Video and the Deathly Content Marketing Hallows

Uncategorized Posted Oct 29, 2012 by Kevin Kosh

IMS logo

If you’ve read anything I’ve written, you know that I like fun themes and analogies in my blogs.   My kids, like many others, are big Harry Potter fans.  So, in the IMS session “Winning Strategies for Content Marketing with Video and Social Media” when the CMO of Brightcove Jeff Whatcott said that no one can resist the “play triangle,” as they say, the wand chose its Wizard.

Wondering how?  Turn the Play button on its side…(kinda like how my mind always works.)

Play Hallows

Looking back on my notes from the session, the theme works.  In the books, the three Hallows are very important magical objects – an all powerful “elder  wand,” an invisibility cloak and a resurrection stone.  In content marketing terms, paid media once wielded ultimate power, with earned media hard to see for many companies, and owned media in need of some transformation.

But as the story has played out, the power has shifted and we have seen companies become powerful media wizards in their own right.  Long gone are the days of shaky Flip videos, and now we have what Jeff described as the “extreme end of content marketing” with companies like Red Bull garnering live media coverage of their creations.

Earned and owned media have surpassed paid, and owned by many accounts may be the chosen one.

Jeff came armed with the statistics and examples to support the fact that while a picture may be worth a thousand words, video can be worth millions:

  • Video now makes up 51% of all net traffic
  • Videos are 53x more likely to show up on 1st page of search results
  • While it’s common sense that video on landing pages is very effective, video in emails (a linked screen cap) is also surprisingly effective, with click throughs up 50% (only 18% without video).

He also cited and of course showed some great examples of successful use:

  • With video, Cars.com increased time users spent on their site from 30sec to 6 min
  • Joyus brought its website and social media presence alive with not just video content but sharable content contained in branded players with embedded calls to action
  • Even the US Department of State – which Jeff referred to essentially as “the government’s marketing department – has gotten into the habit of live streaming both on their site and in Facebook.  And while they get   Regular broadcasts, but also seeing on demand viewing after event.

Overall, Jeff’s recommendations, were along the lines of ensure that content marketing, social sharing and customer conversion should go hand-in-hand to be successful.  He also encouraged “blended distribution,” with short, edgier content on channels such as YouTube that directs to deeper more branded video on site.

For more advanced marketing wizards, Jeff delved a little into the areas of User Generated Content/Contests and well as a nod to the furious growth in mobile platforms.  He stated that video on mobile is hard, but for those who will go there, HTML5 support is critical.

Finally, he also ventured briefly into the dynamics of app content, saying that people spend more time in apps than they do in broader web consumption.  Too many firms however, jump to apps as an attractive customer acquisition tool.  Jeff said that an overt focus on the app as the gateway creates too much drag for a prospective customer.  Where apps shine are as a loyalty tool post acquisition. At that point, “the customer has chosen to give you real estate in their life.  However, you have to be responsible with that loyalty and trust.”  His recommendation, be in apps, but at the right time and in the right way.

Of course, to this point I’ve failed to mention that the Deathly Hallows are considered objects of “dark magic,” but since PR and marketing are considered dark arts or just evil by many, well then, if the invisibility cloak fits…