In honor of the New Year, I want to dedicate our first blog of 2011 to making some predictions about marketing with video.
While there are many current outlets for online videos including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, we really have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities for video promotion.
The most obvious- yet unexplored- outlet for video is in your pocket! Rapidly advancing technology (think “4G”, “5G?” “10G?”) is making video content more accessible. In fact 60% of cell phones sold today have video capabilities. While the industry is still unsure how mobile video will be used by consumers in the future, you can be sure that if the technology is there, the viewers will be too. It’s something to keep a close watch on.
Another trend is that people are always connected! Consider 2010’s launch of the iPad. This device didn’t replace the computer—it supplemented it so that no matter where you are, you’re always online. In fact computers seem to be following the path of television. When TV was first introduced, a household may have one. While today most homes have multiple TVs—they also have multiple computers including desktops, laptops, netbooks and tablets.
I personally have three of these devices!
After what seemed like eons of denial, the print media industry is catching up this technological evolution. Newspapers and magazines now offer electronic subscriptions to their publications, with editions specially designed for Kindles and iPads. Here’s where you can benefit:
In place of where advertisements would be in a printed newspaper or magazine, these online publications will include space for video promotion. While posting a video on YouTube is free, it doesn’t necessarily help you reach a target audience. Because the subscriptions are *paid* for, media outlets have very specific information about their audience demographics- key information for helping you reach potential clients.
While so far the majority of iPad and Kindle subscriptions are offered only by national publications, I predict that local publications will be on board soon enough, and will be a perfect home for small business advertisers.
We’re in an age of wild evolution in technology. It seems overwhelming now, but think back to the first time you surfed the internet; could you even fathom having your own website? Like you I plan to sit back, keep a watchful eye as new technologies emerge and jump in when the time is right.
Happy New Year!
