Forrester’s recent analysis of six video platforms is an interesting read. On the one hand it seems comprehensive, with 37 criteria applied rigorously. On the other hand, covering only six platforms leaves most of the market uncovered. A bit of an in-depth sampler, as it were. The always-insightful Will Richmond at VideoNuze calls out this contradiction, observing that the report is useful for a “first-cut evaluation of a limited segment of the market”.
Before evaluating platforms, though, I’d ask a simple question: what do we plan to accomplish with it? As a marketer, I plan to use it to sell more products. Very specifically, as an eCommerce marketer, I plan to use it to drive conversions. When evaluating any platform through that purpose-driven lens, two truths emerge.
First, all platforms have a lot in common. The basic use case, in eCommerce at least, is simple: users want to be able to view a video of the product at the point of purchase. Speeds, feeds, and types of encoding don’t matter to the end user, although the quality of the experience matters greatly. Other features and functions should be viewed with healthy skepticism. Always ask this simple question: how does this feature help the consumer’s decision process?
Second, the platform alone doesn’t solve the problem. As a businessperson, which is more important to you: your CRM platform or your customer data? Without that customer data you don’t have a business, just a CRM platform. And without the right video content, a video platform gets you about as far as a car with an empty gas tank.
Every phase of Internet evolution starts with a proliferation of platforms and ends with the realization that content is king. Should we expect it to play out differently in the eCommerce video space?
invodo
com | What We Do | Products & Services | Resources | About Invodo | Contact Us | Social    |
Thanks for your interest in Invodo! Please fill out the short form and we'll contact you. If you're in a hurry, you can call us at 1-800-280-4122.
We hate spam as much as you do. We won't rent, sell, give away, or otherwise abuse your email address and other information
It would have been nice if Forrester had covered more platforms, but they did have objective criteria for inclusion, and that had the effect of screening out a lot of niche players and/or companies with limited traction in the marketplace. Whether their criteria were relevant or not depends on where you are coming from, but I think its important to point out that it wasn’t random and the did have a methodology.
With regard to e-commerce, you are right that the basics of using video as a substitute for an image are pretty straightforward. And there is no substitute for great content. But things like in-player merchandising and integrations with recommendation engines can have a big impact on conversion, and these are things that not all online video platforms do well.
Jeff Whatcott
Brightcove
Thanks for the comment, Jeff – and congrats on the well-earned coverage of Brightcove in the report! Forrester did apply objective criteria for selection. If you’re reading the word “sampler” as “random”, consider for a moment the process a restaurateur applies in assembling a sampler platter. Objective, rigorous and thoughtful. But not, to mine and Will’s point, comprehensive coverage of the available menu.
Anything that has a big conversion impact, like the features you mention, passes the “how does this feature help the customer’s decision process” test. In that context they’re significant features and should be considered. I’d just advocate that buyers apply that relevance test to choose the vendor that best meets their needs rather than the vendor with the longest feature list.