Spring has officially sprung, and therefore so have a truckload of new marketing ploys, technical toys, and Google created noise. The summer movie push and iPad mania are not the only things on marketer’s minds during this season of renewal.
Announced on Google’s blog: A new streamlined YouTube dropped on Wednesday, though its arrival may have disappeared in the “Dancing With the Stars” gossip or Sandra Bullock news. The new design brings YouTube back to its roots — user-created videos and video content. With faster loading pages and easier-to-navigate grouping, pages can be accessed seamlessly from one to another however viewers choose. Also, the blathering comments section that can disturb what would otherwise be an enjoyable video have been neatly compressed into a highlights section that shows a sort of “best of” comments. This puts the emphasis on conversations about the video content between the video creator and the YouTube user. YouTube’s five-star rating system has been dumped in favor of a Facebookesque “Like” or “Dislike” option that records logged-in users’ approval and lists them. The Playlist feature now works more like your computer’s music library, allowing you to skip ahead or move backward. Google also promises to mix in more social networking aspects into the site.
All of this is great news for anyone who creates videos for their companies or as features for their blogs. The new comments section is a cool way to communicate with users about what they enjoyed or disliked about the video. Plus, it opens the lines for product feedback. Pages that load faster are better for any site, and nobody knows how to turn up the acceleration like Google. I have a feeling this feature will come in handy for uploading work videos as well as watching videos instead of working.
Mainly, the two standouts here are the focus on content and the focus on social media. As with anything else, great content stands out on YouTube so the “return to video form” should be a call for wannabe filmmakers to get creative when producing company videos. Also, I think we’ll see an even bigger jump in the popularity of “How To” videos, which again is a good thing. By providing knowledge in an entertaining and easy-to-respond-to way, video marketing becomes a snap. As far as social media goes, the motto is “the more the better,” in my opinion. If YouTube finally bridges the gap between video channel and community, great marketing ideas are infinitely possible.
In the spirit of spring, I plan on finally dipping my toes into the online video waters and taking advantage of Google’s renovations. So, what say you, Brandsplatees? Does the nifty new YouTube inspire you to create more video content, or do you think the delivery model has peaked?
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