Mobile and Technology

A report has found that, on average, tablet viewers watched videos nearly 30 percent longer than when watching on their desktop — and were more than twice as likely to complete an entire video.

According to the VideoMind Video Index report, released by online video technology and analytics company Ooyala, tablets and mobile devices are changing the way people engage with video online and device types strongly influence viewer behaviour. The report is based on Ooyala’s analysis of more than one billion daily analytics pings, which reflect the anonymised viewing behaviour of over 100 million unique monthly users in more than 100 countries.

Other key findings:

Other key findings of the VideoMind Video Index report indicate that, compared to Twitter, Facebook was the most popular way to share video.

Viewers were also found to watch more video content on their desktops on weekdays. Finally, while connected TV devices and game consoles represented a small amount of total plays during Q3, video played on these devices tripled.

In Q3 2011:

· iPads dominated the tablet market, accounting for 97 percent of total hours of video played.

· Viewers were slightly more likely to complete an entire video when watching on an iPad than when watching on an Android tablet.

· Viewers exhibited a strong preference to watch long-form videos on tablets, connected TV devices and game consoles. Videos 10 minutes or longer accounted for 56 percent of the time played on tablets and 84 percent played on connected TV devices and game consoles.

· Viewers were generally more engaged when watching on a mobile device than on a desktop — even for long-form videos. On average, twenty percent of mobile viewers completed three quarters of a video compared to 18 percent for desktop viewers.

· The amount of video played on connected TV devices — such as Google TV and Boxee — and game consoles grew as much as 200 percent in some instances.

· For online videos more than 10 minutes long, viewers were more than twice as likely to complete a video when watching on a connected TV device or game console than when watching on a desktop.

Significance

Travel companies are focused on integrating content that is most useful to customers at the time they are researching sites with intent to book. Today’s consumer is influenced by visuals, so the role rich content plays in marketing hotels, cruise ships, and destinations is critical. Excellent visuals have a dramatic impact on consumers’ perceptions.

The importance of video is increasing with faster Internet connections and the drop in bandwidth costs.

From planning perspective, Monique Jaspers-Wijn, VP Business Development, EMEA, Sabre Hospitality Solutions, says when developing a video-content strategy a combination of professionally produced video and consumer-generated video will yield the best results as together they provide controlled messaging and effectiveness of peer or unvarnished review. Where to place and aggregate the video content will also contribute to the success of the medium in conversion. “Enhancing online content with appropriate video media and ensuring video aggregation channels and search engines are well optimised is critical to success,” says Jaspers-Wijn.

“With the advent of mobile devices and now touch screen devices (tables) a new element has been added to the strategy equation: think about your content from both - a format perspective: will a flash video work or be optimised on a mobile device and a table with a larger screen – what about the operating system? Also based on the device and the channel what is the appropriate content to serve the user at that specific time and location to enrich their experience and interaction?” shared Jaspers-Wijn.

Approach

There are a lot of different ways to approach video but it’s always important to do it in a way that fits with your brand. The concierge videos for InterContinental hotels exemplify the same. InterContinental hotels help guests to get under the skin of the place they’re in. InterContinental has over 1,000 concierges worldwide to help guests discover the local secrets of each city and videos are featured online to introduce guests to the city before they travel.

Companies need to be careful about how they produce video content, as the quality of it has a very strong impact on how the consumer perceives the product, Bernd Neff, VP Brand, Marketing & Communications, Design Hotels told EyeforTravel in an interview earlier this year. “The style has to fit to your positioning. For instance, a rough smart-phone clip would be in line with a budget hotel. If you want to address an affluent consumer set that is willing to spend €300 per night, then the online experience needs to be as carefully crafted and high in quality as your physical product,” says Neff.

Professional video production can vary in price from under $1,000 to over $50,000 and regardless of quality it needs to have the same objective, increase awareness of the product and drive consumers to purchase, says Gil Keinan, VP Business Development, ICE Portal.

Keinan’s “elite eight” recommendations:

1. Use High Definition camera - always start with the best possible quality (you can afford). Make sure the hosting platform recognises the user’s OS to deliver the correct content depending on connection speed- broadband, dial-up, mobile, etc.

2. Don’t create a video that is longer than 120 seconds – the rate of abandonment increases dramatically after 30 seconds

3. Music and Voiceover can be very effective, it allows the user to listen even if they suddenly get distracted – but, almost half of those viewing the video will have the volume turned off or down. So make sure it tells the “story” with the audio off as well. Remember that voiceover limits your geolocal distribution, whereas music is universal.

4. Make the video fun and engaging – try to reflect the guest experience.

5. Call for action with website/phone number can be posted in the end. That way, if your distribution partners want it out it can just be cut easily.

6. Use only the middle 80 percent of the screen and allow a 20 percent border in case the frame cuts out some of the content.

7. Don’t use too many transition effects unless there is a good reason- try to stay consistent from one scene to another.

8. Don’t have an intro slide more than 3 seconds (unless you want to lose half your audience in 4 seconds).