A little chuckle every now and then is a good thing. The advertising industry thrives on controlling their customers and maximizing revenues with that control. They're frantically trying to stuff the video genie back into the bottle, and it ain't working.
In the "Video Insider", Steve Robinson points out the problem involved in trying to control a market where anyone can play, anytime they choose and the rules don't matter.
Steve remarks that, "despite collaboration among many members of the media ecosystem and the Internet Advertising Bureau to create a comprehensive set of guidelines and standards for in-video advertising and make the promise of broadband-delivered and interactive video a reality, every publisher still has its own video player implementation". They just hate that when that happens.
Of course, the objective here is to squash any form of free enterprise and "make Internet video a sound business". That is, of course, one that can have the entry gates controlled by the advertising industry.
Continuing to harp on the mantra that makes advertising only 50% effective, Steve says, "On the Internet, video publishers want higher CPMs and more value for their content". Unfortunately, Steve is wrong. Smart businesses want to know what's actually going on with their advertising and how it is being received. They want to know about "duration", not how many times a click happened. How interested were my viewers, not how many.
If you want more value for the content, produce video ads that people like to watch. Unfortunately, large corporations are slow to change. They can't measure duration because they're still locked into the old progressive download video models, so they can't measure anything except hits and clicks.
They're slow to change because it's all about the Benjamins. Progressive download video is dirt cheap and makes a lot of money when you wrap it in magic words like "CPM" and "standards". It benefits the seller tremendously and doesn't benefit the advertiser much at all.
Steve refers to the ability of anyone with a video camera and a streaming video account as "technical chaos" because they aren't lining up to pay the gatekeepers.
He is absolutely correct when he says, "All of us realize Internet-delivered digital video allows for more advertising engagement and consumer satisfaction than television. Ad avails are unlimited and ad formats will continue to evolve as the combination of software tools and creativity drive innovation for new and more captivating ad experiences".
Steve makes a last ditch plea to get that damn genie back in the bottle when he says, "But if we don’t get ahead of the technical chaos issue we will drown, and the efficiencies, accessibility and scalability of the Internet advertising ecosystem will be unrealized". The "we" in there is, of course, the advertising business.
We think anarchy is a good thing and makes evolution happen faster. By all means, let the huge corporations continue on in their tried and true lumbering ways and develop those standards that they should all live by.
As for the rest of us that are not not listed on NASDAQ or the Stock Exchange, march on! Get yourself a video producer and make some nice commercials. Utilize businesses like Global Video Technology to measure the duration of prospect interest in your message and hone your message. You have the ability to control your own message and it's distribution. You CAN improve on the 50% failure rate of traditional advertising, and save a ton of money in the process.
Watch your sales flourish as the biggies continue to debate which video ad sizes should become the standard and whether they should continue to annoy the hell out of sales prospects with pre-roll ads.
What are you waiting for? Start learning about how video advertising can work for you today!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Are You Still Rewarding Failure?
In an article published in the Online Video Insider, Gregory Wilson points out, "In the non-digital age, we knew that half of all the advertising that ran didn’t work.
In the non-digital age, agencies were paid well regardless how feeble or magnificent their efforts.
If an ad didn’t work, agencies blamed many factors. Not surprisingly, the creative itself was seldom on the top of the list."
I didn't know that, but I'm happy to say that we, at Global Video Technology, were ready to take advantage of the power of the digital age from Day 1 with our product.
Mr. Wilson continues,"If viewers click in to watch something, it’s probably because they are interested. How long they stay interested, can be measured as duration." The duration is the difference in time between the time the person began watching the video and when they stopped watching the video.
Mr. Wilson seems to think that the day is coming when the advertising agencies will be held accountable for delivering more duration, rather than less.
At Global Video Technology, we stopped monetizing failure right from the start. Our customers only pay for the exact amount of time their videos were watched, to the ten-thousandth of a minute. In addition, they can see the exact amount of time all their video viewings were used and determine whether or not it is a bad ad very easily.
Mr. Wilson loves the concept of "duration. We do too. That's why we took it into account when we developed our product FOUR YEARS AGO. Our customers have been able to evaluate duration for quite a while.
If you're considering video for your business advertising, or you're unhappy with your current video advertising, come over and check us out.
In the non-digital age, agencies were paid well regardless how feeble or magnificent their efforts.
If an ad didn’t work, agencies blamed many factors. Not surprisingly, the creative itself was seldom on the top of the list."
I didn't know that, but I'm happy to say that we, at Global Video Technology, were ready to take advantage of the power of the digital age from Day 1 with our product.
Mr. Wilson continues,"If viewers click in to watch something, it’s probably because they are interested. How long they stay interested, can be measured as duration." The duration is the difference in time between the time the person began watching the video and when they stopped watching the video.
Mr. Wilson seems to think that the day is coming when the advertising agencies will be held accountable for delivering more duration, rather than less.
At Global Video Technology, we stopped monetizing failure right from the start. Our customers only pay for the exact amount of time their videos were watched, to the ten-thousandth of a minute. In addition, they can see the exact amount of time all their video viewings were used and determine whether or not it is a bad ad very easily.
Mr. Wilson loves the concept of "duration. We do too. That's why we took it into account when we developed our product FOUR YEARS AGO. Our customers have been able to evaluate duration for quite a while.
If you're considering video for your business advertising, or you're unhappy with your current video advertising, come over and check us out.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Are YOU using a streaming video serial autoresponder yet?
A recent article on "Email Insider" (http://blogs.mediapost.com/email_insider/?p=634) makes a pretty strong case for either having an elaborate mailing and tracking system for sending multiple emails to prospects, or utilizing a tool like Global Video Technology's Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder (http://www.globalvideotech.com/videoautoresponder.cfm).
The Internet has made sales cycles longer. “Selling now takes more time and resources then ever before. The sales cycle has become 22% longer as buyers are taking longer to consider their decisions. Plus, buying is being managed more professionally.” (Source: Sirius Decisions)
Longer sales cycles require more contact with the prospect, adding complexity to keeping track of who gets what mailing piece and when.
The author argues for segmentation of your email market, rather than a "one size fits all" email blast and we agree with that approach:
"Not all prospects are the same –you may have new buyers (never before purchased from your company), active buyers (or customers who are currently using one of your products) and lapsed buyers. Tailor the message for each, featuring the information you know they need to make a decision. Present the information in a compelling and credible way, and you can shorten the research phase for them (and close deals faster). Further segmentation can be done by product line or category, and by allowing prospects to select information that is most interesting to them (what we call self-segmentation)".
The Global Video Technology Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder product allows you to create individual automated sales cycles, each one containing up to 12 streaming video email messages that can be directed to each unique segment.
The timing of when to send the streaming video email is important, as the article points out:
"Cadence counts. Match your prospect email marketing to the buying cycle — send less email when your prospects are not in market, and send more when they are actively in market and researching for solutions to their problems".
Our Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder customers have the ability to control the time delay between individual mailings from one day to 9,999 weeks per mailing.
The author makes a very important point about the message being very important:
"Tap the prospect’s desire for unbiased information by presenting benefits, not features. Speak in a friendly tone, but avoid hype."
Don't play "feature poker" and describe all the whiz bang widgets your product has on it, describe how using your product will increase sales, reduce customer inventory, etc. Stress the benefits your product offers to a customer rather than the things the product does.
The author presents a very clear and strong argument for the use of a tool, like our Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder:
"Storytelling sells. Prospects are researching — that is what is lengthening the sales cycle. Use a series of email “conversations” to help them compare competitive sets (the more honest you are, the longer they stay on your site!)"
The choice really comes down to how you will manage all those email cycles. Will it be by hand, and risk missing prospects in a cycle, sending out the wrong email message to a prospect or sending late, etc.? Wouldn't it be better to have a "set it and forget it" tool that handles the messages, the list and the timing for you?
When the going gets tough, working smarter is preferable to working harder. Maybe it's time to take a closer look at the Global Video technology Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder (http://www.globalvideotech.com/videoautoresponder.cfm). We'll even let you try it out at no cost to you.
The Internet has made sales cycles longer. “Selling now takes more time and resources then ever before. The sales cycle has become 22% longer as buyers are taking longer to consider their decisions. Plus, buying is being managed more professionally.” (Source: Sirius Decisions)
Longer sales cycles require more contact with the prospect, adding complexity to keeping track of who gets what mailing piece and when.
The author argues for segmentation of your email market, rather than a "one size fits all" email blast and we agree with that approach:
"Not all prospects are the same –you may have new buyers (never before purchased from your company), active buyers (or customers who are currently using one of your products) and lapsed buyers. Tailor the message for each, featuring the information you know they need to make a decision. Present the information in a compelling and credible way, and you can shorten the research phase for them (and close deals faster). Further segmentation can be done by product line or category, and by allowing prospects to select information that is most interesting to them (what we call self-segmentation)".
The Global Video Technology Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder product allows you to create individual automated sales cycles, each one containing up to 12 streaming video email messages that can be directed to each unique segment.
The timing of when to send the streaming video email is important, as the article points out:
"Cadence counts. Match your prospect email marketing to the buying cycle — send less email when your prospects are not in market, and send more when they are actively in market and researching for solutions to their problems".
Our Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder customers have the ability to control the time delay between individual mailings from one day to 9,999 weeks per mailing.
The author makes a very important point about the message being very important:
"Tap the prospect’s desire for unbiased information by presenting benefits, not features. Speak in a friendly tone, but avoid hype."
Don't play "feature poker" and describe all the whiz bang widgets your product has on it, describe how using your product will increase sales, reduce customer inventory, etc. Stress the benefits your product offers to a customer rather than the things the product does.
The author presents a very clear and strong argument for the use of a tool, like our Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder:
"Storytelling sells. Prospects are researching — that is what is lengthening the sales cycle. Use a series of email “conversations” to help them compare competitive sets (the more honest you are, the longer they stay on your site!)"
The choice really comes down to how you will manage all those email cycles. Will it be by hand, and risk missing prospects in a cycle, sending out the wrong email message to a prospect or sending late, etc.? Wouldn't it be better to have a "set it and forget it" tool that handles the messages, the list and the timing for you?
When the going gets tough, working smarter is preferable to working harder. Maybe it's time to take a closer look at the Global Video technology Streaming Video Serial Autoresponder (http://www.globalvideotech.com/videoautoresponder.cfm). We'll even let you try it out at no cost to you.
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