There was a time where only the richest of the rich could create video. It took a lot of expensive equipment and you had to own a television station. When the Internet became prevalent in consumers’ lives and web video became possible, everyone was given the opportunity to share their own videos. Some film for personal use, others for business while most people simply watch and share with their friends.
There is a lot of apprehension with web video for many people due to time consumption, technical difficulty and a learning curve, but let’s take a look at some 2010 stats about web video to see where there is opportunity for business people like you.
Source: Clickr.com.
It’s not just about Chocolate Rain.
Currently, 69% of adult Internet users watch or download online videos which is a really high number. Although the chart doesn’t reveal as much, I know it to be true that a large portion of those web videos are viewed via mobile device. What you should read into these numbers is that it is a rapidly changing world and it’s not all about pop culture references being born, there is a major business opportunity here.
Oh my, what a little number. It’s so… cute.
One of the numbers that jumped out to me is that 14% of people posted videos online which is a paltry number… and good news for you. If you have the propensity for video, it may feel as if the medium is already overly saturated given that over 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute (almost double that of 2009), it is still a wildly open arena to explore. If volume has risen so much yet only 14% of people are posting video, the case can be made that a low number of people are making a lot of noise.
The fastest growing segment of uploaders is…
When looking at the demographics of web video uploaders, the fastest growing segment is users age 30-49 with the 50+ growth rate not far behind. Some are intimidated by the young faces once dominating the medium, but users of all ages are breaking down those walls to include content creators of all ages.
Who’s watching? Fraternities or CEOs?
Taking a closer look at income and education levels of web video viewers reveals a hopeful indicator- it’s not drunk college kids watching video, the biggest demographic of viewers is well educated, affluent adults. Imagine putting together a professional business video and having no one to watch it. That’s so 2003.
Good news! There’s room for growth!
The diversity of content posted is equally astounding with the only clear cut dominant genre being home videos, leaving a lot of room for growth of real estate or business web videos. With the rise of Twitter and Facebook, sharing others’ content is among the most popular activities which is golden for web video creators.
Putting web video into your business plan for 2011
Web video is no different than any other web medium- the playing field is level. Someone with a shaky flip cam and great sense of humor can do as well as a professional studio these days. Google can transcribe video now and is very web video friendly, giving agents who use video an advantage in the search engines. We know that it is a scary proposition for anyone who hates their face on film, but there are endless ways to incorporate video into your real estate business and we encourage you to put web video into your 2011 marketing plan whether you invest the time in learning how to do it yourself or hiring it out. How will you ramp up your video content production in 2011?
