When you were growing up, you probably never imagined there was a career working for a company that does nothing but measure and analyze branded video performance.
Today though it actually makes sense when you understand that the primary form of branded video is the on-line commercial. One of these “measure and analyze” companies, Visible Measures, recently put out their annual Branded Video Report. This year’s report emphasizes the long-term benefits of branded video for the creators.
Of the 8.3 billion views of branded video in 2013, 22% (or 1.8 billion views) were of videos posted before 2013. That means there were 1.8 billion separate occasions in 2013 when someone watched an on-line commercial from before 2013.
That’s quite remarkable given that spending on video ads topped $3.6 billion in the United States and €1.2 billion in Europe(1) in 2013. It’s safe to say that very little (if any) of that money was for promoting web content launched before 2013. That means that about 22% of video views result from organic search results rather than paid placement.
That’s good news for two reasons. First, it means that small companies and brands still have a chance to compete in this landscape. Secondly, unlike paid advertising, the video that you create today will continue to have benefits for you next year and the year after.
After web ads that go viral, the most common form of branded video is the “how to” video many companies put out. Home Depot may be one of the most successful companies using a library strategy – theirs contains over 1300 videos. On the web, you can find a “how to” video for just about everything from art lessons to zebra breeding.
As you build your online video library, try to keep it “evergreen” – not dependent on current events. More generic topics will generate organic search engine traffic to your site for years. Of course this will not work for news and videos that relate directly to current events.
One way to tie together current events and evergreen video content is to introduce the video with blog content explaining the connection. For example, at this writing, Russian President Vladimir Putin is stirring the political pot with actions that make people think Russia is going to invade Ukraine – again. A video that explains the history of Ukraine as a country and occasional territory of Russia attached to a blog commenting on current actions would provide supporting material for the blog. Alone, the video provides an evergreen history lesson that would appear in an organic web search.
So start building your video content library now. And do it keeping in mind those future customers who will find you via search. While you should make every effort to maximize your launch, keep in mind that your investment will payoff in the long term.
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