Being late to the party is not always a bad thing.
Those
of us that are innovators know that when you are first, there is a lot
of learning that has to happen to get it right and the price for that
can be very high. There is a reason that the early pioneers got arrow
in their backs for their efforts and that entrepreneurs often talk about
the blood, sweat and tears experienced along their innovation journey.
Innovators
set the stage for those that will follow, learning the painful lessons
and establishing best practice for their peers.
In this cartoon by Tim Cordell,
we are faced with a gentleman that is musing about being late to the
party – presumably a pattern for him based on his remarks.
The
video he is viewing has already had nearly 200,000 views. We don’t
know from looking at him whether he is upset because he wanted to be the
one to find (or better yet, produce) that amazing viral video, or
whether he stumbled on it after working til midnight, inventing the next
big thing. In either event, his comments indicate he feels like he is a
laggard.
The travel industry as a whole were key
innovators in the digital marketing arena. I would even argue that we
invented e-commerce, selling travel products electronically on a global
scale as early as the 80s. At least this was the premise for my first
book, eCommerce Pioneers – the History of Global Travel Distribution.
As you look at the Technology Adoption Lifecycle popularized by Geoffery Moore,
author of Crossing the Chasm, it is easy to see that as an industry, we
were one of the first to cross this particular “Chasm”. We are now
moving headlong into widespread adoption of not only e-commerce, but
many companies in our industry are also aggressively pushing the
envelope on the mobile platform. We are seeing use by not only the
early majority, but also the late majority. Only the laggards hold onto
their flip phones, seeing their lack of adoption of a smart phone as a
badge of courage.
We
now face an interesting anomaly. The same companies that led us across
the digital marketing chasm and the e-commerce chasm, including those
who are showing us best practice in mobile marketing are somewhat
“fashionably late” to the integrated video marketing party.
As you look at the top sites in most every category within travel, video is conspicuously absent.
Digital
marketers instinctively know that rich media is valuable, yet we don’t
see widespread use of this particular asset. Perhaps they think it is
too complex or too expensive.
We know that video inspires, it educates and yes, it even increases sales.
So
rather than fearing this chasm, I encourage you to stick with us on
Video and Beyond and learn how to take your marketing to the next level –
moving past early adopters to the mass market, increasing conversions
with every step of the way.
In the coming weeks and
months, Kulin Strimbu (with the occasional guest post from yours truly)
will be covering the basics of video (things like commonly used
terminology and debunking the myths), to some of the more sophisticated
uses of your video assets, such as syndication or monetizing through
associated display of your content on media sites.
Take
time to subscribe to this blog and if you have questions or
recommendations of companies that are demonstrating leadership and
innovation in the integrated use of video in their digital marketing
strategies, please use the comment section and we promise to respond.
When
it comes to video marketing, are you late to the party? Not to worry!
This party will be going on for a very long time. Fun will be had by
all.
Video sells. What are you waiting for?