March 17, 2008

Rich Media is Getting Richer

Online video is growing. According to comScore, more than 10 billion videos were watched online in December 2007, compared to 7.2 billion in January the same year. What caused this growth? Among many factors, the amount of content is growing, the number of Internet users is climbing and retailers are giving their rich media offerings a boost.

How are retailers stepping up to the plate? Retailers like Circuit City are building strategies around how to engage the shopper through how-to videos around their products. In the past fiscal year, video content on CircuitCity.com has grown Web sales 40 percent. “One of our goals is to bring the customer as close as possible to having an in-store experience without having to leave the house,” Rob Roy, video content specialist at Circuit City said.

Outdoor sports gear and apparel company, The North Face didn’t have to look far to get their online video up and running. They placed Web-based kiosks featuring sports-themed videos in their own stores. “We saw people interacting with kiosks between 20 and 30 minutes,” Sarah Gallagher, senior manager of interactive marketing at The North Face said.

Rich media solutions open up new opportunities. They enable you to: 

• Increase revenue
• Feature your products in a whole new light
• Show customers giving testimonials
• Boost your SEO quality
• Put a face to your name
• Condense your content into a more interesting format

What can you do to boost your rich media strategies?

• Engage the shopper with video – in the shopping cart, product recommendations, product tours and demos
• Video testimonials – people tend to trust real customers
• You have a brick and mortar store, what can you do to drive people to your Web site?
• Create a promotional video about your company
• Offer widgets or downloads for your customers
• Create a buzz about your company by placing videos on YouTube or other Web sites

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