Online marketers have seen their sales skyrocket when they start to incorporate video into their marketing. At the beginning of the year, eMarketer projected that online video ad spending would increase by 50% this year, and that it would reach $4.5 billion in 2013. That’s a lot of money!
Fueled by the fact that it’s getting easier and cheaper to produce quality videos, and that consumers like watching videos. We recently read that in July of 2008, 134 million Americans watched 11.4 billion videos. That’s two videos per user, per day.
Even with today’s economic situation and shrinking budgets, online marketing campaigns still include video, because it’s working.
A video is the closest that we can get to actually touching and holding a product, or experiencing a service.
The same is true for conference marketing. Using videos in your marketing efforts is the closest you will get to letting potential attendees experience your event before registering.
And, the stats show that they enjoy watching and sharing videos. About 75% of the US internet population watches videos online daily, or every other day. And, 98% of all connected desktops have Flash Player installed, meaning they are equipped and ready to watch videos online.
2010 Video Usage Stats
Video usage is only going to increase in 2010. Here are some stats we discovered projecting usage in the next year:
- In 2010, there will be 176 million online video viewers.
- In 2010, 86% of internet users will watch videos online daily.
- Video is expected to continue to grow at a 40% year-over-year increase.
Just as online marketers are using video to boost sales, you can use video in conference marketing. Videos reviewing last year’s break out sessions, interviews with previous attendees, or short talk from the main speaker can help interested attendees get a feel for the conference.
Here are some tips to get you started:
- Keep your videos simple with short talking points – no more than 2 minutes.
- Test out the theory by creating videos for one or two products, or offers and see how they perform to other registration offers.
- Look for user generated content. It could be that some of your previous attendees or members have created videos about their experience, or would be open to creating their own videos about the event.
A video gives people something that direct mail and e-marketing can not. If done right, you can connect with people in a more personal way and increase your chances of eliciting an emotional response. A video allows you to speak to potential attendees with a “human voice”, instead of the marketing speak that is on most collateral pieces. That is a powerful tool that you can use to increase conference registration.
References for stats:
Adobe Scene 7
eMarketer
Universal McCann
