January 28, 2009

John Gallant, Network World, Inc. – Will the Stimulus Stimulate IT?

Ann Roskey, Accela Communications – Key to Successful Video Programming: Measurement and Reporting

MarketingCharts.com – Online Video: Primary Focus of 2009 Campaigns

Roxanne Darling, Bare Feet Studios – Five Key Considerations for Creating Your Internet TV Show

In January, the talk’s all about new beginnings and historic firsts in Washington, D.C. But the next phrase to roll off everyone’s lips as the administration of President Barack Obama gets underway is ‘economic stimulus.’

The IT industry hasn’t been hit as hard as some sectors of the U.S. economy, but we’ve all felt the pinch of reduced IT spending. So, the question that naturally comes to mind is whether the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package will spark a resurgence of growth in the IT marketplace.

To answer that, let’s take a look at a few key components of the president’s economic and tech plans:

• Pres. Obama is seeking a $1,000 tax cut that he claims will be available to “95% of working families.” Sounds great, but it’s hard to believe this money will be spent on the latest tech gadgets. Rather than funding that longed-for iPhone, it’s more likely the cash will be used to pay mortgages or credit card bills, or go straight into savings.
• On the other hand, the administration has vowed to upgrade the technology infrastructure of federal agencies and has made national broadband expansion a top priority. Those initiatives would be a boon to infrastructure suppliers and could really boost the prospects for broadband wireless companies, as improving rural service is central to the broadband mission.
• In addition, Pres. Obama has laid out an ambitious goal to apply technology to the challenge of lowering health care costs – specifically by pushing for electronic medical records as a means of taming the paper (claims) tiger.
• The administration has also raised the prospect of a permanent R&D tax credit. That would be a major win for an industry whose lifeblood is innovation.
• What’s more, the president has set ambitious goals for expansion of alternative energy production. Not traditional IT-focused, to be sure, but this emphasis on green tech could be a boon to investors and emerging energy companies.

Sadly, the scale of the problems Pres. Obama has to deal with right now may well delay the components of his platform that would benefit the tech industry. With the prospect of huge budget deficits and the massive chores of shoring up the financial system and restoring consumer confidence, it’s easy to see how tax credits and infrastructure upgrades could take a back seat.

Job number one is getting consumers back on track. Until their customers start spending, it is unlikely most companies will take the choke-hold off IT outlays. With Pres. Obama’s focus on creating a new public infrastructure program – focused on old school infrastructure like roads and bridges, along the lines of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration – makers of shovels and wheelbarrows could benefit more than makers of routers and switches.

The great unknown here is Pres. Obama’s impact on what economist John Maynard Keynes called our ‘animal spirits’ – meaning our sense of confidence and trust in the entire economic system. Today, our animal spirits are in a deep funk. Pres. Obama has certainly unleashed a wave of optimism and hopefulness to a tired country. If that energy can be maintained and the administration makes some quick progress on key issues, our animal spirits will get a much-needed recharging. That will stimulate everything, not the least the IT industry.

But what do you think? Will Pres. Obama’s stimulus plan help the IT industry? If so, which sectors? Drop me a line at jgallant@nww.com

Thanks.

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Key To Successful Video Programming: Measurement and Reporting
Ann Roskey, VP of Marketing & Audience Development, Accela Communications

Video is blossoming on the web in many shapes and forms, from user-generated content, to expert presentations, healthcare education and strategic company overviews. User generated video content can be amusing and fun, but a program geared toward business users should be compelling, succinct and optimized for web delivery. There is a lot to learn about online video production, and many marketers are now being tasked with incorporating video and other multimedia into their corporate web sites to take advantage of sight and sound to engage visitors at a whole new level. Producing and delivering multimedia that matches your communications style introduces a whole new set of challenges and technologies – a multifaceted topic that merits a whole discussion on it's own.

Producing something that looks good and is optimized for web delivery is one thing, but in today's environment, you've got to be able to measure the impact and performance in order to justify the real ROI. Aside from the accountability that it offers content owners, measurement data will help you assess the appeal of various program formats, and types of interactions with your program content so you can create better, more effective programs moving forward. For example, what was the average drop-off point, or how many viewers asked a question or answered a poll? Being able to gather and make sense of this data is equally as important as the production itself if you want to evolve your program format and content.

So, what are the appropriate metrics to consider and measure for B-to-B video initiatives? What kind of data can or should be generated to reinforce communications and lead generation objectives? There is a lot of debate about what the correct standards are and that's healthy for online advertising, but at this stage there are so many different program formats and lengths, and distribution mechanisms, it's hard to categorize on-demand rich media. Is it an online advertisement, a webcast, or more like a TV commercial?

The good news is there are delivery platforms that offer accountability and each program should be evaluated based on its own unique goals, whether it's registered or anonymous view time, lead generation total, click-throughs on resources, platform interactions, or polling feedback. For instance, the AccelaCast platform automatically captures data every 15 seconds to measure and monitor user activity such as total viewers, quality of service for the stream, slide control usage, search activity, re-buffering, time to connect, and protocols used, etc. Segment timing within the platform can also be captured with telemetry, so commercial view time can be measured separately from other program content. What is important to note, is the view time is not necessarily linear – viewers can navigate throughout the player, so view time represents true engagement.

You may also want to apply a classification status against the registrant pool using form response criteria. For example, you could classify registrants by Job Function, Purchase intent, or Geography. Junk records should be filtered and removed from the qualified reporting pool. Demographic profiles for registrants are reported in aggregate, based on the questions asked in any form throughout the program.

The number of downloads that occur during a program is another way to measure interaction with the program and identify registrants that are interested enough to browse beyond the program content. Viewers should also have an opportunity to ask questions of the presenters at any time during the program. The question is sent to the presenter via email and is logged in the registrant profile, thereby removing any limitations for total number of questions asked. Presenters can then establish ongoing dialogue with viewers, rather than just one interaction. Having the question stored with the registrant profile, gives additional insight into the registrant knowledge or interest level.

Lastly, a survey tool will enable you to ask for feedback on program content, format, or presenters. This information can be used to evaluate success and provides input for future program planning.

To learn more about how we measure viewer engagement, contact Ann Roskey at ann_roskey@accelacommunications.com or (508) 303-9704.

Author Profile
Ann Roskey is VP of Marketing & Audience Development for Accela Communications, an interactive marketing services firm that provides customized online video production and web response management services. Ann can be reached at ann_roskey@accelacommunications.com, or (508) 303-9704.

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Online Video: Primary Focus of 2009 Campaigns
MarketingCharts.com

More than two-thirds (67%) of advertising, marketing and media executives say that online video is a primary focus of their 2009 digital marketing campaigns, and expect to increasingly migrate from planning and experimentation with the medium to widespread implementation this year, according to a recent survey by PermissionTV.

The study, which was conducted among 400 senior-level decision makers, identified online video as the top priority for digital marketing budgets, ahead of social media campaigns (41%), search (34 %) and podcasts/webcasts (32%).

It also revealed a strong preference among marketers for increased sophistication and interactivity in online video capabilities to help promote their brands.

Key survey highlights:

• In Q2 2009, more than half (52%) of respondents expect to be implementing or extending an online video project, whereas currently less than one-third (32%) are doing so.
• Nearly 60% of respondents consider interactive video experiences to be the next evolution for online video. Also, 62% believe that non-linear, interactive storytelling will become the most effective medium for marketers. Links to other videos is the most widely needed interactive capability for respondents, followed by graphic overlays, user comments and user-defined contents paths.
• One third (33%) of respondents expect their 2009 digital marketing efforts to be least affected by budget cuts, followed by traditional marketing (24%), trade shows (21%) and guerilla marketing (14%).
• A majority of respondents (63%) are most likely to invest in a branded content/video destination next year. Viral video (39%) and interactive experiences (38%) follow as the second and third priority, while only 22% plan to invest in simple syndication.
• When asked how online video will enhance customer engagement, a vast majority (71%) state it would help build brand awareness.
• Driving lead generation was the second largest objective (47%), followed by enhancing loyalty/retention programs (44%) and converting customers (41%).
• Nearly two thirds (64%) of respondents reported that strengthening relationships with existing customers and/or prospects is the primary goal of online video initiatives.

"As corporate and brand marketers look to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of digital marketing initiatives, online video will play an increasingly critical role in all interactive campaigns," said Matt Kaplan, VP of Solutions and chief strategy officer of PermissionTV. "These survey results demonstrate the strategic importance of online video in the overall marketing mix, as well a growing requirement for more sophisticated video experiences."

Additional findings regarding online video and agencies:

• When focusing on respondents from traditional and digital/interactive advertising agencies, more than 90% are overwhelmingly confident in their ability to recommend online video initiatives to clients.
• Digital/interactive agencies expressed more confidence in recommending online video to clients compared with traditional agencies. However, traditional agencies claim more responsibility for driving online video initiatives than digital/interactive agencies.

About the Author
MarketingCharts is a Watershed Publishing publication. It is published daily in the U.S. with a combination of its own staff and help from the seven editorial people who write MarketingVOX and MediaBuyerPlanner.

Download the full results of this study from PermissionTV.

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Five Key Considerations for Creating your Internet TV Show
Roxanne Darling, Co-owner, Bare Feet Studios

Online Video is low cost and high impact. Consumers are getting from each other what they used to get from companies. Companies can get back in charge of the conversation with online video. Traditional interactive advertising on TV and radio is expensive to produce, expensive to run, and instantly moth-balled as soon as the budget is expended. Online video is available 24/7; produced once, it plays forever at no added cost.

1. Production: Start simple and prosumer – you can upgrade later.

• The Social Web is about conversation. Don't try to go for the look and feel of a commercial – go for the precious little moments that are spontaneous, or funny, or odd, or informative. Don't wait for the perfect pitch or the perfect message – that generally comes in the aggregation of several episodes.
• The perfect sound and the perfect production values look too polished and too professional. Oddly enough, when delivered via the internet, this can hurt more than help you. Go for authenticity.
• Many people freeze up in front of a camera. Letting them talk while in their natural environment (not a faked up shooting location) will actually help them relax and be more natural on camera. And therefore more likable too.

2. Message: Speak the truth, hear the truth:

• Instead of a one-way lecture, share with us a little something about you, your company, your staff, your process, your challenges, long before you tell us about your product benefits and features. Consumers online want to get to know you first, before they buy.
• Have your talking points, but edit as little as possible and try to speak extemporaneously instead if being scripted.
• Every company, from the Fortune 500 to your local dry cleaner, has interesting little known facts, stories to tell, and doors to open. Remember, the less "Important" the topic, the more interesting it may actually be to others who do not live and breathe your business.

3. Conversation: it is the secret sauce:

• In your videos, ask for comments, pose a question, read up on How to Use Conversation as Marketing and practice talking with people instead of only trying to sell to them.
• Include your reps and your employees and even your vendors in your show. I love watching that TV show about how things are made – it is fascinating to go behind the scenes of a business and meet the entire supply chain.
• Keep in mind that conversation is two-way. Not everyone will like what you do, but controversy can also drive traffic to your site, and online, perfectly reasonable people disagree about everything.

4. Distribution: this is about the technology.

• Have your "destination site", so you have your own video RSS feed and are home to the main conversation. Don't just rely on YouTube.
• Use effective blog software to run your site. A WordPress blog will have all the tools I am talking about here for the conversation built-in.
• Use free video hosting services for the actual video files. Blip.tv and Viddler are both free video hosting sites that do all the heavy-lifting for you and support business channels. Viddler will automatically post to your Twitter account when a new video has been uploaded.
• Also cross-post to YouTube, etc. for more exposure.
• Get your RSS feed into iTunes, so people can subscribe to your videos and watch them wherever they want.
• Use other social media and social network tools (like Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn) to spread the word about your episodes and your channel.

5. Speed: Use live-streaming when possible, as people don’t like to wait.

• All it takes is a Nokia N95 or a laptop or an iPhone and you have your own mobile narrowcast setup.
• Use for "breaking news" or anytime there is an interesting person onsite or little events happening that you want to open up to the public. Some services enable two-way chat, so people can not only watch but can also comment back via text chat.
• Hire out stringers from Podcorps to come into the dealers and also for factory events to create media that has prosumer quality. It will be much more compelling and authentic than the pretty agency stuff.
• Your customers are communicating with blinding speed. You can too.

About the Author
Roxanne Darling, of Bare Feet Studios and Beach Walks with Rox has over 20 years experience as an expert presenter and trainer throughout North America, Asia, and Europe, consistently garnering 5-star ratings. She educates and inspires while translating complex technology jargon into easy-to-grasp concepts. Co-owner of Bare Feet Studios, she has been working on the web since 1995; she is one of the original video podcasters and the star of the award-winning internet TV show, Beach Walks with Rox which currently has over 700 episodes. She consults with other companies for creating their own branded internet channels.

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