My2(AD)cents - The YouTube View

Views on YouTube make headlining news (…on a slow new day)! Yes its surprising how this one magical counter under a YouTube video has so much power over the general population and the industry that has made it so famous. So much so that there have been departments and even entire companies made in pursue of viral hit – many claiming to know the “secret” behind making viral hits.

To the shock and horror of many people – there is no secret to ‘viral’ success, just great strategy, timely execution, content and in many cases VERY deep pockets! But don't take my word for it, simply Google one of the greatest ‘viral’ success stories on YouTube, Gangnam style, and read the case studies for yourself. Call it what you like (content distribution, seeding etc…) but many of the worlds most viral hits employ similar strategies. Brands, agencies, record labels etc..employ large networks of people, sites, mobile app’s (for example) to ‘spread’ the word on the brands behalf (through payment). This gives the content (and brand) the best chance of being discovered. After that initial exposure, if the content itself is good enough it will be shared organically and a snowball affect occurs – people share it, other people watch it, those people share it, it gets picked up by mainstream media who write about it, it gets shared again etc….you get the drift.

Yet back to the point at hand – all those views on that magical YouTube counter – is all the hype behind it really all that? Until recently I was completely, 100% (like the rest of advertising) captivated by this magical counter. I told everyone to upload their videos on YouTube and distribute it from there as the platform so graciously allows!

Like my own view this was (and in many cases still is) the view of many in the industry. Yet from what I see now, it is a very closed off way of thinking about digital video or content in general for that matter. From a business point-of-view, the content (aka the video…aka the message) needs to be distributed to their target audience in the most effective and efficient way possible. If the audience is on YouTube then you upload it to YouTube and craft a distribution strategy to bring the YouTube audience to your content. If the audience is on Facebook – upload it to the brands Facebook fan page and drive audience to the content…even better, why not do both!?

Now here comes the eye opener and its something that clients and agencies need to wake up to. From the most basic point-of-view a view has no greater value on YouTube than it does on Facebook, a blog, on Twitter, vine, Instagram, mobile apps…the Internet at large! Does it really matter that an agency (or a client) has to add a few numbers to get the overall view/engagement number? – OF COURSE NOT!

Here’s another eye opener for clients and agencies alike – how does a ‘view’ fulfill the client’s main business objective of sales? A view (or engagement) on any content is only the tip of the iceberg to fulfilling a business’ objectives. A simple view only shows awareness and engagement from the public of the content itself (which doesn’t really tell much to the brand). What needs to be asked by brands and agencies is whether or not that view drove an increase in awareness, desirability and/or purchase intent of the brand and/or the product within the content!

Content needs to be measured on its influence, not simply on a view/engagement. Clients need to ask their agencies to not only report on soft metrics like views, likes, shares and comments but also on whether or not the content influenced the target audience in a good (or bad) way. By measuring the influence of the content agencies and brands will be one step closer to bridging the gap, and understanding the connection, between advertisement and sales