Corporate Video Conquers The Internet

Dec 2010

Sean Ashby is the founder of Aussiebum, an Australia-based underwear manufacturer. Central to their e-commerce offering is video, and Mr Ashby credits it with helping pushing turnover up 40% from Au$16m to Au$23m during the global financial crisis, at a time when other retailers were suffering.

"When internet retail started they said that it would never overtake the experience of going into a store and shopping. I think the same could be said online about video. Nothing can replace the experience of video compared to just an image. Video is the biggest competitor to shopping in a store itself."

Quality video online used to be the preserve of media organisations, but technology research company Gartner says that take-up by non-media companies is expanding rapidly. Gartner lists video as one of it's top ten strategic technologies for 2011, and is predicting that by 2013 video will be commonplace online, with 25% of content viewed on the web being pictures, video or audio.

As broadband and high-speed wi-fi becomes ubiquitous the ability of consumers to view video on their home connections and in offices has increased. The launch of video-sharing website YouTube in 2005 marked the beginning of video's move into the mainstream.

There's now a host of similar websites to choose from out there, including Vimeo, Dailymotion and Megaupload. For businesses these sites have offered cost-effective means of having video embedded on their sites and distributing it to a wider audience.

Brightcove chief executive, Jeremy Allaire, is clear on the benefits of video content for business. "If your website has video, then it will rank higher in Google rankings, it gives a natural lift in SEO. Users that engage with video spend more time on your website, and more time spent equals higher engagement, whether you are Nike or an NGO.

"We have very clear data: Video drives higher sales, there is a conversion lift in the double digit percentages, and for some it translates into a 100% lift."

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