Attention online video marketers, are you doing everything you can to build brand engagement and drive conversions with your vides? That was the question posed by Cynthia Tillo, principle product manager at Adobe, delivering a session on online video marketing myths at the Adobe Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Here are the chief online video myths Tillo sees through her work:
- Email is suitable for video collaboration
Email was never meant to be a collaboration vehicle, Tillo said. One thread becomes many threads, and it’s easy to lose track of ideas and approvals. Instead, use a central system that keeps track of all video-related records.
- Metadata is busywork
While people hate creating metadata for a video, that metadata is essential to let viewers filter content and find exactly the videos they want. Before launching a video system, think hard about metadata taxonomy and be strict about requiring all users input the correct tags.
- One-size-fits-all for video playback
Is there one video resolution that’s appropriate for all users? No. Serve a high resolution video over a poor connection and you’ll cause buffering. Serve a low-resolution video over a strong connection and you’re denying the viewer the best experience possible. The solution is to offer adaptive bitrate video, which measures current network conditions and constantly adjusts to stream the best quality video possible.
- Use HTML5 for multiscreen coverage
While HTML5 might be the future of online video, it’s not the present. Tillo noted that 20 percent of desktop computer users can’t see HTML5 video thanks to the browser they use. The solution is to use a single video player that delivers HTML5 video first, with a Flash video fallback. For the time being, both HTML5 and Flash video are needed for full desktop and mobile coverage.
- YouTube is the marketer’s video platform
While YouTube is huge and the clear video-sharing leader, it’s not a smart move for brands to rely on it solely for video publishing. Never embed YouTube videos on your own site, Tillo advised. When you do, all SEO (search engine optimization) value is lost, as search engines will send traffic to YouTube, not your own site. YouTube doesn’t allow any control over the related videos associated with your videos, and could well link to competitor’s videos. And while YouTube provides analytics, they exist in a silo and offer no connection to the larger customer journey. The solution is to publish site videos first using an enterprise-class video solution, and to duplicate postings on YouTube.
To conclude, Tillo offered these takeaways for brand marketers: Publish videos both to a brand YouTube channel and to your own site, use a smart player that offers both HTML5 and Flash video, and avoid email for video collaboration. Push the envelope, she encouraged: Go beyond the myths.