This blog was originally published by ZoomTilt (www.zoomtilt.com)
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer’s rockstar, internet-trend-watching analyst Mary Meeker has just released the 2013 edition of her annual internet trends report at the Wall Street Journal’s D11: All Things Digital Conference.
And while Meeker focuses the bulk of the report’s attention on sound, mobile and wearable tech, the 2013 Internet Trends Report also gives a big nod to the importance and evolving presence of video in the digital landscape. So without further adieu, here are 5 key lessons on the future of video courtesy of Mary Meeker (with some analytical interpretation via ZoomTilt).
Lesson #1: Mobile isn’t just a “second screen”
We are moving beyond an era where your smart phone is just the thing you use to Tweet during TV commercial breaks. The majority of mobile device use occurs somewhat counter-intuitively within people’s homes, the average phone user checks social media on their phone nine times per day, and mobile as a share of total internet traffic is showing exponential (not linear) growth.
Lesson for the video community: If you work with digital video content, expect your content to be consumed (and hopefully shared) via mobile. Whether it’s a Twitter Vine or longer-form content, mobile is not just a second screen – in many cases it is a primary screen, so make sure (1) your content is discoverable on mobile and (2) anticipate the viewing experience on a small screen (potentially with poor audio and a time-constrained viewer). See also ReelSEO’s great article on 5 ways to optimize your video for mobile viewing.
Lesson #2: YouTube is a social network (and a big one, at that)
In addition to being a subsegment of the world’s largest search engine, YouTube is also the world’s second largest social network. YouTube is also demonstrating user growth at rates much higher than Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+.
Lesson for the video community: try actually being social both within and outside of YouTube. On YouTube: be active in the comments feed, comment on other videos you like and response to comments and messages about your own videos. Outside of YouTube: network and collaborate with other creators to formulate great original content, help get your work more exposure and get better economies of scale with audience-building.
Lesson #3: Short-form video is exploding in popularity
In large part thanks to the momentum of Twitter’s Vine, Meeker points out that short-form video creation and consumption is growing rapidly:
However, short-form video presents both a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous challenge. Because of the format, successful Vines must be immediately and impressively visual, and the medium makes telling a story, developing characters or provoking audience emotional engagement highly challenging. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of vines get very low engagement, with few views and even fewer retweets. By comparison, the Vine’s that break through and achieve a degree of viral lift typically showcase highly clever, thoughtful cinematography optimized for the animated GIF-like repetitive format.
Lesson for the video community: despite what your agent or agency might tell you, Vine isn’t the holy grain for your branding, social media or content creation needs: it is a tool, and one that must be used wisely. Think your audience really wants to watch your Vine? No, your audience would rather sit down and watch a full-length episode of Mad Men with riveting plot development, so if you’re going to start cranking out Vines do your best to get creative with it and experiment.
Lesson #4: America does not equal the internet
One of the most awesome lessons from Meeker’s presentation is just how international the internet has become. Compared to America’s 244 million internet users (at a population penetration of 78%), India already has 137 million internet users at a population penetration of only 11%. Meanwhile, China boasts 564 million internet subscribers, while Brazil is coming on strong with 88 million web-connected people. Also, interestingly according to Meeker, we don’t share as much content on the internet as other cultures:
Lesson for the video community: Think about an international audience when you’re creating and distributing digital video and look into things like foreign language programming or captioning on your YouTube content, both areas where Machinima typically does a great job.
Lesson #5: Content is becoming more democratic (and, thereby, more competitive) than ever before
Wondering why nobody’s watching your videos? Well, it might be because of this, but it probably also has something to do with the fact that 100 hours per minute of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute. Talk about a flood of content that’s showing no sign of slowing down.
Lesson for the video community: be really deliberate about the content you create a give people a compelling reason to watch it. The best type of content to achieve this is video that creates value for the viewer – ideally a combination of emotional value (e.g., funny, exciting, shocking) and relevant information value.
