Hulu, the second-most popular online video destination, is adding a host of social networking features to its community, including member profiles and video sharing. This makes for coverage by the Wall Street Journal and friends, but as Shelly Palmer of Media Bytes asks" "are they making any money?"
Hulu and YouTube cast a big audience net, but this often fails to translate into big cash for those sites and the producers featured therein.
Content producers of all stripes should utilize mass market video websites to generate views. But producers must be uber-diligent to drive that traffic to their own custom-branded communities. In the words of a top Disney digital exec: "what is most monetizable is the social activity around our branded content..."
Even if Hulu and YouTube add loads of goodies to their communities, thus enabling folks to spread content far and wide, the end result is the same: their brands will benefit first and foremost. Better to harness these biggies to drive traffic to your own playground, where social media tools can provide you with the most oomph, i.e., brand identity and revenue.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Hulu Social Networking and Making Money Online - Ministry & Business Marketing & Media Blog
Friday, March 6, 2009
Niche Online Video + Loyal Audience = Big Ad Dollars
On the heels of Comcast & Time Warner's murmurings about offering cable content free-of-charge to existing subscribers, CBS has nearly sold out $30 million in ad inventory for its upcoming March Madness on Demand.
Through MMOD, basketball junkies can stream all of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games. MMOD even comes with a "boss button" that pops up a fake spreadsheet if at-work fans sense The Man approaching (sponsored by Comcast, of course).
If you're sitting on a niche content library with a faithful audience--be it entertainment, ministry-related, or otherwise--think about the implications of CBS' success for your online offerings. While you're at it, consider that other networks are capitalizing on tremendous demand for niche content through paid subscriptions for video on demand and live online events. In one previously unreported case of which I'm intimately aware, a Christian ministry netted thousands of subscriptions and a whopping profit from a recent live-streamed convention.
Whatever your model, if you've got a niche content library that's already generating interest, you're halfway there. Now you simply need to combine your content with an easy-to-use/easy-to-manage Internet TV platform.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Video Producers Cannot Survive on YouTube Alone - Ministry and Business Media & Marketing Blog
The world's most popular online video site is easily the top choice for amateur and professional producers looking to post their video content online. However, media creators large and small pay a high price for using YouTube alone. Playlists featuring other artists, search bars and even the pending wave of Hollywood-produced content threaten every company that relies on solely on YouTube for online video distribution.
A better strategy is to utilize YouTube in combination with a custom-branded Internet TV platform in which you or your company are the only star.
Unlike what you'll get with YouTube alone, a fully-branded video platform such as Endavo Media's service will allow you to capture subscriber information, generate a much greater CPM than YouTube's paltry payout to Partners and give you a dedicated distribution network that performs better in peak times than YouTube's over-burdened network.
Perhaps best of all, a sophisticated Internet TV platform will allow you to maintain brand vitality and avoid the Expedia Effect. The Expedia Effect refers to the watering down of the brands of most major airlines that sell tickets via Expedia.com. Do most passengers differentiate between Delta, Continental, American, United and others? A big part of this brand dilution is due to these airlines relying solely on a mass market website to sell their services, much in the same way that many video producers lean exclusively on YouTube, Vimeo and friends.
Tap into the reach of YouTube. But be sure to use your YouTube presence as a means to drive traffic to your custom video platform. Your brand and your bottom line will thank you.
For a live example of utilizing YouTube and your own brand-friendly video platform, check out Dave Days' YouTube channel and new Endavo Media platform.
