Going Visual, Becoming Mobile: Web Video Marketing in 2011

The Flimp Video Blog is back after a short sabbatical. More than ever, the Flimp Media team is excited about working with our clients on web video marketing campaigns.

Without a doubt, all indicators are pointing to 2011 as being the year that online video reaches a full tipping point. Web video marketing content is being viewed via mobile appliances, tablets and through social networking sites.

It is becoming clear that organizations without video content are missing opportunities to connect with audiences. Websites that do not have audiovisual content are a rarity. Plus more marketers are incorporating online video into their direct communications efforts because it is an effective way to engage an audience.

A study recently published by Ad-ology Research found that 45.5% of small businesses plan to increase their use of online video in 2011 - a 28% increase over 2010. According to MarketingSherpa, 62% of B2B marketers incorporate online video content into their social media campaigns. The reason for web video marketer's dominance on 2011 marketing forecasts can be best summarized by Ragan.com:'

Companies and consumers increasingly will rely on video to provide information
and behavioral cues that are not otherwise present in texts, tweets and status
updates, making video a critical component of the public perception of brands.

Audiovisual content is essential.

Another key trend for 2011 will be mobile communications. The emergence of smart phones and tablets will radically change the way people consume content. For the first time, the sale of personal computers will represent less than half of the total computing device market. Both Deloitte and Gartner see the global tablet market escalating. Enterprises are expected to purchase more than 25% of all tablets sold during 2011.

In 2010, 39% of consumers accessed one or more of their personal email accounts via a mobile appliance. Mobile daily email usage increased 40% between November 2009 and November 2010. Bytemobile predicts that video-based content will account for 60% of all mobile network traffic in 2011. Due to different technological standards, creating video content for mobile appliances can be more complex than launching web-based video content. But it is critical for marketers to have a mobile communications strategy and incorporating video into that mix will only lead to better audience engagement and ROI.

Some stats published by Knotice regarding mobile are particularly interesting:

• 20.08% of retail emails were opened on a mobile appliance.
• Mobile activity spikes during the morning hours, drops off during the workday, peaks a bit in the late afternoon, drops during dinner hours, and has a final spike during the late evening.

Organizations should not avoid web video marketing because of the perceived challenges in creating video content that can be viewed on desktops and mobile apps. With the right tools and guidance, deploying a web video marketing campaign should be as simple as creating other marketing content.