I recently spent a nice evening at a friend’s house as he showed me his favorite YouTube videos (including the Nike soccer video) on a giant high-definition TV.  The videos were being fed into the TV wirelessly through his iPhone. It was a lot of fun until we came to the older, grainy videos which were almost un-watchable on the large-screen format. I started thinking about how much YouTube has changed and the implications for marketing. I’m just weird that way. : )

Our beloved YouTube turned five years old last week and now hosts an incredible 2 billion page views per day (third largest website) and 24 hours of new content is uploaded every minute. It’s hard to ignore, isn’t it?

Some new things to consider:

High def, high expectations –  The little episode at my friend’s house illustrates four important trends:

• The big brands are dominating the channel with blockbuster info-mercials. The bar for quality is being raised for all of us.
• YouTube is becoming mainstream entertainment. Watching on large-format screens is becoming typical, again pointing to a need for quality.
• Videos can now be pretty much accessed anywhere, any time with the advent of smart phones.
• YouTube’s new “high-definition” option is helping to enable the quality revolution.

One of the charming characteristics of the original YouTube was that it actually lowered peoples expectations for quality.  The most popular, funniest videos were usually grainy home-made clips of the “Star Wars Boy” or “Keyboard Cat.” Unfortunately those days are coming to an end.

Small screen is king. The most popular iPhone app is You Tube.  And this presents quite a dilemma. How do you produce a video that will show up well on a large screen … and also a mobile phone (which can effectively present little more than a talking head)? This is a vital consideration, especially if your target market is most likely to be mobile.

Audio quality is also a bigger deal than it used to be, driven by the needs on the high end and the low end. That built-in camera mic might not cut-it any more!

Pay-per-click advertising and promoted videos can now be be part of the search results within YouTube. The promoted videos include a thumbnail of video and drives you to a video, not a website. Participating in the paid videos also allows you to enable text overlays on the video which can be a call-to-action or a simple web address.

Video annotations — Another trend is gimmicks like word balloons on videos. This might be a good promotional tool and an effective way to add depth to your video but it might have limited effectiveness on mobile phones.

What’s not new … but still relevant:

• Blatant advertising doesn’t work.
• If a video is truly interesting and useful, it will be watched. Educate, inform, entertain.
• YouTube is still a high-potential, low-cost marketing opportunity
• Be sure to optimize your video descriptions for keyword search.
• Don’t overlook using YouTube as a way to connect and build community.  Explore the option of providing video comments.  Tagging comments on to more popular videos could drive traffic to your channel.
• While there seems to be an emotional backlash against Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter, YouTube doesn’t seem to have the political and privacy baggage of the other guys. YouTube is the teddy bear of the social web.

Cutting through this deluge of content is challenging, especially for a small business. Everybody’s on YouTube now, so you just can’t  just be there. You have to be there and be great.

What are your observations on the new realities of marketing through YouTube? What did I miss?

15 Comments

• 

  By Jon Buscall, June 14, 2010 @ 9:50 am

  I’m definitely with you on sound quality! Same goes for podcasts. It’s amazing how many successful podcasters / vloggers are really improving the quality of their content just in terms of production.

  And so when does the Mark W. Schaefer video launch on YouTube?
• 

  By Mark, June 14, 2010 @ 10:16 am

  Awww, I knew somebody would bring that up. Obviously I’m studying it right? : )

  You do a great job with your podcasts Jon but you also sound like a movie star. I do have a few things in the works. Thanks for the encouragement!
• 

  By Josh, June 14, 2010 @ 10:27 am

  It’s funny I was going over my favorite YouTube videos this past week and thinking that Advertising will be the entertainment of the future. Most of my favorites are viral ads (Nike soccer, extreme LED Sheep, dynamite surfing and so on). I think YouTube has come full circle from it’s start of “anyone can get tons of views if you just have a great idea” which gave the advantage to the average Joe, because brands weren’t posting those types of videos, back to the professionals because they have the budget and skills to push things beyond what the average user can. With new products that have new requirements such as mobile vs large screens, Google TV et all I think it will be harder for the average Joe to keep up.

  Thanks,

  Josh
• 

  By Mark, June 14, 2010 @ 11:09 am

  @Josh Think about this — Nike is not even the sponsor of the World Cup! Adidas is. Are sponsorships even that meaningful any more when you can hijack viewers with a video like that? Interesting to ponder. Thanks for the comment today!
• 

  By Jayme Soulati, June 14, 2010 @ 11:36 am

  Mark, fab post chock full. Thank you so much. What cam do you use to grab your footage? I’m hating the Sony Webbie or whatever I bought, but that orange metallic color lured me in, darn it.
• 

  By Mark, June 14, 2010 @ 11:49 am

  In the market for a new HD device. Leaning toward Flip.
• 

  By Stephanie Wonderlin, June 14, 2010 @ 12:36 pm

  Mark – yet another get post! Video is a POWERFUL medium, but I agree – it has to be used correctly in order to get any value out of it. Video keeps getting bigger and bigger, so your comment on “everyone is on YouTube” and if you are there you have to be “great” in order to stand out – VERY true!

  I have some great ideas coming for my videos because we all know we can’t be stale out there is this fast-paced world! :-)

  Great post as always Mark!!!
• 

  By Danny Shelton, June 14, 2010 @ 1:12 pm

  Good stuff! Thoughts on guiding small businesses into the YouTube era?
• 

  By Mark, June 14, 2010 @ 3:01 pm

  @Stephanie — Your comment is a great opportunity to point you out as a best practice. Folks if you want to see great content, high quality and a format suitable for different formats, check out Stephanie Wonderlin!
• 

  By Mark, June 14, 2010 @ 3:01 pm

  @Danny — I think it starts with business strategy. YouTube isn’t for everybody. Also, look at the capabilities. If your customer would be great on video, let’s say a chef or a craftsperson, it might be the perfect channel. Budget is another consideration. Also, look at the competition. Is this an opportunity to differentiate or is it a me-too? Are customers already consumers of video … or could they be?
• 

  By Dave Anderson, June 14, 2010 @ 11:31 pm

  Great article. The good news is that production capabilities are now very reasonable as well. YouTube recently upgraded their quality once again, and it really has amazed me that they have stayed on the cutting edge for 5 years.
• 

  By Mark, June 15, 2010 @ 8:25 am

  YouTube has proved to be a very well-managed company, haven’t they? Thanks for the input Dave!
• 

  By Kyle Lacy, June 15, 2010 @ 12:19 pm

  YouTube is the teddy bear of the social web…:)

  YouTube is one of those outlets that everyone enjoys! Plus you can feel free to be as creative and outrageous as you wish! In terms of businesss…what are the goals? All social strategy must begin with this.
• 

  By Mark, June 16, 2010 @ 2:43 pm

  @Kyle — I agree! Thanks for commenting.

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