A Video Revolution with Sexy Beach Bodies?

It’s generally agreed that the launch of YouTube in 2005 marked the beginning of video into the mainstream.
 

Since then, various sites like Vimeo, Metacafe and Dailymotion among others have emerged to join the ever growing, video-sharing website realm. And now it seems, the advent of all-video websites is finally here.
 

Ah, yes, citing top sources like technology research company, Gartner, BBC Business News writes, “corporate video conquers the Internet.”
 

It seems like such a no-brainer. We are all spending more and more time sifting through more and more information on laptops and desktops and Smartphones and iPads and lord knows what else will be next. And it’s far easier to soak up the meaning when you’ve got moving pictures and sound on your side, instead of just pages of scrollable text.
 

What’s easier to consume, TV or newspaper? Why wouldn’t the same hold true in the digital world?

Gartner lists video as one of it’s top 10 strategic technologies for 2011, predicting by 2013 that video will be commonplace online, with 25 per cent of content viewed on the web being pictures, video or audio. 
 

Australia-based company Aussiebum is more than eager to tout the benefits of video in the BBC post, crediting video for helping push turnover up 40 per cent, from Au$16m to Au$23m. (And all during an economic crisis—no small accomplishment.)
 

You should probably watch these videos at work, in order to better understand the very important point I am making in this article. If anyone asks, it is legitimately a branding and marketing research exercise.

Gentlemen, you may want to avert your eyes.
 

And then there’s a website like TED. TED’s whole concept is to spread ideas, and to accomplish that it has enlisted some of the most brilliant minds in the world to create “talks” about diverse topics. And every one of those talks is shared on their video platform. People head specifically to TED’s website with the purpose to watch, absorb and learn.
 

It’s relatively cheap to embed videos, and therefore a cost-effective means to reach new audiences.

A website that has video will automatically see a lift in SEO, ranking higher in Google rankings.

People will spend more time on a video-heavy website. There’s more to do, and a reason to linger, and more time spent means more information transmitted.
 

“We have very clear data,” says Jeremy Allaire, chief executive of online video platform Brightcove. “Video drives higher sales, there is conversion lift in the double digit percentages, and for some it translates into a 100 per cent lift.”
 

I wouldn’t argue any differently.
 

Of course, it comes down to a brand experience as well. As with any marketing tool, you need to make sure your video is enhancing your brand. Aussiebum’s videos, for example, take advantage of a particularly (cough cough) Australian beach culture while promoting the brand’s products.
 

Most importantly, ANYBODY and ANY business can use video. Big company or little company. Media or non-media. Corporate or not-for-profit. It’s all the same.
 

So what’s your next step? How is your business going to be a part of this video revolution? Maybe it’s as simple as including a few interviews with management and staff on your website—it’s a great way to tell people about your business without being overly fancy and expensive. Or maybe it’s a couple of how-to videos. In the new social media landscape, the more human and personal it is—and the less polished—the more it engenders trust.
 

I’m so bullish on video as an effective communication tool, that my business partner and I have started a new company, B/A Video. Do you have to go to that extreme? Of course not. But if you’re not willing to ride the video “reel,” you might just get left behind.