Usage of video hostings for b2b marketing
This time Bazis Team brings to your attention an article about an a new-to-Russia area of marketing communications. Surely, a video toolkit for marketing in business-to-business sphere is applied in Russia with increasing intensity in last 20 years, but, perhaps, namely from the year 2007 the usage of online-video-services for b2b-marketing in Ru.net is going to take its stand as a recognized practice and video hostings would be in demand therein. The release has been generated using materials of the publication “How to Use YouTube to Generate Leads: 7 Video Posting Strategies end Tagging Tips”, published on a site MarketingSherpa.com and the article “It’s a wash-out (Дело — труба)” from the 14th number of “Business-magazine (Бизнес-журнал)” for year 2007, and also own supervisions of one of the co-authors of the release.
Urgency
The first business video translations in Russian by means of the Internet have begun at the beginning of 2000. Already in 2003 in Ru.net there were a few specialized Internet-resources broadcasting transfers for business… In 2007 the occurrence rate for business Internet-TV channels in Russian has exceeded 1 channel in a month. Thus only channels which can be carried unconditionally to sphere b2b were considered only.
However, the greatest urgency to the article is given, perhaps, with that fact, that the largest on-line video service of the world - YouTube has started the Russian-speaker version. In other words, from the middle of autumn of year 2007 YouTube began to be present in Ru.net. Though the “newcomers” of new- to-Russia area of marketing communications have set out the founders of Internet-TV, the greatest force business video toolkit have got by means of video hostings. Such as, YouTube. Com, RuTube. Ru, video services by Mail. Ru, Rambler. Ru and similar to them…it will be clear why from what was told below…
There is a difference between two video services
The Ru.net Internet-TV still nowadays is mainly a broadcasting (when a video recording does not remain on a computer of the spectator) and archives of telecasts` records which are possible to download on a personal computer and/or on mobile communicator (phone). Even the majority of Ru.net video hostings did not differ with a greater set of functions. In particular, there were no “video on query” services (there was no high-grade video podcasting), “video playlist” (storing seen and sharing playlists between users)…
But, the basic superiority of video hostings before the Ru.net Internet-TV, grown from traditional broadcasting TV is in other: in a video content created by users themselves (with the conveniences existing only in some companies providing Internet-TV, for example Corbina. TV). While the offer of convenient means for transmission of the records kept on a video hosting direct from sites of users is completely a merit of business-teams, which created video hostings. It turns out that at leading video hostings in 2007 the audience became significantly more numerous, than at Internet-TV sites (except for portals of 1-st TV channel and TNT).
But this Russian anomaly will soon disappear if we judge on dynamics of increase in number of YouTube users. And nowadays many channels of the Internet-TV (and traditional – on - air - TV), staying in constant search of opportunities to place their production; have started to place it on video hostings.
For what it is possible to use a video hosting in Ru.net
From the previous paragraph 1-st goal is clear, accomplishable by means of a videohosting, with regard to both sphere b2c and to sphere b2b: to increase recognition of a brand, to involve spectators who are not subscribed yet to video-news of the company. Imagine: video-news of the company in the country where the majority of the large organizations leading public activity do not have a one and only blog. In the English-speaker version of YouTube corporate videos are watched by 50-250 people in a month. While the same video on a subscription (in video-news of the company) can be watched by 10-20 thousand subscribers (clients). In a sphere of b2b number of spectators on YouTube is the same 50-250 people, on a subscription - 250-2500… In Ru.net the number of spectators can appear in five-ten times less, do not be surprised… However, on Russian-speaker video hostings by now is a little number of video content, so your business can easily become the main supplier of thematic video in its niche. Whether it is necessary to waste time and money for a new audience which makes a little percent from existing? Probably yes, if it allows approaching those who hardly would hear about your company, but after viewing may want to visit its blog, to subscribe for news (video-, audio-, text - not an essence) to see prices…
Moreover, there are exceptions: some of the clips, so-called “virus video”, specially created to induce spectators to transfer them from one to another. They contain both direct and implicit advertising. But to provoke people to distribute sincerely your video is a very uneasy goal and huge numbers of clips have not worked in this quality. And sometimes it happened that some clips, inadvertently, became “virus video”. One more typical situation is when a placement of video data on a platform of on-line service easily pays off: if the organization was already enclosed in creation of a clip, a set of slides, especially, when video clips are not one-two. Why to not take additional benefits from this investment? The plus of foreign-speaking video hostings and YouTube. Com with RuTube. Ru in Russian is that alongside with displaying through their platforms, you can show your video (even company`s presentations) on your own, partner and even the foreign sites concerning your thematic niche.
Other ways of Ru.net video hostings usage
1. Video hostings evidently enough show predilections or, more softly, preferences of an audience, which besides segment itself on the basis of interests. But, we are going to dedicate a separate article concerning self-segmentations by means of the Internet-services. And now we shall pay attention to the fact, that by using a number of themes, owners of the most popular (and unpopular) a video content can be allocated.
Even in spite of the fact that the market of the video advertisement in the .Ru domain of the WWW has the financial capacity of 3 million dollars (taking into consideration small flash clips) for the period of year 2007, in case of running a separate marketing action an information about whom of the video content owners (managers) should be get involved is useful.
For example, exactly through these video hosting ground selection of partners and even gathering a part of an audience for such a rare genre in Russia as a do-show about your functioning business is possible.
2. For the next original (yet) method it is possible to use a “internet-television and video hosting” couple. A personal internet-television channel for a business partner is being created. For the content of which, several video trailers are being selected\created. The trailers are being uploaded to the video hosting. This gift is presented to the business partner. Because the personal television is surely a rare present! In the .Ru domain of the WWW the only thing we faced is a “ gift of a personal radio station”.
3. It is a good advantage to test an advertising-demonstrative and a manual-tutorial video content
designed for business partners, to organize a non private video content interchange between the representatives of partnering organizations ( or even between the departments of the company).
4. The video hosting could be used not only for translation of own video content but for importing different theme content on your own web-pages. Goal is to involve required persons by grating them an access to the video they are interested in on your web-site and to the brand content also with less expenses.
Own video hosting as a marketing tool
The 4th point of the previous topic also means the possibilities coming out of using the collection of a theme video content which might be situated on your own website video hosting or on someone else’s.
The collection’s theme might be not connected to the business of your organization, though. The video might have a subject directly connected to the client’s organizations. But in the process of creating of the client’s collections ask themselves of assistance, isn’t it a marketing communications? Exactly the same practice could be done with your product’s recommendations and other partners.
The creation of your own video hosting per samples of the listed above online services is a cost-based b2c project. But to afford a place for video blogs to the partners of your company and even clients is quite possible. Especially if you already invested into the creation of your own video blog to boadcast your company’s video-news for example.
Video hosting (a place for video blogs) for franchise might be a powerful tool for a franchiser. Though, due to the content, such video hosting could work to attract and to support both business partners (franchise) and final consumers (using b2c model).
Finally, video hosting might be a component of a product which is being realized by the company. For example, if the purchase of the product expects visual teaching methods of client’s personnel, then your own video hosting could be used to protect valuable information.
And if you created a video hosting for yourself then it could be beneficial (maybe not very profitable but beneficial in other ways) to grant the possibility of using it to your clients or as an act of philanthropy to other organizations.
In some individual cases it is appropriate to join a partnership with an administration (owner) of an existing video hosting, besides mentioned in the beginning of the article, in the .Ru domain there are also a few recently created on-line video services which could be suitable for that. Business teams of all the video hosting are not yet spoiled with financial incomings and may agree to the conditions of collaboration which are very profitable for you. An alliance of a marketing agency and a video hosting might turn out to be a long-term win-win deal tandem.
The terms of using the video hosting for b2b marketing
3 important limiting terms:
- There are still less then a one million video hosting users in the .Ru domain (but above them a lot of rich people with high education).
- It is very expensive to keep author’s rights in the .Ru domain. You have to be prepared that your content may be easily used by anyone.
- The video hosting give almost no warranty of your content’s safety uploaded to their servers, its accessibility and access’s quality.
B2b video have to look like done by a professional (except some “virus video” clips). It shows brand’s worthiness and its authority (in case you have enough financials). Animated graphics and schemes, illustrating digits, share of the market, plans look good in clips. Animated information becomes more real, attracts and holds attention.
In terms of effectiveness single actions are better then massive. Addition of the new video hosting content should be done regularly it is a warranty of heightened interest to your video and more… For the sphere of b2b the 1 moth frequency is enough. If you have an e-mail delivery for your clients or a video blog then you should use video there first and only then upload it to the video hosting.
Taking into account the expensiveness of the internet-television and the video hosting as marketing tools (the most expensive component is a creation of qualitative clips) it is important to wisely use this tools - even if it all about image advertising. Video hosting has such resources and they will only increase with time. But the video marketology specialist who uses video hosting will have to do a big homework before the actions with video hosting will show required result.
So the video hosting is not a magic box which could grant your organization an unseen effect in the sphere of the b2b marketing without great investments and problems. But to ignore such an innovative tools means to lose the possibility of an effective cooperation with an audience which might turn out to be a competitive advantage till there’s something more impressive in the .Ru domain.