Apologies for the lateness of this post everyone, swamped with work over the week.
Everyone knows YouTube as a place people go for videos of dogs running into walls, babies laughing, and outrageous stunts. But what about advertising, viral marketing and creating a buzz about a company and it’s offerings through Youtube?
For starters, videos placed by companies can be seen internationally by many potential customers outside the video’s country of origin. This can spread awareness and lay the groundwork for potential moves into new markets.
But, more importantly, putting videos on YouTube is free, apart from the time costs and how much it cost to make the video originally.Some, such as The Natural Confectionary’s “Bring On The Trumpets” ad, is shot using only still shots from a regular camera, meaning it is relatively low cost, but also low involvement. Interactive YouTube videos are becoming more popular now, such as this Pizza ad from New Zealand chain Hell Pizzas. The ad allows for different endings based on choices made by interacting with the video, and viewers are hooked and want to know what happens, meaning thaty are engaging longer with the brand.
But what makes a viral video, a video that is seen and forwarded by many, something which every firm advertising on YouTube through videos should be aiming? These guys seem to know.
Of course, viral videos need to be seen first, and many of the non-interactive videos started as limited exposure ads on television. This first exposes people to the ad, and makes them aware such a thing exist. Ideally, the television ad should show a search term somewhere on the screen, so interested viewers can find the ad easily.
So, whilst traditional advertising methods may be on the decline, YouTube(and digital media as a whole) are not yet in a position to fully replace the traditional mediums.
Whilst YouTube is the second most popular search engine (next to Google), without traditional media, how will you know what to search for?
drthomaselliot 