and gain an
even larger audience. And with pre-roll, even if someone decides to skip your video, you are guaranteed to have their focus for at least 5 seconds. Plenty of time to hook them with a well made video.
- Price
Like I've said a few times already, airtime can be expensive.
Barring any sponsored posts or boosts, online video is F-R-E-E!
Wouldn't you rather spend your money making the best
looking and most memorable video you can versus a low budget video
that your customers see maybe once? And if you want to spend a
little extra money on platforms like Facebook you can put your video
in front of the exact demographic you’re looking for by boosting a
post.
I'm
not saying that you have to completely give up all of your other
advertising venues, but you NEED to be using online video platforms
to get your products and ideas to customers. It is everywhere—on
your phone, on your computer, and even on your smart TV. Next time
you are watching a video of a cat playing the piano or a baby playing
with bubbles, think about how a potential customer could be looking
at your business.
Sources:
youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html,
statisticbrain.com/youtube-statistics
