The Web Uncovered

A phenomenal achievement by Social Media experts Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas, The Conversation Prism (V2.0 recently released) is a visual representation of the various categories and associated websites that make up the Social Media landscape. By their own admission, the creators recognize that the constatant evolution of online conversations and communities makes this a snapshot at best. Far be it for any one of us, expert or not, to define social media in such specific terms. However, we should be so lucky that Solis and Thomas have made such an attempt! A clear and crisp image of of the Conversation Prism and it’s many details is difficult to come by online. However it should be noted that a full size 18″x24″ poster is available for purchase at www.theconversationprism.com. (Click to view V1.0 | V2.0)

While posting a single video on Youtube is a rather straightforward endeavor, running a multi-video campaign across many viral video sites has become increasingly complicated as both the scope possible and number of viral video outlets proliferate.

That’s where Vidmetrix comes in.  Firstly, you can upload your video, tags, description, and title once on their server, and then, after inputting your information from sites like Youtube, Myspace, Revver, Sevenload, etc, it will automatically upload it to each site you choose.  This makes executing a massive campaign a much simpler endeavor.

But it gets better!  Vidmetrix also keeps track of views and comments from each site, which it includes into a database that you can view or export.  You can even add links to the same video at sites that you uploaded before you started using Vidmetrix for uploads, or from one of the smaller sites that Vidmetrix does not yet support.  Their easy-to-use interface allows you to chart views of your videos based on day, week, month, or by site.  A catch?  It’s free!

The Takeaway:   Not only does Vidmetrix makes it easier for your to execute your campaign, but they give you the ability to see what videos and which sites are attracting the most attention, giving you better insight for future targetting.  Also, Vidmetrix has even better analytical tools as part of a paid service, which can become very necessary with larger viral video campaigns.

Youtube has already been determined as the victor in the world of user-generated video.  This isn’t news.  However, the relatively recent addition of insights in Youtube reveals something that all marketers fear.  What if your content is attracting the wrong audience?

Let me give you an example.  You are selling lingerie, and your target audience is women from ages 20-40.  You find models who make your product look very good, or vice a versa, and you post your video on youtube.  Within a week you have over 1,000 hits, and a 10,000 within a month.  While you are excited about the virility of your campaign, you don’t understand why it is not generating traffic to your website or any signicant sales increase.  Then you look at Youtube Insights at demographics, and find that 80% of the viewers were men, ages 14-24.

The Takeaway:

Remember, segmentation and product placement are not enough alone.  You have to generate content based on the values of your target segment.  Using themes like pricing and value, or improved body image, could better focus this campaign.  While Youtube gives you only basic segment data, this is enough to know if your framing of content is seriously flawed.

While there are many aspects to running an effective online marketing campaign, including video is seen as imperative, especially if there is an intent for going viral. The billion dollar deal that brought Youtube into the Google fold only reiterates this fact. Before we can appropriately address how to approach the use of video in online marketing, we need to understand why it works with people.

Coming back to Marshall Mcluhan, media is either hot or cold, either interactive or ready-made. The internet transcends these boundaries. I won’t divulge too much here as this is a post of it’s own. However, beyond the fact that humans are visually-based, and that culturally we put a visual emphasis on everything (“’see’ what I mean?”), video has been and will likely be the quintessential example of hot media. Whether it is a cooking recipe, a guitar lesson, or your product commercial, people will choose a video over a typographical description 99 percent of the time.

Another reason for this is that Video is a mixed medium. It can be visual, audio, and typographical at the same time. This solidifies it as a hot medium.

The Takeaway: Taking this all into consideration, your target audience wants to come as close to experience your service, product, etc, as possible within the confines of technological ability. If you don’t have a video showcasing your value-added, your competition will, and likely already has. To have an online presence to be multisensorial in a mixed medium.