News Article

Online Video Now A Necessity, Not a Luxury

2010 // August

Economic effectiveness, technological capacity and expanded target-sector reach influence growing demand

Online video is no longer considered a neat eye-catcher, but a vital marketing tool reaching a wide consumer base, several studies have concluded.

Appealing across several target markets, online video's ability to fulfill several key roles - from maintaining and enhancing brand loyalty to opening new consumer bases - has resulted in a significant jump in its use by marketers.

An emarketer article, summing up recent studies, noted Forrester Research's findings that "the percentage of the top 50 US online retailers that offer videos on their sties skyrocketed to 68 percent in 2009 from 18 percent in 2008."

One noteworthy conclusion: company size doesn't dictate online video's appeal. The Society for New Communications Research found that "31% of Fortune 500 companies with public-facing blogs used video blogging in 2009, up from 21% in 2008," according to the article.

Reasons for the spike, believes emarketer analyst Tobi Elkin, have a lot to do with the rise of devices containing video technology. Most cell phones, for example, now have the capacity to host video content, and the continuance of this trend begets its continued growth.

Of companies surveyed, "nearly 27% said they would increase their online video budgets for viral clips and podcasts, while 5.5% would decrease their budgets. These responses put video ahead of mobile marketing and search optimization as budget priorities for US marketing executives," concluded the article.

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