The State of Online Videos

Written by 5ivecanons Staff

From full-length feature films to 5-second videos shot from a cellphone – the web has transformed the way we consume video.

Online Video Destinations

What is your brand doing to get in front of users? How are you distributing those videos, and what can you learn from everyone else? The answer is simple: evolve. The web is constantly changing, and users are consuming so much data that your brand will get lost unless you stay in front of them and stay relevant.

YouTube is the third most visited website on the internet, with over 4 billion videos watched each day. Every hour over 60 hours of video are uploaded to the site. That means one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second.

Social media has helped the video giant reach those numbers by allowing users to share, embed and watch videos on their mobile devices. Each day the equivalent of over 500 years of video are watched on facebook, with over 600 million videos are watched via YouTube mobile.

 

One hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second.

 

Consumers Don’t Read

I’m actually surprised you made it this far. Data shows that users have shifted the way they consume content based on convenience. Let’s face it, would you rather read paragraphs of information and process it all by analyzing context – or click play?

That question was rhetorical. The real question is: what content are you clicking to play? Let’s take a look at the most viewed video of all time – Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”

Currently, the top 5 YouTube videos are all music videos and every one has over 400 million views. Coincidentally, the top 5 videos are also all owned, operated and distributed by VEVO. That data changes things in the world of user-generated content. Those top 5 videos aren’t user-generated.

 

The top 5 YouTube videos are all music videos.

 

Influencers

Web videos have changed the way consumers are influenced and more importantly, by whom. 50 years ago, people were tuning into JFK’s speeches on their black and white TVs. Now, millions are tuning in to watch Ray Williams Johnson yell at a camera critiquing other videos that have gone viral. Every week he releases a video that breaks at least a million views in just a few days. His videos have over 1.2 billion views since his channel launched just a few years ago.

 

Online video content has also changed the way we see people in the public eye. Instead of idealizing stars and politicians, we watch and share videos of them slipping up and making fools of themselves. These become viral and can be career-ending.

 

Branding And Video Content

As we covered in the blog article covering the Domino’s web video, brands can get burned just as quickly as celebrities. Brands can also become stars and turn an old product into a new and relevant name overnight through engaging stories and content. Old Spice, Nike and even video game developers have changed the way web videos can influence purchasing decisions through storytelling.

Check out some of the ways we’ve helped clients tell their stories through web videos on our production page or contact us to learn how we can help your brand.