Streaming Video: Viewers are in Control - Give Them Exactly What They Need

By Tom Bevins, 972-661-1975

Don’t make the mistake of confusing streaming website video with television. The two are as different as, well, baseball and softball. On the surface things may look similar, but in reality they are very different games, played at different speeds on different fields using different tools. What separates streaming website video from television is who has the control of the content and how they use it.

Simply put, television is passive where viewers watch programming and accept the advertising that is interspersed throughout the program. Viewers have no control over the content or the advertising. Advertisers are betting that most of us will stay on the couch and watch the 4-6 minutes of commercials. The manner in which people watch TV is also different than the Internet. People watch TV in a comparatively public environment (living room, kitchen, bar) and watch television for entertainment purposes and accept the commercials as part of the bargain.

Internet streaming video different because Internet viewers are active and motivated. With an infinite number of Internet web addresses, Internet video viewers must first actively search and locate the video content. In the internet world, especially in product research endeavors such as home buying, or cars, there are no accidental Internet video viewers. The consumer may take several clicks to get to the content and is total control of their viewing. The balance of power shifts from the content provider to the content consumer.

Don’t Bring a Baseball to a Softball Game

In a practical sense this means that Internet video consumers get to choose their advertisers and that’s the ultimate control. When an Internet viewer goes to a BMW, pharmaceutical or homebuilder website they’re not going for the entertainment content of the streaming video. They’re going to the website for the information in the video because they what to use it to make a decision. The mistake that most companies make is that they don’t acknowledge the different set of expectations and behaviors that Internet viewers have that distinguish them from television watchers.

More often than not, the videos on websites are just smaller, grainer versions of the same stuff broadcast on television, or a moving version of their latest print ad. That’s why it doesn’t work. Too much camera motion may be entertaining on television, but it’s distracting over the web. Fine lined text and flashy graphics may enhance TV viewer excitement, but on the web they take up precious viewer time and often look pixilated and distracting. Web viewers who are looking at product-based video don’t want to be entertained as much as they need to be informed. If the video attempts to entertain them instead of inform them, a company actually runs the risk of alienating a potential customer. It’s like bringing a baseball to a softball game. Sure, you can play, but it’s not really baseball and it’s not really softball and the game doesn’t count in the official standings.

Who’s Watching Streaming Video?

In order to meet a web visitor’s video expectations, we need to understand something about their habits. Currently, 60% of Internet users have broadband connections.^[1] A recent Online Publishers Association study indicated that the median age of online video viewers was a not so young 40, with 28 percent being 50 plus years of age and mostly male who view some type of video content containing information such as news and sports.^[2] Nearly 70% of online video viewers are upper to middle class.^[3] Advertisers have responded to these numbers by spending 251 million in streaming video marketing last year and increasing that to 344 million in 2006 and nearly one billion dollars by 2010.^[4] The reason that they are spending so much money on the medium is because it works. Video viewers are responsive to ads.

Online video viewers have longer attention spans than was originally thought, watching nearly 22 seconds of video per online video ad.^[5] Online video viewers are motivated, action oriented product researchers who expect to be presented with enough information to make a decision in the first 20-22 seconds of a streaming video. Contrast this with the above profile of a television viewer and the differences between internet video and television really emerges.

Opportunity for Builders

If builders understand how to properly create video for the web, they are tapping into a huge growth opportunity. To do this they must follow some critical steps.

1. Builders need to create video specifically optimized for the web. Web video should look and feel different from television. Complex graphics, intricate music beds and complex, fast moving camera work, elaborate transitions between shots and severe contrasting images may work great on television but are often distracting on the web. People giving interviews or testimonials must be shot in head and shoulders positing to get a clear view of facial expressions. Cameramen should always use a tripod. Unsteady artsy camera work is great for music videos and Law and Order on TV, but it doesn’t translate well on the web.

2. Builders need to create video information specifically optimized for the web viewer. Internet video watchers are going to give you just under 22 seconds to make your pitch. You have to decide what you want them to do and everything in those first 20 seconds needs to be directed towards that goal. Often the real goal of an Internet video is to get the viewer to initiate some type of contact. The video should quickly indicate what you’d like the viewer to do, contain the information and instructions on how to do it and quickly indicate the benefits of the action.

3. The video player must facilitate the action you’d like the viewer to take. The player must incorporate more than standard “player buttons” such as pause, play and stop. Effective video player that meet the needs of the Internet video viewer will allow easy and quick contact points such as links to the community page, request information, and others that encourage contact between the viewer and the builder.

Internet video viewers are motivated. They want their information and they want it now. If builders make the mistake of just re-airing television or print ads on the Internet they will miss the next exciting growth opportunity in the industry because they are not addressing the needs of their prospective customers. Those that create content specific web based streaming video will have a distinct competitive advantage.

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^[1] Oser, Chris, Study: Video Keeps Visitors Attention, Advertising Age, October, 10 2005, Vol.76, Issue 41

²Shields, Mike, OPA Study Shows More Use of Online Video: Advertisers Warming to Medium, MediaWeek, Febuary 14, 2006, Vol.15, Issue 7

³ Oser, Chris, People Who Watch Online Video Engage with Ads, Advertising Age, April 10, 2006, Vol. 77, Issue 15

⁴ Edwards, Jim, Drug Industry Dabbling in Online Video Ads, Brandweek, March 6, 2006, Vol. 47, Issue 10

⁵ Oser, Chris, Study: Video Keeps Visitors Attention, Advertising Age, October, 10 2005, Vol.76, Issue 41