Among the many features of the new iPhone 3GS is the ability to shoot video and then easily upload that video to YouTube. You can do this on other smartphones too. This is going to accelerate your customers’ expectation that much of what is worth seeing on the web is in video form. Consider the following as you plan your digital marketing activities for 2010.
As recently as 2005, video on the web was rare. Today video is so common that Internet users spend 32% of their time online watching it- that’s more time than they spend doing anything else online. What are they watching? They’re watching TV shows on Hulu, movies, and a lot of short clips of music, news, stand-up comedy and sports. Just browse YouTube and you get the idea.
So, in a short time, online behavior has changed dramatically and it will continue to change. Today Internet users (you, me, and your customers) expect more and more internet content to be in video form. This creates a challenge and an opportunity for you as a marketer. Here are three ideas to begin taking advantage of this trend:
1. Plan to deliver more of your marketing messages in video form through the web- instead of another sell sheet, produce a video product demonstration and promote it through social media.
2. Turn live events into webcasts- host a webcast from your trade show booth for customers who could not make it to Vegas.
3. Ask your customers to create video content for your website- have a contest where you ask customers to submit videos showing how they use your product and get website visitors to vote for the best ones.
These three ideas are just the beginning of the possibilities. What is most important is to understand that what your customers expect of your website has changed. In 2010, reading is out; watching is in.
Digital Marketing in 2010- Customers Want to Watch, Not Read
Among the many features of the new iPhone 3GS is the ability to shoot video and then easily upload that video to YouTube. You can do this on other smartphones too. This is going to accelerate your customers’ expectation that much of what is worth seeing on the web is in video form. Consider the following as you plan your digital marketing activities for 2010.
So, in a short time, online behavior has changed dramatically and it will continue to change. Today Internet users (you, me, and your customers) expect more and more internet content to be in video form. This creates a challenge and an opportunity for you as a marketer. Here are three ideas to begin taking advantage of this trend:
1. Plan to deliver more of your marketing messages in video form through the web- instead of another sell sheet, produce a video product demonstration and promote it through social media.
2. Turn live events into webcasts- host a webcast from your trade show booth for customers who could not make it to Vegas.
3. Ask your customers to create video content for your website- have a contest where you ask customers to submit videos showing how they use your product and get website visitors to vote for the best ones.
These three ideas are just the beginning of the possibilities. What is most important is to understand that what your customers expect of your website has changed. In 2010, reading is out; watching is in.