RIP, 'How To' Manual This Sunday, like many before, I spent the majority of my morning endlessly scrolling through Facebook videos. Among the clutter of makeup tutorials, dogs playing musical instruments and babies eating lemons, I came across a video titled ‘How to do a Backflip in 5 minutes’. ‘Why?’ I thought to myself. Surely, no one wants to learn how to do a backflip from someone on the internet and risk being paralyzed. Turns out, the video had over 7MM views and tons of positive comments. While I’m sure many of these viewers were social content trolls like myself, many of these viewers were actually searching ‘how to do a backflip’ and, creator, Pigmie, apparently delivered. This got me thinking. First, of why so many people want to learn how to do a backflip, and in what situation they would perform such a stunt? Second, how anyone with access to the internet can virtually learn how to anything online. For example, some of YouTube’s all-time favorite ‘How to Videos’ consist of ‘How To: Dance, make a paper airplane, curl your hair, make cake, get six pack abs in 3 minutes, draw, tie a tie, do makeup. (Prepopulated YouTube search on July 17th) Clearly, people are searching for a wide range of videos on how to do virtually everything and anything. According to Cisco, in 2017, 69% of internet traffic will be video. And, it’s no surprise that people are using this video content as a mean to satisfy their information and entertainment needs. Don’t take it from me… check out this nifty infographic created by our friends over at HubSpot - https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing-statistics So, let's get down to it. How exactly can businesses benefit from shareable, social videos? Regardless of product, industry or offering, companies can create impactful, informational and helpful videos to create an engaged audience and generate earned viewership for your company. For example, these ‘how to life hacks’ are great opportunities for brands to create video content or sponsor an influencer to incorporate their product into their videos. Take it from this awesome campaign by Ziplock ‘Life Needs Ziplock’: https://ziploc.com/ Let’s bring it back to our backflipping friend. Unless you have a gymnastics company, this video would likely not impact your company, right? Wrong. Your company has the opportunity to, when the opportunity is right, earn a ton of viewership. Pigmie’s video, for example, could be a great space for a medical or insurance company to engage with consumers or sponsor a ‘follow up video’ on how to file an insurance claim after you injure yourself. People are constantly searching for ‘how to’s’ relating to hundreds of other fields; medical, travel, insurance, automotive and much more. Questions like “how do I get a car insurance quote,” “how do I get a new passport”, “how do I change a tire”… and, you got it, guess who should be showing up in response to these searches with helpful tips? You. Exactly. It is inevitable that video will soon be the main source of information share between companies and consumers. So, don’t get left behind. Let us help you. We are experts in social, social video, influencer marketing, video production and online marketing. To learn more about how we can get you more shares, views and buyer conversion rates, click here.
Facebook wants to show more ads to people who watch its videos and start making money for the people who supply it with those videos. Industry sources say the social network is going to start testing a new “mid-roll” ad format, which will give video publishers the chance to insert ads into their clips after people have watched them for at least 20 seconds. Emphasizing time spent vs. impressions
Brands have enthusiastically embraced live streaming — but not every brand comes camera-ready. Those looking to get started find themselves needing to beg, borrow or hire on-screen talent first. While some companies have tapped TV personalities to host their broadcasts, others are asking their employees to do it themselves – because audiences want to see real faces and build a connection with the people at a brand. Lights, Camera, Action!
Digital and social video, especially on platforms including Facebook and Instagram, is top of mind for digital fashion editors as they embark on the new year. In 2016, the launch of Facebook Live and Instagram Stories, combined with Snapchat, meant there was no shortage of platforms on which publishers could experiment and create videos. And as more and more eyeballs turn to mobile, the rising ad dollars attached to video are proving increasingly appealing for publishers. What GQ, Glamour and Harpers Bazaar are prioritizing in 2017
Facebook, which has long relied on other people to provide it with content, is going to start paying for its own stuff, too. Facebook is starting to talk to TV studios and other video producers about licensing shows, with the hope of boosting the social network’s video efforts. The talks, which include discussions for scripted shows, game shows and sports, seem similar to Facebook’s attempt to boost live video earlier this year, when it struck deals with various publishers, including Vox Media, to produce live content exclusively for the company. So much for not being a media company.
Eight months ago, Elite Daily was “the voice of Generation Y,” in the words of a presentation it made to advertisers. Two weeks ago, the Daily Mail General Trust, its parent company, wrote down the entirety of its investment in the millennial-focused publisher, a tacit admission that the site was worthless to the company and its investors. That plunge is the latest turn in a wild ride Elite Daily’s been on since it launched in 2012. Forty million down the drain.
Apple's iOS software quality is being called into question again this week, following the discovery of a five-second video that will force an iPhone to lock up and freeze. Reddit users discovered the bug yesterday, and all an iPhone user needs to do is click an MP4 file and watch it to experience the problem. Curiosity killed the cat.
In October, Tastemade’s main Instagram channel generated 20 million views on its Instagram Stories content. The account, which publishes three to four stories per week, is consistently getting more than a million views per story. That’s the good news. The bad news: Tastemade isn’t making any money off any of these views. Instagram doesn’t offer the opportunity for publishers to run ads in Instagram Stories, and Tastemade hasn’t tried any brand integrations yet. No dollars for you.
Google began integrating Shopping Campaign ads into YouTube in May 2015 — first for brands and retailers to show their own ads alongside their videos with TrueView for Shopping, and then opening up to all advertisers as part of the Search Partners network with Shopping Ads on YouTube nearly a year ago. Now, it appears Google is testing a traditional carousel format for Shopping Ads on YouTube. Tis the season to be expanding.
A new report from IAB states that revenue from digital advertising increased 19% year-over-year, driven largely by search and mobile. Mobile ads accounted for 47% of internet revenue at $15.5B, search accounted for 50% of revenue at $16.3B, and social media revenue hit $7B. Meanwhile, digital video increased 51 percent from $2.6 billion in 2015 to $3.9 billion. The growing importance of mobile.
