Executives indicate they are willing to take purchasing action after watching business web videos
The web continues to be in the middle of a video make-over and more senior executives are open to taking action after having watched a business related video. Forbes Insights recently published a report that show that web video continues to make gains as important business information sources for senior executives.
Online video is clearly increasing among business users, according to the study, 83% of C-level executives are now watching more video than they did just one year ago. I thought it was particularly noteworthy to mention a shift in different age groups as it pertains to their viewing habits of online video. For example, in 2009, only 41% of executives age 50 or older said they watched web videos on websites which are related to their business activities, and only 11% viewed web videos related to business on a daily basis. However, in 2010, 66% of executives age 50 or older viewed business related online video while 15% did so daily. There was also an increase from 40% to 52% of business executive who go to YouTube for their business video consumption.
Business related videos influence the purchasing decision of senior executives
After having watched work related videos, the report shows, executives take action regardless of their age group. For example, 65% of business executives visit a vendor’s website after having watched a video and 53% search the Internet for additional information about the vendor whose web video they viewed. And when asked “Have you done any of the following after watching a work-related online video?”, 51% of executives under the age of 40 answered that they have made a business related purchase while 26% of executives over the age of 50 have done the same. The report reveals that younger executives are more likely to take purchasing actions or call a vendor than their older counterparts. For example, 22% of business executives over 50 have contacted a vendor after viewing a business web video and 45% of executives under the age of 40 have contacted a vendor after having viewed a web video.
Business related web videos are shared via social media by senior executives
While over half of business executives, 54%, share work related videos on a weekly bases, younger executives are much more likely to do so than older executives. Only 3% of executives over the age of 50 share video daily while 28% of corporate executives under 40 do the same. The largest generation gap is revealed in the study when it comes to sharing video via social media. 47% of business executives as a whole share business related videos via social networking sites at least once a week. In fact, 69% of business executives under the age of 40 share business web video via social media sites. 65% of the under 40 age group watch work related video on Facebook either daily (27%), several times per week (26%), or weekly (12%). Executives in the over 50 age group almost never watch work related videos on Facebook.
Know your buyer personas and their viewing habits
What is the video marketing take-away from this study? The study demonstrates that it is quite important to understand the viewing habits of your target audience during the video distribution process. Facebook and LinkedIn are preferred by C-level executives for the under 40 age group while the over 50 age group prefer other platforms such as company a website.
In conclusion, I believe one of the reasons senior executives are willing to take more actions after having watched a business web video is because that video productions have become more informative and substantive. Viral video successes have lost some of their shine and they can appear somewhat gimmicky and lose credibility among some senior executives. A polished and well thought out video production tends to have a much longer shelf life and a more attractive long term ROI.
Business related video samples are available at our main site. View them out at www.etownvideos.com