In 2015, prepare to move beyond pics and text

It’s the age of stunning content!

You’re sitting in an airport terminal, your hand baggage contains a tablet and a few other essentials. The voice over the speaker announces that your flight is delayed by an hour and almost immediately, a thought flashes through your head- “Well that gives me enough time to stream the latest Game of Thrones episode.” A perfectly reasonable desire, and as the Nielsen study, shows a staggering majority (76%) of the world agrees with you. We want to stay connected 24/7, anywhere we please. Given that our mediums of accessing content are fragmented, brands are posed with the challenge of grabbing our attention on different platforms. To hack this issue, we need to start diving into how people see things.

Playing with consumers who have their finger on the pulse

In these modern times, people have more control over how they watch video content. After all, 67% of people switch channels when an ad comes on and 64% of people catch up with their favourite television programming by binge watching several episodes in a single day. When it comes to watching videos on the go, mobile seems to be the way to go with 59% of users proffering that mobile is the convenient medium of watching content on the run. In spite of mobiles being the kings of convenience, people still concede to the old dictum that ‘bigger is better’ with 63% of global respondents preferring a bigger screen sizes for watching video content and 53% opining that a tablet is just as good as a PC or a laptop.

Every Screen is a TV

Despite the proliferation of other mediums of accessing video programming, television remains the primary device for video consumption at home. However, as time goes by, we will find that this will not be the case for the future generations. It’s clear that older generations prefer programming on television while the younger ones opt for other mediums. On average, 91% of Silent Generation respondents say they watch video programming on TV, followed by 84% of Baby Boomer, 75% of Generation X and 62% of Millennial and Generation Z respondents. Another fascinating inference that has stood the test of time is the fact that users still prefer live programming with over 65% preferring to watch programming in real time. This phenomenon can be attributed to in large part to the desire of people wanting to be a part of the larger collective conversation on social media, with more than half of global respondents (53%) saying they like to keep up with shows so they can join the conversation on social media, and nearly half (49%) preferring to watch live video programming if it has a social media tie in.

How you stay ahead of the curve

• Be social: The Nielsen research shows that social media can increase program awareness, make the experience more enjoyable for audiences and keep viewers engaged. It’s important to tap in on the user’s desire to be a part of the larger online discourse. It is vital to stay interactive, personal and engaging.
• Be (Inter)active: Be fresh and always engage. Your message will hit home only if you constantly interact with your users.
• Be Available: Single screen is so passé! You must ensure that you are accessible on multiple platforms!
• Create the right content: Knowing about what you want to create is half the job done. It’s important to research on the different genres of YouTube videos and see what you want to create and where you see yourself fitting in.
• Optimize your content: Search engines review your YouTube using the same method they use to review websites. It’s important to perform a number of page optimizations that will send relevancy signals to search engines. Essentially, adding custom tags and descriptions will ensure that your video is seen.

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