Hunter PR Guest Post: Five Things You Need To Know About Online Video

Posted on Dec 20, 2011 in Views You Can Use | 1 comment

Editor’s note: This post is being shared via our friends at Hunter PR. It was written following a PRSA NY event on 10/27/11, Successfully Integrating Online Video Into Your PR Campaigns, where I joined a panel of experts. Here is a quick video where we share key takeaways. – Larry Thomas

 

By: The Social & Digital Media Practice at Hunter PR.

More than 184 million Americans watched more than 42 billion online videos in October 2011, the highest monthly viewing metric ever recorded for the American audience (comScore Video Metrix). Whether it was girls in princess crowns singing along to Nicki Minaj, the ‘Old Spice Guy’ causing women across America to collectively swoon or the honey badger’s unexpected rise to online fame, video has become one of the most captivating forms of social and digital media, and viewing statistics continue to grow at an astounding rate. Here are five things marketers need to know about producing, distributing and monitoring online video:

Create Compelling Content
With more than 48 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, it’s safe to say that people are watching online video and are hungry for more. Three things to keep in mind: have a purpose, know what makes your audience tick and make your point—fast. Forty-four percent of viewers abandon video by the 60-second mark.

Identify Distribution Channels
Everyone wants a ‘viral video’ that garners millions of clicks and impacts pop culture. (Rebecca Black, anyone?) However, having compelling content doesn’t guarantee it will go viral. Before a video can go anywhere, it must receive the proper distribution. YouTube is the most obvious destination for a broad-reaching video, but other sites—such as Metacafe and Vimeo—are desirable due to less stringent uploading policies in regard to content and size. The key to online video distribution is in the seeding of the video. Who gets the clip, how they receive it and where they share it will determine how far a video can go.

Utilize Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
A Google search is just as likely to turn up video as website results, so to ensure your online video is set up for SEO search, include a clear, descriptive title and tags that pertain to the content in your video. When correctly tagged, video is 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google search results than text content.

Optimize Video for Mobile Usage
 By 2014, mobile Internet is projected to eclipse desktop Internet usage. So, if you’re going to create a video for online consumption, make sure it’s mobile-friendly. Since 91 percentof all mobile activity involves social and digital media, especially Facebook and Twitter, it’s more important than ever that your viewers can easily watch and share content with their social networks from the comfort of any device.

Monitor the Conversation
 There are four simple benchmarks to measure the effectiveness of delivering and communicating an online video message.Exposure simply addresses what you are posting and where, while Engagement examines how many times a video has been watched, rated, shared, commented on or embedded on another site. Influence is an important qualitative measurement, as it allows you to analyze what the comments on your video reveal and how well your message resonates with viewers. Is the tone positive, negative or neutral? Does it merit some type of Action? This is the final step in online video measurement. Evaluate whether next steps are required and proceed as necessary.Here are a few other thoughts to consider when monitoring your online video. Do YouTube comments warrant a response from the brand? Has a follow-up video been requested by your audience or has an outstanding question been unanswered that requires additional video messaging? It is important to remember that even in the online video space, social and digital media facilitate a conversation. Unlike campaigns, conversations are ongoing.

This content originally appeared in Hunter PR’s December newsletter, which can be found at (www.hunterpr.com/the511). Contact practice leader, Donetta Allen, at The511@hunterpr.com.