Video Marketing and the Smartphone Surge
Gone are the days of tripping up over an 8-foot handset cord when your mom wanted to watch TV while on the phone. Today, video has gone mobile, and if your online marketing video hasn’t, that 8-foot cord might as well be wrapped around the neck of your business.
Smartphones and tablets are here to stay, and more than 50% of the population own at least one mobile device. More people are turning to portable screens for entertainment, and these screens are getting smarter and becoming increasingly affordable. These devices allow people to engage with content on a much greater level, bringing the opportunity for increased views, likes, shares, subscribers, fans, customers, loyal patrons, you name it.
Smartphone and tablet sales are predicted to exceed PC sales by as much as 60% by 2015, according to a report from Gartner research group. Watching video comes in third on the list of most popular smartphone activities, and 63% of mobile video is viewed in the home – this may seem strange, as mobile literally means able to be moved freely or easily; synonymous with ‘portable.’ But this is not as shocking as finding out that 36% of mobile video viewed at home is viewed simultaneously with another screen, usually during prime-time hours. Surely this says consumers are so ready to hear your message, they are opening multiple doors just to make it easier for you to get in.
Hold the Phone! You mean I could be advertising during prime-time without paying a prime price? Most definitely; and the brilliance of online video marketing is that there are multiple prime-times for mobile interaction. If you meet anyone with a smartphone (up to the age of 40) that says they don’t use their phones to browse the web the minute they wake up or right before they go to bed – they’re lying.
By 2015, eMarketer expects there will be 148.6 million smartphone users in the nation, up from 90.1 million in 2011. Mobile video viewing is pretty popular now, but you don’t have a lot of time to jump on board. If you want your company to survive the surge in mobile internet use, you need to take that cord from around your neck, plug one end into the jack in the wall, dial up the internet, search for someone who can come set up DSL for you, and get busy making and marketing your online video.
+Jessica Anderson