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JEREMY GREENFIELD
Online Video at BW.com Works  min’s b2b Talks with BW Online Editor John ByrneOnline video is an attractive option for B2B publishers. Our consumer counterparts (best example, ESPN.COM) have already deployed online video to great success, and the traffic at YouTube is worth salivating over. But does video work for B2B sites? And, if so, how? Last week Penton launched SafetyLive TV at OCCUPATIONALHAZARDS.COM, a video site that features product and service demonstrations, reports from tradeshows, and interviews with newsmakers. The site also allows registered users to submit relevant video. A quick review: The site offers a bewildering array of types of videos and the quality of the actual videos is above amateur, but below TV network production quality (more on that later). The video took about a minute to buffer on our machine, but ran smoothly once it did. Prescott Shibles, head of e-media at Penton, once again did a nice job in designing the site to have quality but unobtrusive ad inventory. Additionally, each video opens a new tab and offers opportunity for more, premium ad inventory. But will Will B2B-ers actually watch SafetyLive TV’s videos? At BUSINESSWEEK.COM, online editor John Byrne has jumped head first into the online video fray. As he has come to learn, just plunking a CEO in front of the camera and saying “action” isn’t quite enough to stimulate users. Our discussion also veered into the world of podcasts. min’s b2b: The competition in your category is tough across the board. What are some of your competitors doing vis a vis video? John Byrne: In our category, it’s interesting. Forbes just made an investment in video. CNNMoney just made an announcement that they are trying to do 40 videos a day. I don’t think you can do 40 videos a day in our space unless you do newscasts. b2b: What is your overall video strategy? Byrne: There are lots of different ways that we’re using video. First, we’re using video to teach people how to do something. We’ve created something called the multimedia classroom. We’re getting gurus in management in various fields to deliver mini-lectures to people. For instance, we have an expert on executive search who has a series on how to deal with headhunters. Another thing we do is the interactive case study. We present the reader with a real, live problem in text. Then there’s an opinion piece written by an expert about the problem. And then there’s a reader poll. We also have a place where readers can engage more aggressively through comments. We have two videos in this format: One with the CEO of the company talking about the problem; and then we have an expert in the problem giving advice on how to deal with it. b2b: The second use you mention incorporates all types of media in the editorial package. Is this the way online video is going? Byrne: Most video on the web is just video, and that’s not what the Web is about. Video has been done for years. The Web provides us with the opportunity to take video, photography, narration, and text, and bring them together in a unique combination. Right now, in fact, I have two of my writers in a week-long boot camp to learn how to incorporate video into all of their story telling techniques, and this is something we’re going to spin a lot of people through—about a dozen. They will come back next week with the tools and one completed story. b2b: How are you going to deploy these newly trained journos? Byrne: We have many features that combine video with text with audio-narrated slide shows. That’s where online business video is going. Also, part of what Businessweek Online is about is instant analysis on important breaking news stories. In many cases, where we can’t deliver the written piece quickly, we are taking a story—sometimes staff written and sometimes an AP story—and we get a camera and we go down to a reporter’s cubicle and do two minutes of impromptu video. They bring their analytical powers to bear on a story. We do this sometimes in lieu of doing our own story, or we’re doing it as a holding piece until we can have a more analytically thought-out story written on the site. It’s worked nicely for us. I like the informality of it. There’s something about it that’s raw and unplugged that I like very much. Video shouldn’t necessarily be polished. It shouldn’t be TV video. There should be an authentic feeling about it that brings you into a newsroom. b2b: So you would advocate lower production values for video on the Web? Byrne: Not necessarily. We have a TV show. And they put up two videos every day. One is a midday report on what is happening on all the markets, and one is an afternoon report after the markets close. And that feels like TV-type video, and they do quite well. b2b: Speaking of “quite well”… Byrne: The amount of people watching the videos has definitely increased. We’ve had two terrific months in a row. Last month we hit a new record in page views, and two months ago, we hit a record in unique visitors. b2b: To extrapolate, this means that your traffic didn’t grow last month, but that readers found your content in general to be more engaging. Byrne: Yes. b2b: You mentioned earlier that you have integrated stories with text, video, audio, etc. Why do audio at all when you can do video? Byrne: Podcasts are content people really like and they’re very good financially for us. But, more importantly, podcasts are like an annuity: you build it and it just keeps growing. b2b: Please explain. Byrne: Many users, when they listen to a podcast, if they like it, they will subscribe. Once they do this, the podcast is automatically downloaded by iTunes for them every time it’s created. Having subscribers is important, because it’s like a guaranteed readership, and it helps you sustain traction. And iTunes will stop downloading the podcast if the user doesn’t listen to it a certain number of times in a row. b2b: But are people still really into podcasts? Byrne: Since last year, we’re up at least a third in terms of podcast downloads. More people are now downloading podcasts every month than we have subscribers to the magazine. b2b: And what sorts of information typically works for your podcasts? Byrne: The most popular podcast we have is a weekly hosted by me. I interview the author of the Businessweek cover story. I ask him about the story behind the story, how he got started on the story, what his personal opinions and perspectives are, what he left out of the story and why. The second most popular podcast we do is the Jack and Suzy [Welch] podcast. In the column they write for us, they speak in one voice, but in the podcast you hear the differences of opinion come out. b2b: How do you get people to listen to the podcasts? Byrne: It’s all about navigation and accessibility. The more prominent the media is on the home page, the more people will click on it. The problem with many web sites is that they are aligned with traditional brands, and there is still so much respect for putting print online that video and multimedia don’t get enough attention still. The other thing about these is that they build on each other. When people listen, you get people to subscribe. b2b: And, most importantly, how do you go about monetizing podcasts at BW.COM? Byrne: Most of them are sponsored, and there are pre-roll short commercials. Either a commercial will come on [15-30 seconds max] before the podcast is played. They’ve been very good for us financially. We also monetize by doing integrated programs. We have ads in the magazine that invite people to get engaged with the also-sponsored related content on the Web. Main points: • Just putting an executive in front of the camera and having them pontificate does not a great editorial product make. What works? Strategy, news reports, quick analysis, (and we’ll add product demos). • The Web begs you to integrate different kinds of media to give the user a complete package. • Integration, especially the kind of integration where advertisers in print push users to the content online, is the way to go. • Invest time and money in training your editors. • You need not create videos with top quality production values: sometimes down and dirty is best. • Podcasts are still popular (and profitable). • The key to a good podcast franchise (and the reason to do it) is subscribers. • Your users will consume your media if you place it prominently on the home page. People like audio and video: you just have to help them find it. COMMENTS
1.
In your Dec. 17 issue of Min's b2b, and at the end of the "What Sent Masseria to Ascend?" article, you stated to long on to Min'w online for rest of story. But there is no story!
Posted by Wini Ragus on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 @ 07:44 PM
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