Video- a new take on your marketing message

Recent years have seen a significant increase in Internet usage, and in particular viewership of online videos. Within Europe, Brits are leading the way in this sphere as the most engaged online audience:   

• The average UK Internet user spent 39 hours online in July 2012, compared with the European average of 25.9 hours.
• The Netherlands came in second (29.4 hours) followed by Turkey (27.0 hours), France (26.8 hours) and Poland (26.2 hours).
•  In a representative month, 34 million UK viewers watch an average of 228 videos each (nearly 30 hours worth!).

We can also profile online video viewership by age and gender, with the key findings:

•  Engagement descends with age
•  A roughly equal amount of males and females watch online video in the UK
•  Males are more engaged with online videos, watching more than double the hours than females*

So given its popularity, how can you leverage online video as a useful marketing tool?

Firstly, video can be valuable as part of a wider content marketing strategy. According to Brainshark, video is now the sixth most popular content marketing tactic - 70% of B2B marketers use some form of online video in their overall strategy. 

Producing quality content like video, targeted at key demographics, is essential for driving engagement with your website. Engagement is an important ingredient of Search Engine Optimisation, improving indicators of popularity like visit duration and increasing the chances of content being shared via social media (going “viral”).

Video can also be influential on consumer behaviour, with 46% of people saying they’d be more likely to seek out information about a product or service after seeing it in an online video**. This could be achieved with a vodcast- a simple, short, single shot to camera video like a product demonstration.

The popularity of online video also provides a great opportunity for placing adverts. During the six months to September 2011, for a stable level of content video viewership, exposure to video adverts increased by 37%. This was largely due to the ease of purchasing advertising space on relevant YouTube and OnDemand videos.

So if you think video could be an interesting way of communicating your message, take a look at our Vimeo page (http://vimeo.com/pdmc) and get in touch for a free 30 minute consultation.

*comScore datamine

**Content Marketing Institute survey

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