2010 - the year of the online video

Web-based film will become one of the most significant growth areas in recruitment in 2010

I recently looked at a careers site for undergraduates. This particular website I was looking at had a link to find out more about a law graduate’s first year in their job after graduation.

Evidence that times are changing was the fact I was immediately taken aback to see that the link took me to a written interview. Yep, that’s right. Pure old text. With a smattering of bold font thrown in to highlight the questions. Now there is quite obviously nothing wrong with this tried and tested method (after all I’m writing a blog), but whilst I’m biased I already feel conditioned to expect to see some kind of video content around this topic.

This year is going to see a massive surge in the growth of online video. The US has led the way with online consumer advertising seeing a huge surge on growth of nearly 40% year on year with revenues of $477m.

“People are using the Internet in a different way now. With broadband penetration becoming ubiquitous and more and more sites having this easy capability, people are expecting video to be there.”

K.C. Estenson, GM of CNN.com

Employer Branding Videos

Whilst these statistics largely relate to the marketing world in general, within the context of employer branding and recruitment, there is going to be a larger slice of the pie devoted to investing in not just the production, but the distribution of online video. Not having a web-based film will be tantamount to not having a website a few years ago. The whole communications remit is changing and the way film is commissioned is changing also with one-off videos being a thing of the past as organisations look to factor in video communications across all their employer branding activities from initial attraction and perception realignment through to onboarding, induction and retention.

Destinations or Platforms

Using the likes of YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu etc. is only one part of the mix. They should be used as part of the tools and vehicle for people to find out more, but they shouldn’t be used as the destination itself. The goal is for people to become engaged with what they first see and then explore further – ideally by visiting your content research site that has additional content broken up into bite-sized chunks of information.

What’s next?

We know online film is going to play a big part in recruitment. This will evolve throughout 2010 as organisations will also look to achieve a balance between authentic user-generated content and professional productions. As we build up more debate around this topic for TruLondon2, in my next post I’ll write about the how and why film is to be integral to employer branding communications and some of the pitfalls to avoid.

 

by Nick Price. This article also appears at www.whateveryouthink.com