The Consumer Divide Between TV and Online Video

Photo Credit: Pexels (CC0) License

For those of us that grew up in the age when watching TV was the only video-oriented game in town, it sure is nice now as a consumer to have a plethora of options to choose from when we want to watch. Back then, believe it or not, online video was not an option. Let me repeat that in case your short attention span missed it, online video was not an option. Whoa! As a former TV producer earlier in my career, the term “prime-time” was known and still is as the golden time slot in the day between 8pm-11pm. This was reserved for the most watched TV shows with the most reach and it costs the most money.

However, a chasm has emerged between broadcast television and what is now labeled online video. This drastic paradigm shift has resulted in which prime time TV is now just one of the thousands of options to choose from. So here’s the question lots of marketers may want to have answered. What happened to “prime time?” We all know viewers don’t necessarily flock to TV during certain times like they once did because websites give viewers lots of options all day, every day 24×7.

Anytime, Anywhere Online Video

Today’s brand management axiom to be relevant, timely and engaging has pretty much held broadcast TV hostage because mobile video and desktop viewing has become the new prime time – or as thinkwithgoogle says, “all-the-time.” With the advent of anytime, anywhere viewing online, is there really such a thing as prime time anymore? Is prime time gone forever? Hmm…

“Three hundred hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, so when we turn to our mobile devices to watch video, we can choose from a nearly limitless library of on-demand content.” – Lucas Watson: ThinkwithGoogle

“Forrester Research is predicting that 50% of all TV viewers under age 32 will not subscribe to a traditional pay TV service by 2025.” – Forrester

Marketers: Think Like a Customer

I don’t think your marketing team will need to perform too much research to figure out what consumer’s motivations are when they watch video… after all, we’re all consumers too – So just think about why you want to watch video and factor that into your strategy. Just to be clear, this article is not a promotional for Google, YouTube or any other video content delivery network. However, I must admit, as a marketer and a consumer, Google and others have me targeted perfectly; they know all about my online video watching behavior, and they have segmented it into “moments.” They also know what marketer’s and consumer’s want and need – It’s brilliant I must admit.

Video Marketing Strategy

If you are a marketer and video is not part of your marketing strategy, it may be time to figure out how you can implement an effective strategy quickly. Multi-channel, multi-experience exposure opportunities are everywhere, and today’s consumers rarely focus on one thing at a time – especially video content. Check out these combined stats on video, gathered by Adelie Studios.

When marketers included a video in an email, the click-through rate increased by 200%–300%. – Forrester
92% of mobile video viewers share videos with others. – Invodo
Mobile makes up almost 40% of global watch time on YouTube. – YouTube

If those numbers did not convince you that video needs to be part of your marketing, here are a few more from HubSpot that may help you to see that video is a powerful tool for all types of brand and product marketers.

More than 80% of senior executes watch more online video today than they did a year ago. – HubSpot
69% of marketing, sales and business professionals have used video marketing. – HubSpot
96% of companies are planning to use video in their content marketing over the next year. – HubSpot

Video And The Smartphone – A Live Breakthrough?

Today’s broadcast TV is both live and re-recorded, but the marketing opportunities within the live segments are somewhat limited in comparison to online video. Did you know that you could produce your own live video content on your own social media channel? Here’s the cool part, you control 100% of your content and broadcast it when you want to whomever you want.

We all know that live video isn’t going to be the only way to market your brand. However, if used well, it can be leveraged in ways other mediums can’t match.

Tablets and smartphones have together turned the small devices into a live video streaming broadcast platform similar to a broadcast TV station. If you have a smartphone, and 68% of Americans do, and you also have a Twitter account and 23% of online adults do, guess what? You now have the capability to create your own video content and stream it on our own channel whenever you want. Welcome to Periscope! The future of video is live consumer generated content broadcasts, and it’s not the future anymore, it’s actually here right now.

Horizontal Video Is Out – Vertical Video Is In?

Just when you thought video has settled, wait, there’s more, watching video has yet another twist, literally. Horizontal video is no longer the only way to shoot and play back your favorite moments. Vertical video has become very popular nowadays and is exactly what it sounds like. When shooting video from your mobile device, turn it vertically and press record – it’s that simple. In the early days of Internet video and even mobile video, vertical orientation was not commonly used, however today, it is becoming extremely popular. Natcom Global’s Marion Marvil explains more about how this twist in orientation, which accounts for 50% of mobile views, has captivated the user a lot more than we thought.

“This change in consumption habit favors mobile devices that people tend to hold upright and with one hand. With the growing number of smartphone users, anticipated at 6.1 Billion of 70% of the world’s population by 2020, the industry is taking vertical videos more seriously and acknowledging its potential to become a far-reaching trend.” – Natcom Global

Local-To-Global

Broadcast TV is measured market-by-market, and in some cases only in the metered markets. Broadcasters finally figured out years ago if they weren’t also re-distributing their content online as well as for mobile consumers to reach more than just local DMAs, their business model just wouldn’t survive the change in consumer behavior. Here’s an example of how big the gap is between local market exposure and global reach. There are 210 broadcast TV markets in the U.S. These markets are individually monetized based on % of Homes and % of U.S. To give you an idea, New York is the largest market with over 7.3 million homes.

Now let’s shift from local TV to global Internet video consumption. Reelseo reports a significant increase in global consumption of video. In the next 3 years online video could be as much as 80% of global Internet consumption. That’s not local market video watching like broadcast TV has, it’s worldwide viewership. I will re-cap, 7.3 million homes in one market versus 80% of global Internet traffic, hmm… what would you rather have? I know this is not a completely fair comparison, but it does give you an idea as to how powerful online video is.

This may also help you to see why prime time is no longer the only game in town anymore. Online video all the time has become the golden time slot, which actually has no time slot at all. It’s all time zones, all the time. Welcome to the power of online video. How is your marketing taking advantage of this amazing medium?

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YourBrandExposed is designed to look at digital with an eye into the future using a creative, analytical, innovative marketing perspective. We’re a consultative and tactical resource for companies looking to leverage the power of digital, web, social and content marketing strategies. Contact us if you’re feeling the digital squeeze on how to best market your company.

Scott MacFarland – Digital Marketing Strategist

YourBrandExposed.com

HuffingtonPost | Relevance | Natcom Global

Linkedin | Twitter: @scmacfarland

Email: Yourbrandexposed@yahoo.com

Photo Credit: Pexels (CC0) License

Link Sources:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/video-micro-moments-what-do-they-mean-for-your-video-strategy.html

http://blogs.forrester.com/category/future_of_tv

http://www.adeliestudios.com/top-15-video-marketing-statistics-2015/

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing-statistics

http://www.natcomglobal.com/the-rise-of-vertical-video/