The 'Secret' of New Media: Video Growth Spurt

Well now that I've confessed my love of podcasting, it's time to talk about video. And what perfect timing to talk about video: The blogosphere is abuzz with the latest Nielsen survey about the growth of online video. Nielsen found:

• The number of American users frequenting online video destinations has climbed 339 percent since 2003.
• Time spent on video sites has shot up almost 2,000 percent over the same period.
• In the last year alone, unique viewers of online video grew 10 percent and the total minutes engaged with online video grew 71 percent.

So if you are still wondering whether this video trend is real, stop wondering!

With that said, getting online video right can be a complicated task. And you want to get it right, because an unprofessional video presentation can tarnish a brand. However, not having video content could tarnish your brand even more.

Lucky for wannabe video producers, video is as accessible as it's ever been. That can be good or bad, just like all accessible things. In a previous post, I've bemoaned the rise of YouTube as a legitimate video platform on Web sites, but maybe I'm old-school new media (a phrase I stole from a comment left on the post).

The point is, the opportunity to create online video content is thriving, but how each Web site approaches it must fit with the audience and brand of the company. I'll continue to talk about video in upcoming posts.