Everyone knows that posting to YouTube is easy. But is it the right venue for your audience? Does it meet your intended goals? What are the rights and content restrictions?

If your goal is to reach a wide audience, promote a product to the world or get lots of viewers, your best bet is YouTube. It’s the second largest search engine in the world owned by Google and easy to use by most.

More importantly, it is compatible with other software. You can create multiple channels, tag, provide descriptions as well as annotations (links or other call to action scenarios).

Vimeo, on the other hand, is emerging as a business-to-business platform that allows for longer videos and has a smaller community of more dedicated viewers. If your intent is more one-to-one or you need to augment community related content to a more sophisticated business network, Vimeo is for you.

Wait a minute….read the fine print regarding terms of service…

Vimeo offers both a free and a paid “Vimeo Pro” account (currently $199/yr.), while YouTube is always free.

Which means YouTube wants to show ads before/during/after videos or they limit some of the features.

Remember, if you use a free service, you are not really the user, you are the product!

Best

Denice MacDonald

Video on the web is exploding and becoming one of the most clicked-on features. It has proven to increase conversions by double digits, reduce returns by as much as 10%, build brand loyalty and enhance customer experience.

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from Priscilla Lawrence, Principal Product Manager of Adobe Scene7, at an exclusive free webinar on making the most with online video slated for Thursday, June 17, 2010.

Sign up now. 

(Note: If you are reading this post after June 17th, Adobe Scene7 has weekly Webinars each Thursday at https://www1.scene7.com/registration/weekly_webinar.asp).  

About Adobe Scene7

Adobe Scene7 is the leading on-demand cross-media platform that enables companies to grow revenues, enhance customer experience and cut production costs.

More Resources:

The 10 Golden Principles of Successful Web Apps by Vimeo

16 Tips for Successful Online Video Marketing by Social Media Examiner

Web Multimedia Strategies by Web Style Guidelines (Includes production tips, formats and right-sizing for the Web) 

Best,

Denice MacDonald 

Armed with weekly web addresses, Barack Obama uses online video to inform and engage us in ways that could not be accomplished via radio broadcasts or through typical print means. 

Barack has embraced video as an opportunity to personally shape and frame his message in a way that resonates with all types of viewers and constituents. The reception of these online video updates has reinforced the influence of online video to an all time level. 

Demand validated - online video the big tech winner in 2008.

As more data about 2008 Internet usage in the US is released, online video increasingly looks like one of the year’s big winners. US Internet users viewed 12.7 billion online videos during November 2008 alone, up more than one-third over November 2007, according to data released in January 2009 by comScore¹. 

What does this mean for your organization? 

Now is the time to seriously think about integrating video into the marketing mix. Reason simply, online video has come full circle in pricing making it affordable for almost everyone.

Video can be added to web sites for internal communications, distance learning, sales support, sales training, integrated with webinars, as rich media within e-mails and as an engagement strategy for banner advertising. Moreover, video now has the capacity to be tagged for search engine optimization to elevate web rankings.   

To help you get started, I’ve provided some really good local talent (Wisconsin). I trust these vendors to help you create stellar video that can be created once, paid for once, but used many ways. 

Matt Nies and Rick Kallien, Owners - Pixelbox Visual Design 

Paul Kaplan, Owner - PKA Productions 

Patrice Nault, Media Project Manager - Plum Moving Media

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¹Sources:

comScore 

Best,

Denice MacDonald

I was recently at a client meeting during the lunch hour and noticed quite a few staffers in their cubes watching mini-video news clips on the election and YouTube promos. Someone aptly called the event 'video snacking'.  I've heard this term for the last year or so but I have to tell you that I am intrigued - not only from a user perspective but from an advertising point of view.

I guess the midday spike in web traffic is not a new phenomenon and media companies have started responding in a meaningful way -- specifically over the last year. They are creating new shows and timing video posts to coincide with the noon hour. Moreover, advertisers are remapping the way they sell advertising online, recognizing that noontime programs can command a premium. 

Big Win for Advertisers 

From an advertiser’s perspective, the web is a more flexible medium than television, because technology makes it easy to monitor people’s behavior and adjust programming accordingly. Better still, marketers have found that consumers are up to 30 percent more likely to make a purchase after viewing an advertisement at lunchtime than at other times of the day. 

Video Snack Web Sites 

If you have a spare 10 minutes then this video snack web site will keep you entertained. They search out the very best short bite size video on the net. Funny informative, must see clips. Enjoy! 

Using Video Snacking as a Lead Generator 

Video snacking isn’t limited to work computers. With the growing popularity of portable media players, people are video snacking wherever and whenever time permits offering marketers opportunities for both consumers and businesses. Consider providing a coupon or snack to anyone that watches your video over the noon hour - go one step further and offer a viral coupon so that office workers share it with others.  Win/win for everyone!

Best,

Denice MacDonald