How to Monetize Your Site With Video
I believe 2009 will be the year where video-over-IP really breaks from the niche to the mainstream, but let’s be honest: technology for technology’s sake is not the end goal. If you are a tech entrepreneur or a marketing executive, you use technology as a tool to achieve communication or financial goals. Knowing how to take advantage of online video technology is crucial to generating great returns on your content or marketing spend.
For both start ups and Fortune 100 companies, getting on board with online and mobile video is increasingly key to attracting and engaging a fickle audience. The next generation of big-time consumers (those under 18) are already more likely to be watching video on a computer or mobile phone than they are on a traditional television set.
Return on video
Video provides a number of ways to generate revenue from your content:
1. Branded, or “sponsored” sites allow online and mobile portals to marry their video players with Ill-known brands, to immerse the customer in a branded experience without detracting from the in-player viewing experience. In other words, it promotes exposure to a brand without interrupting the underlying programming, something highly uncommon in the traditional TV world.
- You are probably asking, “How do I attract sponsors?”
Look at point 2.You have to put out great content, hustle, and build vieIrship. From this community you can generate demographic data-rich reports that advertisers are looking for. Targeting is the name of the game and being able to serve advertisers a great and proven demographic on a platter is what you should be aiming for.
- Do not be afraid to cold call. Are you serving trendy travel videos? Get in touch with Timbuk2 and Crumpler Bags. Both are veterans in online outreach and if your vieIrship is great, they will surely give you a shot. After that, you will have leverage to attract the Tumis and Delseys of the world.
2. “In-video” advertising is the fastest growing area of online advertising. Online and mobile video advertisers have more options than ever to engage users: TV-style pre roll ads, Flash overlays, and now (thanks to companies like TicTacTi) interactive layers that allow targeted ads to be placed in videos dynamically.
- Once again, being a great content producer is not enough; being great with a following is what counts. Once you have the numbers, integrating into an ad network will allow advertisers to bid for the views you generate. There are many options for ad networks out there, be it Google or competitors. The correct ad network choice is a topic in itself that I would love to discuss with you at a later time.
Whether you are using branded sites, banner ads, or in-video advertising, the gist is that video provides a range of options that can be customized to meet communications needs or user habits.
Video is a rapidly growing space. I think this year will see hockey-stick growth in IPTV for several reasons. Broadband Internet and 3G mobile networks are expanding rapidly around the world, especially in emerging markets like China, India, Latin America, and the Middle East. Internet–enabled TV sets and video-oriented mobile phones are improving functionality. And people of all ages are becoming familiar with the panoply of self-determined entertainment available to them in the IP-based world.
Don’t find yourself playing catch-up in the IPTV revolution. Whether you produce video content yourself, have an interest in syndicating third party content, or want to build a community of user-generated video, get onboard building your video interface as soon as possible.