By Brent Grablachoff
Last week I shared a few key insights gleaned from attending the recent Streaming Media West and Online Video Platform Summit ’09. I wrote on 3-Screen Delivery and Mobile Video Delivery. Today, I will be concluding with Paid/Premium Content, Detailed Video Analytics and Live Streaming.
Live Streaming
Most visitors to our Endavo booth were overwhelmingly interested in streaming live video. I'm watching as live streaming gradually becomes a higher priority. These days, we live in a world where people want to see real events, right NOW. The demand and need for Video on Demand (VOD) cannot be ignored.
Paid/Premium Content
Because businesses are in the business of making money, many are starting to notice ways to monetize their online video content, too. This question is on everyone's mind, "Why create a Web site offering high-quality and premium video content, if we're just going to give it away for free?" That’s why conference attendees were asking us about video monetization models, and if Pay-Per-View offers a better ROI over Subscription or Membership models.
While there is no universally accepted single “best” online video monetization model, there are multiple ways available that will offer an effective combination of revenue generating tools for your business. We feel it’s crucial that each businesses assess and decide what’s important to their audiences – then apply a monetization model that best achieves their specific business objectives.
Detailed Video Analytics
Without a goal or plan, your business is like a ship without a sail. Because it’s important to track and measure results, I was especially interested in the conference’s discussion on ‘Analytics & Measurements’. At Endavo, we believe creating deeper analytics will become more of a development priority in the digital media revolution. Metrics such as total videos views, most watched videos, and what’s generating buzz are helpful, but you should demand more. The Streaming Media West panel predicted in 2010 we’ll see more detailed analytics, such as: How long did the user view the video? Did they skip through the ads? Did they watch the video in its entirety? Where did they drop off?
Also, as discussed, we’ll see more proven tracking methods for geographical drill-downs and metrics showing video viewership on a global, country, state and city-wide radius. While overall online video technology continues to evolve, we believe the capability to dive deeper into online video viewership dynamics will help companies realize better ROI, monitor and track marketing and sales goals, and appreciate the contribution of online video to their business mix.
Conclusion
Online video has come a long way the past 5 years – but we have an even longer way to go in the next two. Technology continues to evolve, new companies are launching every day ... and best practices continue to be implemented.
I admit that I can get wrapped up in the capabilities of online video, and the myriad of services offered ... and why our platform is so great. But it’s important to not get too focused on the array of technical services available throughout digital media. You should instead do your research, stay up to date as best as you can and ultimately find solutions that solve problems and make sense for your business.
And most importantly, develop a solution that provides your audience an opportunity to engage, interact and consume ... and keep giving them reasons to come back for more.
