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CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING: TESTING FOR COST SAVINGS AND QOE

bsp-admin-1 on August 10, 2023

OTT services now reach more devices and platforms than ever, creating a growing demand for higher-quality video content. However, this desire for better quality comes at a cost. Specifically, there are increased infrastructure and operations costs due to additional content storage, higher throughput origin servers, and greater utilization of Content Delivery Network (CDN) bandwidth.

The challenge is to lower CDN costs without compromising the viewer’s quality of experience (QoE). The solution is Context-Aware Encoding (CAE).

CAE delivers an opportunity to reduce operational complexity while lowering storage and streaming costs. By leveraging machine learning–derived algorithms, CAE automatically improves streaming efficiency without undermining QoE. You can see for yourself, using our CAE Calculator. If it still sounds too good to be true, we tested it on our own OTT service, PlayTV. Click below to see the results, or keep scrolling to get a refresh on how CAE works.

Table of Contents

UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING

TRADITIONAL ENCODING

Most video streamed over the internet today uses Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) streaming technologies, such as HLS or MPEG-DASH, to optimize video playback. An ABR stream contains multiple “renditions” of the same video, which are encoded at different resolutions and bitrates according to a pre-defined encoding ladder.

When a user presses the play button, the player receives a manifest of the renditions available for playback. The player selects which rendition to play based on several factors, including available bandwidth, buffer fullness, and the size of the playback window. As these factors change during playback, the player can switch to renditions of higher or lower quality, displaying the best possible video quality with minimal buffering.

However, static bitrate ladders often produce inconsistent quality for different types of content. High-complexity video content such as sports requires more bits to achieve an acceptable viewing experience than does lower complexity content like animation. Thus, using the same profile to encode different types of content, or content for different channels, often leads to wasted storage and bandwidth.

Streaming delivery is one of the single greatest cost centers for an OTT service. Excess storage, inefficient cache utilization, and streaming bandwidth can represent significant money, especially as the content library grows and the service attracts more viewers.

CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING

Unlike traditional encoding methods, Context-Aware Encoding utilizes contextual information—like the type of content, device capabilities, network conditions, and viewer behavior—to optimize video streaming. Instead of using one ABR ladder for all content, CAE analyzes each source video and intelligently builds a custom encoding ladder (set of renditions) for each piece of content.

In addition, CAE takes into account constraints associated with the delivery network and device being used to view the content. It decides how many renditions are needed and what resolutions and bitrates to use for each, while maintaining a consistent level of quality across all titles.

Optimizing assets with CAE can provide significant cost savings that increase the longer they’re published and as the audience size increases. However, cost savings are not the only driver for streaming organizations. Highly engaged viewers are deeply valued, and few things negatively impact viewer engagement as much as QoE impairments.

BENEFITS OF CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING

Context-Aware Encoding comes with multiple benefits for CDN delivery costs.

  • Promotes efficient bandwidth utilization, which reduces data traffic and decreases costs
  • Lowers storage requirements by optimizing the ABR ladder for each media, potentially resulting in fewer videos to store
  • Generates more efficient caching, due to needing fewer discrete variants and compression settings tailored to the content (this can result in better perceived picture quality, faster load times, and smoother playback—conditions that drive higher quality of experience)

These are real benefits that can be tested and quantified. Below are the steps we took to test CAE’s benefits on our own OTT service.

  • Ingest new content with a standard encoding profile
    • Measure per asset storage requirements
    • Measure audience views and average bitrates streamed per view
    • Measure QoE performance
    • Measure audience engagement score
  • After 30 days of streaming use, reprocess the content library with CAE-optimized ingest profiles
    • Identify differences in ABR ladder
    • Quantify differences in storage costs, streaming rates, QOE performance, and audience engagement
  • Calculate impacts and summarize conclusions

IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING

PlayTV is Brightcove’s OTT streaming service dedicated to the topic of video, available on web, mobile, and CTV apps.

To test CAE on PlayTV, we began by identifying ideal assets for reprocessing. We analyzed which assets were driving views (and by extension, costs), and we measured audience engagement with those assets. Using QoE Insights, we built a snapshot of how the standard encoding ladder was delivered to the audience and how QoE impairments affected the audience.

After reprocessing, these were the changes we saw in the Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) streaming configuration.

PlayTV Standard ABR LadderPlayTV CAE Ladder
480 x 270 @ 448 kbps320 x 180 @ 244 kbps
640 × 360 @ 699 kbps480 x 270 @ 464 kbps
640 x 360 @ 899 kbps640 x 360 @ 750 kbps
960 x 540 @ 1199 kbps960 x 540 @ 1406 kbps
960 x 540 @ 1699 kbps1280 x 720 @ 2125 kbps
1280 x 720 @ 1999 kbps 
1280 x 720 @ 3500 kbps 
STORAGE RATE: 4.5GB/hrSTORAGE RATE: 2.1GB/hr

Initially, the asset ABR ladder had seven variants and required 10.4Mbps combined bandwidth. With CAE, the mix of renditions created across different asset types was altered to five variants requiring only 5Mbps. Depending on scene complexity and other attributes, some assets were slightly higher and others slightly lower. But given the commonality of the materials, the noted ladder was typical of most of the assets that were reprocessed.

RESULTS OF CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING

STORAGE COSTS

The introduction of CAE had a significant effect on storage costs. The typical asset storage requirement was reduced from 4.5GB/hr to approximately 2.1GB/hr. Consequently, the cost per content hour dropped from $0.363 to approximately $0.173, leading to an estimated 52% reduction in storage costs.

STREAMING COSTS

QoE Insights provided detailed reporting on what stream variants were being delivered by device across the viewing audience. With this data, we could clearly see the streaming bandwidth required to reach the audience as well as what renditions were driving bandwidth consumption.

VariantPercent of Plays – StandardPercent of Plays – CAE
<540p28%47%
540p11%7%
720p54%41%
Other7%5%
Avg Bitrate Per Play2.25Mbps1.8Mbps

The chart above highlights how CAE delivered stream variants smaller than 540p more often than the standard ladder. The results show an approximately 20% reduction in streaming bandwidth utilization.

Of course, more viewers spending more time with lower resolution variants could result in QoE impairments. While initially it may seem counterintuitive, CAE applied better compression strategies for the content, resulting in encoding settings that didn’t waste bits. CAE had eliminated stream variants that were targeting specific resolutions but not applying sufficient bitrate to deliver a quality stream. In digging into the QoE details, a clear pattern emerged that the CAE stream variants were consistently delivering superior viewer experiences.

QOE PERFORMANCE

QoE Insights provided a substantial amount of detail validating that the overall viewer experience was considerably improved after applying CAE. Below are summary views that highlight aggregated details for sample periods before and after applying CAE.

QoE Performance Summary – Before CAE OptimizationQoE Performance Summary - Before CAE Optimization

QoE Performance Summary – After CAE OptimizationQoE Performance Summary - After CAE Optimization

The results show that, for the most impactful QoE measurements, CAE stream variants delivered a better overall experience.

MetricMeasured Before CAEMeasured After CAEPercent Change
Video Start Time (Avg)4.586 seconds2.573 seconds44% Improvement
Rebuffering Rate9:467:0328% Improvement
Upscale Time22:5324:005% Degradation

Video Start Time and Rebuffering Rates improved dramatically, allowing the player to get to the first frame faster due to enhanced efficiency. CAE stream variants require smaller segments to load into local player buffers, resulting in better cache utilization and smaller payload sizes.

Upscale time measures the amount of time a player is requesting a stream variant that is a lower resolution than the maximum resolution of the display device. The slight increase in upscale time is in line with expected behavior. When connecting to the CAE-optimized ABR ladder, the player has better options for preventing rebuffering events, which is by far the more disruptive QoE impact.

Studies show that QoE impairments significantly impact viewer engagement. This is clearly shown when looking at engagement funnel details in QoE Insights. For example, the below image shows the relationship between Video Start Time and the likelihood of disengagement before being counted as an engaged viewer.

QoE Engagement Funnel - Video Start Time

Of 4,092 total play requests, only 164 (4%) became engaged viewers if the video start time exceeded 6 seconds. Contrast that with 987 (24%) engaged viewers when the Video Start Time was less than 2 seconds. Simply improving video start time results in a 600%+ increase in engaged viewers.

QoE impairments have an outsized effect on audience engagement. Not only does CAE provide cost savings, it drives viewer engagement through better QoE performance.

SUMMARY OF CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING RESULTS

Context-Aware Encoding provides numerous benefits, including fewer variants per asset and optimized variants based on scene complexity and viewer context. But after testing it on our own OTT service, those benefits are quantifiable and undeniable.

  • 52% reduction in storage costs
  • 25% reduction in streaming costs
  • 44% faster video load times
  • 28% decreased rebuffering
  • 10% fewer stall events

For a small OTT service like Brightcove’s PlayTV, adopting CAE produced cost savings without additional operational complexity. With an estimated 32% combined savings on streaming and storage costs, it has been implemented as the default ingestion profile for all new assets and popular older assets.

ESTIMATED CONTEXT-AWARE ENCODING SAVINGS

In order to fully understand the savings involved, we averaged a number of mid-tier media companies that Brightcove supports to build a model. The model media company has 14,000 published assets totaling 12,400 hours of video content. Every month, their audience consumes approximately 1,200,000 hours of streaming content. The estimated streaming footprint would be significantly affected by adopting Context-Aware Encoding.

UnitBefore CAE OptimizationAfter CAE Optimization
Storage56,000GB27,000GB
Streaming Bandwidth1,166,000GB933,298GB

Applying standard storage and CDN rates to these figures, we can estimate the total savings CAE is providing the model user.

UnitBefore CAE OptimizationAfter CAE OptimizationMonthly Savings
Monthly Storage$4,500$2,200$2,300
Monthly Bandwidth$52,500$42,000$10,500
Monthly Total$57,000$44,200$12,800 (23%)

Our modeled “typical mid-tier media company” can implement CAE ingest strategies that result in substantial savings. Using the modeled data and measured performance metrics, the customer saves approximately $154,000 per year while delivering a more engaged viewer.

In the quest to balance cost reduction and quality of experience, Context-Aware Encoding is a robust solution, capable of delivering exceptional streaming experiences at reduced costs. To estimate the costs it could save your organization, use our CAE Calculator.

OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES OF AVOD

bsp-admin-1 on July 25, 2023

It’s no secret that Ad Supported Video on Demand (AVOD) is on the rise. Even with the current momentum, many providers are quickly realizing the challenges that exist in this monetization model.

Whether pivoting from a subscription model or getting started with streaming video, Caretta Research has noted that AVOD is a major commitment in both technology and resources. Furthermore, maximizing the revenue potential requires a new level of expertise, not to mention continued investment and experimentation as the industry navigates through this transformation.

For the unprepared, the obstacles to building a successful AVOD strategy are significant. But for those ready to tackle the technology, data, and operations challenges, AVOD offers more than commensurate benefits.

TECHNOLOGY CONSIDERATIONS

Having the appropriate technology is necessary, but knowing how to establish an ad tech stack that will empower revenue results without waste is the real challenge. Media companies entering into AVOD should strive for the right mix of flexibility and sophistication while keeping cost and integration efforts in mind. The following principles can help ensure a strategy is both effective and efficient.

  • Select specialists. Focus on the systems and tools that are pivotal to your streaming environment. If FAST is the focus, choose ad servers, channel facilitators, and technology providers specializing in this space rather than those built primarily around the web.
  • Prepare for fraud. Particularly in CTV environments, ad fraud is a growing concern and poses the risk of disruptive user experiences, bad ads, and damaged advertiser relationships. For example, a larger inventory can provide more opportunities for fraudsters to insert fake or low quality ad impressions, leading to wasted ad spend and less effective ad campaigns. Leveraging SSAI can mitigate ad fraud, especially when using a platform that handles SSAI in-house as opposed to a third party. SSAI is also an optimal ad insertion technique for maintaining a seamless viewing experience without excessive ad loading delays.
  • Prioritize load times. Too many intermediaries, a slow content delivery network (CDN), and suboptimal video encoding processes can significantly affect load times. Optimizing for a smooth playback will minimize user frustration and maintain viewer engagement.

DATA CONSIDERATIONS

Unified data paints a holistic picture, which informs accurate projections for future decisions. That’s why interconnected ad tech systems are critical: they need to pass information to and from one another and in similar fashion. Providers investing in smart data tools will be able to see which metrics are most important not just to ad revenue, but the entire viewer experience. In turn, businesses can achieve growth in revenue and engagement without compromising one or the other.

It’s equally important to consider the information made available to tech partners. Not only are transparency and privacy a must, so is signaling. Content, audience, and other identifiers allow marketplaces to be selective in their buying and empower packaging for internal sales teams. By harnessing data for targeting, AVOD platforms can enhance user experiences by increasing ad relevance and drive engagement—benefiting viewers and advertisers alike.

OPERATIONS CONSIDERATIONS

Like any other kind of advertising, sales operations in AVOD requires a well thought out structure with the right mix of talent. Inventory management, pricing and packaging, sales support and training, and reporting and analytics are all important factors to be considered.

However, due to the unique nature of video content consumption, AVOD differs from web-based operations. Since this is not an area of expertise for traditional ad ops teams, it’s imperative they understand several aspects unique to the video landscape.

  • Video formats. AVOD platforms deal primarily with video content, requiring specific considerations for video ad formats. Ad ops teams need to ensure seamless integration of video ads within the content, maintaining visual and audio quality while optimizing for different devices and screen sizes.
  • Ad insertion and timing. Ad ops teams must strategically determine the placement and timing of these ads to balance user experience and ad revenue. They also need to manage repetitiveness and maintain diversified ad content to curb viewer fatigue and ad avoidance.
  • Content categorization and targeting. Ad ops teams must understand the content taxonomy and audience preferences to accurately target and deliver relevant ads. Unlike web-based ad operations, AVOD platforms can leverage video-specific targeting capabilities. For example, they can utilize contextual targeting based on video metadata or dynamic ad insertion based on user behavior within the video stream.

When it comes to sales methods, direct sales and programmatic have their advantages and may coexist within AVOD platforms. Direct sales allows for more control and customization and is well suited for premium ad placements or specific partnerships, providing greater flexibility in pricing and targeting. Programmatic offers automation, efficiency, and access to a larger pool of advertisers.

PARTNER CONSIDERATIONS

Monetizing media with a video ad marketplace requires yield management expertise and contracts with DSP and SSP partners. It takes time to implement and produce results, not to mention the need for optimizations over time. Depending on the sales approach, the right alignment of operational support will also need to be put in place.

To get the most out of an AVOD strategy, buyers need to beware that not every partner will have the experience or offer the support needed. Before deciding on a partner, make sure they have solutions for the key obstacles, because anything they can’t do is something you’ll need to learn fast to succeed. If that’s too much pressure to take on your own, Brightcove’s Ad Monetization service can manage the entire experience for you from start to finish.

INTERACTIVE VIDEO THROUGHOUT THE CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE

bsp-admin-1 on July 18, 2023

Over the past several years, we’ve witnessed the transformative effect that interactive video has had throughout the e-commerce customer lifecycle. While online shopping has been around for decades, the shopper’s desire to have a holistic, personalized journey that encapsulates the entire experience has continued to grow.

Today’s digital landscape provides opportunities for merchants to stand out by reorienting their e-commerce strategies toward a more interactive customer-centric approach. A crucial part of this approach is leveraging various interactive elements in video to offer immersive experiences that engage customers throughout their lifecycle. And this goes far beyond simply adding a “buy now” button to e-commerce videos.

To truly maximize the opportunities interactive video elements hold, we need to understand the modern e-commerce customer lifecycle and—most importantly—how it’s changed.

WHAT IS THE CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE?

The customer lifecycle is the journey a person takes to discover, research, buy, and use a product and transform into a brand advocate.

In the past, e-commerce customers would typically take a predictable, linear path to purchase, starting with discovering the product, becoming interested in it, researching pros and cons, and then purchasing the product. Once purchased, the journey would continue with post-purchase activities like using the product and potentially reviewing it and becoming a brand advocate.

But with more sources of information available to consumers, like video, social, and, most recently, AI-driven search engines, we’ve seen a shift to a nonlinear journey that is permanently replacing the traditional linear path.

It’s now much more common for today’s customers to criss-cross through various stages of the buying journey. They’re consuming more information from more sources, discovering new products on social media through savvy ad targeting, and comparing prices across sites.

HOW THE CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE HAS CHANGED

The shift from a linear customer lifecycle to one that looks more like a pretzel means it’s imperative for merchants to deliver seamless, guided experiences. This includes making it easier to discover products, engage with brands, consume relevant information, purchase quickly and easily, and then build a meaningful post-purchase relationship.

As part of this linear to nonlinear shift, merchants are getting better data about consumer interest and preferences that can help shape future content initiatives. For example, let’s say the data shows that half of your viewers watch a video about Topic 1, then jump to Topic 4, and then go back to Topic 2, but totally skip Topic 3. By analyzing these behaviors, we can understand not only which videos are most effective at driving purchases, but perhaps in which order the videos should be presented.

When examining this nonlinear buying journey, we see a clear common denominator: Customers now want, and have, more control over their buying journey than ever before. From online reviews to video, social posts to comparison shopping, the connected digital aspect of e-commerce empowers consumers to create their own journey. And they’ve gotten used to this variety of options and level of control.

Interactive video elements are particularly effective in giving customers more control over their journey. However, this level of control comes with its own level of responsibility. More choices and options means the post-purchase experience is that much more important to the overall lifecycle.

HOW TO INCORPORATE INTERACTIVE VIDEO FEATURES

Even as consumers take a nonlinear path to purchase, the stages of the lifecycle have largely remained unchanged. Fortunately, there are many opportunities to incorporate interactive video elements into each stage. The following best practices can help get you started.

AWARENESS AND DISCOVERY

For customers in this phase of the lifecycle, the goal is to create a positive and memorable impression of your brand and build awareness of your offerings. Shorter videos (1 minute or less) like product sizzles and brand overviews tend to work best here. You want to help them easily discover the many different aspects of your products while also giving them opportunities to explore further.

Since potential customers are likely exploring and researching other options, the interactive elements should produce an engaging and succinct video experience.

  • Sentiment. Simple elements like a thumbs up/down, star ratings, or emojis give viewers the power to tell you if they’re enjoying the content or product. In addition to engagement, they offer you valuable insights that can help you adjust your approach based on viewer input.
  • Overlays. When clicked, overlays can lead viewers to webpages with more detailed or logical next-step information. These allow interested customers to learn more without interrupting the flow of the video. Buy-now buttons can also be appropriate at this stage, especially if the product is simple and doesn’t require deeper explanation.
  • Video-to-Video Branching. Like overlays, video-to-video branching offers viewers the opportunity to get more information, but through video and without ever leaving the video experience. Keep in mind that viewers at this stage do more window shopping than in-depth research, so don’t get too aggressive with related info links.

By knowing your goals and purposely selecting the interactive elements, you can build a strong foundation that sets up the following phases in the journey.

CONVERSION AND PURCHASE

For consumers considering a purchase, the goal is to make it easier for them to make a final decision while delivering a seamless purchase experience. Medium-length videos (2-5 minutes) that provide comprehensive details about your product work best during this phase. Content including product demos, how-to videos, and user reviews should be a primary focus.

During this phase, you’ll want to make sure your content is informative and not overly promotional. The following interactive features can help with this approach.

  • Chapters. Viewers at this stage are conducting research. That means they’re skimming and searching for content that answers their questions before making a purchase. And while in-depth videos are better equipped to answer those questions, videos are difficult to skim. That’s where chapters come in. Adding chapters to videos is like adding subheadings to a blog post. They break up the content into bite-size sections, allowing viewers to quickly find what they’re looking for.
  • Video-to-Video Branching. Essentially crosslinking for video, video-to-video branching works even better at this stage. These viewers have higher intent, so they’re more likely to interact, allowing you to collect more data and further refine the experience. In other words, giving more control of the customer journey gives you more insights to make it better.
  • Overlays. Beyond related videos, other relevant content like technical specifics, expanded product uses, user reviews, or customer success stories can be linked to with overlays. This is also where you want to make strategic use of buy-now buttons. A one-click experience to complete the purchase minimizes unnecessary steps and helps avoid potential drop-offs.

Knowing your conversion goals, optimizing your video content, and utilizing suitable interactive features are critical for guiding your users from the consideration to conversion phase. They’ll also help deliver a seamless and enjoyable shopping experience, which leads directly into the next phase.

RETENTION AND ADVOCACY

With purchase complete, it’s important to begin fostering brand loyalty, laying the foundation for increased customer lifetime value and transforming buyers into brand advocates. Or, simply put, your content should demonstrate why your product works well and why so many people are using it. Medium-long (3-10 minutes), personable videos that offer a behind-the-scenes look, tips and tricks, or unique features and uses of your product work best.

Consumers at the post-purchase phase are usually willing to give you more of their attention, which nicely aligns with a few interactive video elements.

  • Personalized Content. Leverage the viewing data and insights you’ve collected to offer personalized viewing experiences. This can mean more than using their name in the video. You could reference their purchase history and offer videos of accessories that complement a recent purchase. By showing customers that you understand their preferences and can cater to them, you’ll help build a deeper bond and drive brand affinity.
  • Polls and Feedback. Show your customers that their opinions matter even after the purchase by embedding polls or custom forms in your videos. These tools can give you valuable insights from some of your most high-value audiences: those who have bought and used your product.
  • Chat Features. Chat will allow you to engage directly with your customers to understand any questions or challenges they may have after purchasing the product. Combined with personalization, this feature especially helps demonstrate their importance as your customer.

INTERACTIVE VIDEO BEST PRACTICES

With a solid understanding of how interactive elements can support the different phases of the customer lifecycle, there are some general best practices to be mindful of.

  • Err on the Side of Moderation. While interactivity leads to deeper engagement, too much interactivity can be distracting. Be mindful of the message you want to communicate and that too much interactivity doesn’t detract from that or overwhelm viewers.
  • Align Interactivity with Video Goals. Clearly understand your objectives for each video and ensure that every interactive element supports these objectives. Each point of interactivity should be specifically designed to guide the viewer towards achieving your desired action or outcome.
  • Prioritize Usability. Interactive features are only effective to the extent that people use them. To increase the likelihood of engagement, make sure that each element is:
    • Easily noticeable
    • Intuitive
    • On screen long enough for viewers to recognize it and engage with it
    • Clear about what the intended action should be (for example, if the interactive feature is designed for viewers to schedule an appointment, this should be explicitly stated to eliminate any potential confusion)
  • Gradually Increase Interactivity. As customers move farther along in their journey, their level of engagement usually increases. Match this progression by gradually introducing more sophisticated interactive elements that correspond to their growing attention and involvement.
  • Provide a “Return on Engagement” at Each Stage. Meaningless interactivity or engagements that don’t provide value can be counterproductive. Each one should offer a reward or benefit that is meaningful enough to justify the user’s time and engagement. There are a variety of ways that this can be achieved, from useful information to unique insights to personalized experiences they wouldn’t get elsewhere.

Beyond deeper and more meaningful engagements, these best practices can help your interactive elements serve as an invisible guide throughout their journey. They’ll help transform your videos from merely more content into powerful tools in your overall e-commerce strategy.

INTERACTIVITY FOR THE MODERN SHOPPER

The era of linear customer lifecycles and quality-based customer retention is in decline. In its place, the nonlinear approach to buying requires merchants to engage and guide users along their journey.

As customers expect more control, engagement, and value from the companies they buy from, interactive video elements can help fulfill these expectations throughout the lifecycle. In short, these consumers want to be active participants as opposed to passive audiences. Interactivity can help bridge this gap while fundamentally reshaping the customer lifecycle to become more sustainable and customer-centric.

As you look to incorporate more interactive elements, keep in mind that it’s not just about making e-commerce more convenient. It’s about crafting a more dynamic, personalized, and sustainable customer lifecycle for the modern shopper.

HOW TO REPURPOSE VIDEO CONTENT

bsp-admin-1 on July 10, 2023

Modern marketers have their work cut out for them when it comes to hitting their goals. Whether they’re focused on demand generation, brand awareness, or other core marketing responsibilities, marketers are contending with a crowded, noisy digital landscape.

Numerous tools can help marketers elevate their messages and break through the noise, but video is one of the most effective.

For years, digital video consumption has continued to rise. During the pandemic, that gradual increase in viewership accelerated. A few years later, the appetite for video has not waned. And that appetite, as it pertains to marketers, spans all industries and audience segments.

While it’s great for marketers to have proven resources like video content to project their messages, that effectiveness also increases demand. Companies and teams now want a video for nearly everything, from social media posts and video ads to videos in email outreach and video blogs. All these requests for videos put a hefty strain on teams that may already be dealing with limited resources and budgets.

Keeping up with the demand for video means managing all the resources you have available, including current video content, old content, and even content from other teams.

CUT LONG VIDEOS INTO SHORT CLIPS

A common question marketers ask is, “How do I create more video content without drastically increasing my budget?” When facing resource and budget pressures, it makes sense that many marketers want to optimize.

One of the first places to start is your existing media library. Webinars, recorded presentations, customer case studies, and other long-form videos can be repurposed in several different ways.

  • Social media clips. Clip brief segments that can be used in social media posts or quotable snippets that can be used for a variety of promotional purposes.
  • Highlight reels. Cut highlights and use them to tease the full-length video on your resources page or on a landing page.
  • Video Ads. Pull short clips that can be used to promote your brand, like product announcements or customer quotes.
  • Immersive Blogs. Clip sections that can be embedded in a blog post to deliver a more immersive, interactive video experience.

Anytime you create a long-form video, look for opportunities to pull shorter clips. A single feature-length piece could turn into a dozen snackable shorts used in a variety of applications.

PROMOTE OLD VIDEOS IN NEW WAYS

The most effective content is fit for purpose: customized to its promoting channel and personalized to its target audience. However, this content best practice runs the risk of limiting your video assets to single-use applications and diluting their long-term value.

Just think about all the videos and content you’ve created for a specific event or project. What happened to those videos afterward? Were they forgotten in the depths of your media library? Perhaps they’re buried somewhere on your corporate resources page on your website?

Chances are you’re sitting on a wealth of materials that can be used with a minimal amount of effort, using the right tactics.

  • Refresh old topics. Webinars get stale and their data outdated, but their themes often remain relevant. Perhaps the presentation featured customers, partners, or team members who have moved on, but the substance of what was covered is still sound. It can be a quick and relatively painless process to update the supporting assets and re-record the video.
  • Test new channels. Knowing where an audience will engage your content isn’t the same as knowing where they won’t. After publishing your video to its primary destination, get creative and try publishing on new channels to see if those audiences engage. For example, embed brand story videos on product pages to build buyer confidence, or include videos in sales pitch decks to make them more dynamic.

When you create videos, think about how you can maximize efficiency by meeting a variety of audience needs. Are they trying to understand your brand, researching your products, or looking to make a purchase? Audiences expect content that addresses these things along their journey, so think through the touchpoints you have and what your audience wants at each stage.

LEVERAGE VIDEOS OUTSIDE YOUR TEAM

Increasingly, teams outside marketing are tasked with creating, managing, and publishing video content. Whether that’s human resources, talent acquisition, product, customer support, sales, or others, everyone is looking to capitalize on the benefits of video.

The upside for marketers is that they can often lean on the materials these teams create to supplement their own video needs. Depending on your business, there may be multiple resources you can tap into for video content.

  • Brand. Brand-centric storytelling produces great content that can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, employee testimonials sourced by corporate comms can be incorporated into brand stories that marketing promotes on social media and the website. They can also be shared with HR to use for other purposes like new-hire orientation and welcome videos. By sharing resources, many teams can maximize their video output.
  • Customer Success. In the B2C space, brands often create content that resellers can use on product listing pages, such as customer testimonials sourced by customer success teams.
  • Training. In B2B, there may be internal teams producing content focused on training or educating customers or users. With some minor edits, that content could be used externally for marketing purposes if it aligns with what a viewer is looking for along their journey.

Think outside your team’s library of videos when looking to repurpose content. With the barrier to video creation dropping as new tools and technologies make it easier, more teams are incorporating video into their workflows. By reaching out across the organization, you may find plenty of content you can reuse and repurpose to advance your team’s video initiatives.

GET CREATIVE WITH REPURPOSING VIDEO

As you start to consider how to repurpose your video content and apply it to your campaigns or projects, you’ll think of other creative ways to get more out of your videos. You may even start to approach the video creation process with a new view of how you’ll use that asset for multiple projects well into the future. By adopting some of the tips above, you’ll uncover your own methods for optimizing video.

A/B TESTING VIDEO LANDING PAGES

bsp-admin-1 on June 26, 2023

Video landing pages are the best of both worlds. Landing pages offer streamlined layouts designed to highlight the call to action (CTA), while video offers better engagement and content consumption data. Together, they create a highly efficient conversion experience that you might be tempted to optimize for search.

Indeed, the visibility that search affords your content can be significant. Plus, video SEO has only gotten easier, so not indexing video landing pages can seem like leaving money on the table. But there’s another important use case that can’t be ignored: A/B testing.

WHY A/B TESTING IS IMPORTANT

Testing is a key ingredient in effective marketing strategies. It segments the audiences, refines the messages, and maps content to the right channels. The time investment can be substantial, but the payoff is worth it.

Sadly, one of the reasons why proper testing is often neglected is because marketing efforts can generate a lot of data while delivering revenue and leads. In fact, it’s not uncommon to hear inexperienced marketers refer to simply running multiple campaigns as testing. If Campaign A outperforms Campaign B, they might say that they tested Campaign B and “it didn’t work.”

However, comparing campaign performance should never be mistaken for testing. Performance data can uncover trends and provide corrective insights, but only testing can reveal the factors driving performance and identify the formulas for repeatable success.

A/B testing, in particular, is a powerful tool for isolating variables and returning controlled results. A/B testing uses two identical pieces of content with a single variable changed—like a headline. That way, if the control (A) loses to the variant (B) in the test, the loss can be attributed to the headline.

Controlling for variables is the goal, but testing is never immune to chance. A single variable should be A/B tested at least three times to confirm the results and the entire process repeated for subsequent variables. This kind of proven data can then be applied to messaging and content to predictably enhance marketing strategies.

WHY LANDING PAGES ARE IMPORTANT FOR A/B TESTING

Marketers who’ve performed tests know that the more data you have, the more accurate your results will be. This is why optimizing a landing page for search can seem like a valid tactic: a bigger audience should mean better test results.

However, the biggest challenge with testing is controlling the audience. No matter what your SEO tool, agency, or consultant tells you, you can never know the breakdown of an organic audience. Between the death of third-party cookies and the prevalence of anonymized browsing, the available data is too spotty to be actionable.

Controlling the audience is precisely what unindexed, unlisted landing pages are designed to do. Coupled with email, a high-intent owned channel, they are the perfect testing sandboxes. With a good marketing automation platform (MAP), you can take a selected cohort and split them into equal, randomized segments.

WHY VIDEO IS IMPORTANT FOR A/B TESTING

Testing headlines and calls to action is relatively straightforward, but if you want to A/B test overall topics and content, you really need video.

Despite what web metrics like time on page or scroll depth suggest, measuring the content consumption of written content is notoriously difficult. Between multiple tabs, pop-up ads, and distractions from the family pet, written content simply has too many variables outside the marketer’s control.

Video content is different from written content for a few reasons:

  • Video is more engaging. Emails promoting videos generate higher click-through rates. Not only does this represent higher intent, it means more views and more accurate results.
  • Video is more captivating. With higher intent comes increased attention. Video also tends to have a more captive audience simply due to the sensory stimulation of sound and moving images.
  • Video is more calculating. Every second of video that’s viewed is a quantifiable measurement of content consumption. Higher intent and attention imbue this number with more accuracy.

To be clear, no content format is completely free of behavioral variables. Viewers can drag a video slider (called “scrubbing”) just as easily as they can scroll a webpage. In fact, the longer the content is, the more likely they are to do so with either format. The difference is this behavior is far less common with video, especially video on landing pages with an engaged email audience.

TIPS FOR A/B TESTING WITH VIDEO LANDING PAGES

There are lots of best practices related to A/B testing, but when video is involved, there are some unique things you can do.

SELECT THE BEST AUDIENCE

Creating equal, randomized segments is the easy part—most MAPs can do this automatically. Choosing which cohort of customers to segment can be tricky. Thankfully, marketers have lots of data available, particularly content data.

  • Customer Data. If your goal is to test interest in two new products, you should start by segmenting your customer list by purchase history. This would include not only purchases of similar products with similar price points, but purchase frequency as well. Customers with a single purchase are less likely to have an interest in new products than customers with multiple purchases.
  • Marketing Data. Next, you should refine this segment by excluding customers who haven’t clicked through an email within a certain period of time, like the past 90 days. Some people just don’t open marketing emails, so including them dilutes your sample size. Furthermore, they can pollute your test results with outliers who sporadically open emails to rage-click through the content.
  • Content Data. Finally, your segment should account for your customers’ viewing habits. For example, Brightcove offers Audience Insights: a customer data platform that can segment audiences by watch history and other key inputs. This data is then automatically synced with CRM and MAP tools to trigger emails and other targeted communications. With Audience Insights, you can drill down further and select customers who are particularly engaged by product videos.

Keep in mind that audience segmentation is a delicate process. A highly refined segment is worthless if the sample size is too small; the results won’t be statistically significant. So don’t make your test parameters too specific, and keep your final cohort over 1,000.

CREATE THE BEST EXPERIENCE

Video landing page experiences should be as easy to consume as they are to create. Employing the following features will improve the customer experience and enhance the test results.

  • Autoplay. This may be the only time in marketing history that an autoplayed video is welcomed by its audience. Unlike the autoplayed video ads and social media videos that can erode engagement with complaints, email users expect videos to autoplay. Your email copy has already made it clear they’re clicking to watch a video, so don’t make them click again.
  • Low-code templates. Some CMSs are easy to use, and even some MAPs offer landing pages, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be optimized for displaying video. Using a low-code landing page template from an OVP like Brightcove, you can quickly design a slick layout that keeps the video experience responsive and above the fold. The templates are easy to customize, but you can also add custom CSS to more closely match your website’s branding and style.
  • Interactivity. A video’s engagement rate tells you more about content consumption than written content ever could. Interactive video is a step further. With interactive features like sentiment or polling, you can get an even clearer picture of which video performed better. Just be sure to limit the interactive elements so they’re not overwhelming. With Brightcove Interactivity, you can easily monitor this with the Interaction Rate.

WHEN NOT TO OPTIMIZE CONTENT FOR SEARCH

As generative AI hype pushes into the search engine world, SEO is becoming more of a meme than a best practice. Certainly, it’s a critical tool of the digital age, but some tactics work better without it. A/B testing is one such tactic that is no less valuable and works best when video landing pages are not optimized for search.

MONETIZING YOUR MEDIA THROUGH A VIDEO AD MARKETPLACE

bsp-admin-1 on June 20, 2023

The opportunity to monetize with an AVOD model has never been greater. In 2022 alone, the growth of AVOD viewers was higher than subscription OTT and free premium video streaming combined (Insider Intelligence). Furthermore, traditional pay TV is steadily declining and expected to account for roughly a third of households by 2027.

Yet, anyone who’s spent time in the media industry knows that implementing an AVOD service is easier said than done. In fact, Caretta Research described this process as “fiendishly complicated,” noting that many companies simply ignore this route altogether.

While AVOD can, indeed, be challenging, there’s another option for media companies who want a low-risk entry point: video ad marketplaces.

WHAT IS A VIDEO AD MARKETPLACE?

In its simplest form, a video ad marketplace is an online advertising platform that allows advertisers to buy video ads and publishers to monetize content.

For advertisers, ad marketplaces provide an efficient way to reach their target audience through placements alongside high quality content. For publishers, they provide a convenient way to sell inventory (in-stream ads within their videos) to advertisers. For both, ad marketplaces serve as an intermediary, using a single platform to manage, optimize, and facilitate programmatic video ads.

Publishers generate revenue through a programmatic advertising system, which eliminates the time-consuming process of finding individual advertisers and includes features like real-time bidding and unified auctions. Most leading ad services now have integrated supply-side platforms (SSPs), giving publishers the opportunity to quickly set up and control their revenue streams. By tracking and analyzing users, web traffic, costs, and reporting metrics like CPM (cost per thousand impressions), publishers can optimize their approach to maximize potential earnings.

There are three key elements to ad monetization solutions.

  • Ad marketplace. The ad marketplace matches buyer and seller preferences via SSPs and DSPs (demand-side platforms) to deliver meaningful impressions for all parties.
  • Ad server. The ad server distributes the ads, facilitates the management of the campaigns, and tracks performance. For advertisers, it offers tools and analytics to help manage and optimize the campaign. This includes quantitative data (video views, clicks, and impressions) as well as qualitative data (information about the audiences engaging with the ads). For publishers, it instantaneously determines which ads to serve with which video, and delivers that ad as a seamless part of the experience.
  • Video player. A high quality player allows publishers to offer a variety of video ad strategies, including floating players, picture-in-picture ads, and header bidding.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR PUBLISHERS?

One of the key benefits for publishers on video ad marketplaces is the stable and reliable income they can generate. They offer a fixed payment per click, view, or impression whether or not the ad directly contributes to a sale. This can take a lot of the guesswork out of how much the publisher will be paid. For many publishers, it’s simply a matter of creating great content and leveraging the marketplace’s ability to acquire advertisers that want to fill vacant advertising spots with relevant, high-quality ads.

Ad marketplaces can also offset the cost of producing content with the revenue generated from offering advertising opportunities. By opening up these additional streams of revenue, content creators can focus more on creating compelling content and less on finding and negotiating with advertisers.

Finally, ad marketplaces give creators peace of mind knowing they are getting the best possible rate for their ads through the automated bidding system. Advertisers tend to prefer this approach as well. According to eMarketer, more than 82% of digital video ad spending is transacted programmatically in the UK, Canada, U.S., Germany, and France. Ad marketplaces assure them that they’re paying the best available market price while getting a high-quality ad delivered on a premium video player to highly targeted audiences.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE READY TO MONETIZE YOUR CONTENT?

Every video ad marketplace has different requirements for publishers, but they primarily involve two aspects of the publishers’ business.

  • Content Library. Publishers must have an established content library. Advertisers expect their ads to reach the audiences they’re targeting, so having a well-curated library allows marketplaces to serve up ads on the most relevant content.
  • Monthly Viewership. Publishers must also meet the demand for views and impressions. Beyond relevance, advertisers expect their ads to perform efficiently, reaching as much of the right audience as possible.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN A VIDEO AD MARKETPLACE?

Every publisher should also have requirements for video ad marketplaces. Features and options can vary dramatically, but the following examples from Brightcove’s Ad Monetization service illustrate what an industry-leading media platform prioritizes.

BIDDING OPTIONS

Unsold inventory is a common challenge for media companies, typically due to technical issues, pricing issues, or to avoid the same user seeing the same ad too many times. But as a publisher, your goal is to sell as much of your inventory as possible at the best rate possible. Ad servers do this by bidding out your inventory to advertisers in several different ways.

To maximize revenue, a good ad marketplace should include the following options.

  • Fallback bidding. This approach allows bids to be made against unsold inventory, with the highest paying bidder winning that impression.
  • Header or player bidding. This approach allows the player to conduct the auction and pass the winning bid back to your ad server without latency. The highest bidding marketplace will get the inventory, maximizing the revenue potential from your content.

AD INSERTION

Ad insertion is how your ads are inserted into the video stream through your video player. There are two primary methods for inserting ads.

  • Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI). SSAI inserts ads directly into the content at the server end of the streaming delivery chain. It typically provides the best viewing experience, as the transitions between content and ads are much smoother with less buffering. The tradeoff is that SSAI tends to require more technical expertise to implement, and the overall ad experience isn’t very flexible. It’s also important to note that since SSAI is an integrated part of your content, this method ensures the ads are delivered instead of being blocked by ad blockers.
  • Client-Side Ad Insertion (CSAI). CSAI inserts ads directly into the video player on the user’s device. It offers a more flexible ad experience, as ads can be personalized based on user data like browsing history and inserted at any point in the video. However, since playback is dependent on the user’s device and internet connection, it’s more susceptible to buffering and ad blockers. While the overall viewing experience may not be seamless, the ad experience can be enhanced with other options like the ability to skip, click, or close an ad.

AD EXPERIENCE

Selling ad inventory will only generate revenue if the ad experience is exceptional. This means your video ad marketplace needs to be able to serve ads to your video content regardless of what format it is.

For example, while most of your content may be video on demand (VOD) or over the top (OTT), you may still want to monetize a special live event you’re broadcasting. The key is having the flexibility so that you’re able to get the most out of your video content in any format.

Furthermore, your video player should offer viewability metrics, so you can track the effectiveness of your ad experience. Advertisers don’t just want impressions anymore; they expect publishers to prove that viewers are actually seeing the ads.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF VIDEO ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES

Video ad marketplaces offer publishers a variety of ways to monetize their content in an increasingly competitive landscape. Understanding how video ad marketplaces work can help you reach your goals and position you to seize the opportunities this significant growth market offers.

With Brightcove, taking advantage of this opportunity has never been easier. Not only do we offer a full-service ad marketplace solution, we offer industry-leading ad metrics like ad sensitivity. Getting started with AVOD can be hard, but Brightcove Ad Monetization makes it easy to get the most revenue from your media.

VIDEO METADATA: ENGAGING AUDIENCES WITH INTERACTIVE VIDEO

bsp-admin-1 on June 13, 2023

For years, the primary goal of publishers and platforms has been viewer acquisition. But with today’s viewers becoming overwhelmed with options, engagement has taken center stage in the battle for more viewers, more loyal viewers, and increased revenue. No longer can publishers live by the maxim “build it and they will come.” Rather, it’s about delivering viewing experiences that are transformed from passive to active, broad to localized, and generic to contextual.

It’s against this backdrop that interactivity becomes a true competitive differentiator. And metadata has emerged as the key ingredient that drives it.

WHAT IS VIDEO METADATA?

Before we can understand the potential metadata holds for engaging your audiences, let’s start by understanding what it is. In its simplest form, video metadata is the descriptive information that is embedded within a video file. Essentially, it is data about data. It answers content questions such as:

  • What was created?
  • When was it made?
  • Where was it created?
  • Who made the content?
  • How should the content be shown?
  • Which platforms should the content be shown on?
  • Why was the content made?

WHY IS VIDEO METADATA IMPORTANT?

For video, there are three crucial roles that metadata plays.

ENABLES SEARCH ENGINE INDEXING

Just as with metadata from websites and other uploaded content, video metadata tells search engines what the content is about. It helps them determine which results content should show up in based on a user’s query, and ultimately how it will rank compared to other related content. Three key parts of this metadata to consider in terms of search engines include the title, description, and tags.

  • Title. Make sure your title includes essential keywords that users are likely to search for. However, the title should also accurately reflect the content in the video to help ensure longer viewing times, which lead to higher rankings in the search engine.
  • Descriptions. Since search engines don’t “watch” your content, descriptions are needed to tell search engines what the content is about. These descriptions are often included in search engine results and can help videos rank better on some platforms.
  • Tags. Tags help search engines better understand what the video is about, which will also aid in search engine discoverability. They also play an important role in helping publishers organize content in logical ways that align with how users search. And finally, as your content library grows, they’ll be essential in helping you to internally organize and quickly find content.

IMPROVES USER EXPERIENCE

Metadata also offers a better experience on video sites and OTT apps. On these platforms, metadata helps viewers better understand what the video is about and whether they should invest the time to watch. It also helps optimize the organization of content and increases discoverability as users browse through genres and episodic content.

INCREASES AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

Perhaps the most interesting role metadata plays is its potential to increase viewer engagement. It’s the foundation for creating the interactivity today’s viewers want.

HOW VIDEO METADATA CAN DRIVE INTERACTIVITY

Keep in mind that while interactive video is highly engaging, it should not be incorporated into every piece of video content. It’s important to build the combination of the right video for the right audience and the most engaging interactive experience. That said, there are four use cases where interactive video can be particularly potent, especially when driven by metadata.

SPORTS

Sports is a powerful use case because of the huge amount of metadata that is generated during a typical game, match, or season. Combine this with the historical data that can be mined and utilized for both live broadcasts and video on demand (VOD) and you can start to see how it can enrich the viewing experience in a variety of ways. Common areas where it’s used include displaying player and team stats in real time, instant replays, and highlight reels.

For example, the German Football League media hub, which stores all video and metadata related to German football matches, has 11 petabytes of data within the hub—the equivalent of 2.75 billion smartphone photos. The metadata generated includes all the official match data, live logging of action types, and data driven by machine learning and artificial intelligence.

When building out an interactive framework for sports, there are several important questions to consider.

  • How does the metadata you have access to support the game or match?
  • Is the game being broadcast live, or will you only have access to VOD?
  • How often will the metadata be updated during the game?
  • How will you get this data to the content and the audience?
  • How will you show this data to the audience in a way that is meaningful but also doesn’t distract?

But the biggest challenge with sports is that the data and interactivity have to sync with what is happening in the game. Audiences will expect scores and points to be updated in a livestream in the same way as in a TV broadcast. Because of the numerous systems involved and gates to pass through in the workflow, this can be quite tricky.

ENTERTAINMENT

Metadata can be an effective way to enrich the viewer’s experience during their favorite TV shows. Interactive features like actor bios can provide a new layer of depth and additional context that encourages engagement. It also offers publishers new revenue streams through product placements and targeted and contextual advertising that’s closely aligned with the content itself.

Implementing metadata-driven interactivity into entertainment content has its own set of considerations.

  • How will you ensure the metadata supports the content as well as the target audience and their interests?
  • How can you make the interactions seamless and meaningful by adding new layers of context and depth?
  • What will be your approach for ensuring the interactivity aligns with both viewer preference and the overall nature of the content?

While metadata-driven interactions are relatively straightforward on web and mobile platforms, there can be challenges when bringing this experience to living room devices—where long-form content is typically consumed. Current operating systems, app frameworks, SDKs, and ad servers may not fully support this as an optimal user experience. However, as these technologies continue to evolve, we’ll see even more engaging metadata-driven experiences on the web, on mobile, and in the home.

NEWS AND WEATHER

Metadata is already changing the way we consume news- and weather-related content. It provides the opportunity to personalize the viewing experience without disrupting the livestream by adding localized context to live news feeds and weather reports.

When implementing metadata-driven approaches for news and weather, you’ll want to consider the sophisticated workflows you’ll need. They should be capable of serving metadata in real time across different locations in order to deliver a personalized, immediate, and local experience.

However, this isn’t without challenges. Naturally, viewers expect their news and weather to be both accurate and timely. Given their dynamic nature, having metadata that’s rich enough to add real-time context can be particularly difficult.

EDUCATION

In an increasingly remote world, metadata offers the opportunity to transform traditional university lectures into interactive experiences for virtual students. As professors give live lectures, metadata can allow them to incorporate links and overlays into the content. Common examples could include linking to supplemental materials, related web pages for further research, or additional context to aid the comprehension of a particular lecture.

Institutions should take into consideration the detailed level of planning this can entail. Instructors will need to meticulously prepare the links and overlays and preload them into the livestream using timestamps. Otherwise, the metadata-driven interactivity you aim for can actually become counterproductive if there are unnecessary interruptions that distract students from the lecture itself.

It’s important to note that incorporating metadata will require a fair amount of technical proficiency from the lecturer or the educational institution since this isn’t a typical workflow. A workaround for this could be utilizing Brightcove’s Simulive Player and pre-recorded lectures to incorporate interactivity. This allows instructors to still benefit from the interactive elements while maintaining the real-time effect of a live session.

SETTING UP METADATA-DRIVEN INTERACTIVITY

VOD

Creating an interactive player using metadata is very straightforward with Brightcove, as long as the data is well structured and complete.

  • Create a data feed. This can be done using XML or JSON. You can also use WebVTT, which is used for closed captions. You’ll want to create a reusable feed so that it can be leveraged across multiple videos. A sports feed can usually be generated from sports data platforms such as Opta Sports.
  • Upload the feed. Add the data feed to an internet-accessible server or bucket. Alternatively, you can use Brightcove’s Media module and CMS API to ingest the feed to create cue-points within the video.
  • Develop a player plugin. This plugin will control the interactivity users experience. The UX would be built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The plugin can be used to retrieve the feed from the server or bucket and pull down the data to power the UX. It can be hosted on Brightcove within the Player module.
  • Publish your custom player and associated videos. Now you’re ready to embed the player on your webpage.
  • Synchronize the player plugin and the video. During video playback, the player plugin will control the interactivity UX, metadata, and associated timestamps.

As mentioned, the plugin can read the data feed to power the UX, or cue-points can be created in Brightcove. For a more robust and complex interactive experience, it would be best to use the plugin method as you have more control over the complexity of the data sets.

LIVE STREAMS

Livestreaming is a little more complex than VOD as you need to ensure that the data is in sync with what is happening in the live broadcast.

  • Use an Encoder with Cue-point Support. This allows you to insert cue-points and markers into the live stream before it’s ingested. An alternative could be adding ID3 tags to the stream using Brightcove’s Live API.
  • Ingest the Live Stream. Using the Brightcove Live API, you can ingest the live stream. The same API allows you to add ID3 tags via a feed to the live stream.
  • Confirm Timed Descriptions. When adding an ID3 tag, ensure it contains a description of what occurred at a specific time. Once the tag is added, the metadata will immediately appear or display at the time specified in the tag.

Again, a plugin is built to control the interactivity UX and read the ID3 tags in the live stream. Based on what is present in the tags, the plugin will display the metadata at the right time and in sync with the content.

METADATA: THE ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR INTERACTIVITY

The power of metadata can deliver new levels of interactivity and engagement that’s much needed in today’s ever-competitive content landscape. It offers the perfect marriage of engagement and personalization that’s required to build and maintain a loyal user base.

Beyond the interactivity itself, metadata can increase existing revenue by optimizing discoverability both in search engines and within platforms. It can also open new revenue opportunities through avenues like product placement and contextual ads.

From delivering rich interactive VOD experiences or enhancing a live broadcast, we’ll continue to see metadata play an increasing role in many different types of content. There’s no better time than now to start exploring the benefits it can bring to your content and your bottom line.

While the setup, particularly for live metadata-driven experiences can be complex, the experts at Brightcove Global Services have the knowledge and experience to help you achieve your content and revenue goals.

WHY EVERY B2B VIDEO STRATEGY NEEDS FIRST-PARTY DATA

bsp-admin-1 on June 5, 2023

The last few years have tested the agility and adaptation of every marketing team. Physical events went digital. Digital events had to get interesting. Video marketing became more important than ever, and teams had to think about how the sales process worked in both remote and hybrid environments.

B2B video marketing is moving beyond awareness and driving engagements and conversions at each touchpoint in the marketing funnel. In fact, when we interviewed marketing leaders, the topic of discussion wasn’t whether video marketing could drive conversions. It was about the strategy and tech stack needed to do it.

Learn more in our PLAY episode, “What’s New, What’s Not and What Matters Most to CMOs Today.”

RETHINKING THE HYBRID EXPERIENCE

Traditional digital media and video marketing tactics like webinars aren’t keeping people’s attention or driving conversions.

That’s what Margaret Franco, CMO of Finastra, realized as she helped her team adapt to a digital-first environment during COVID-19 lockdowns. Part of the reason is that video marketing, for many teams, is still focused on driving top-of-funnel activities like awareness without building the relationship afterwards. Without in-person meetings and industry events, the Finastra team knew that the customer journey across video marketing had to be personal. From brand awareness to conversion and retention, video had to break through a noisy digital environment where everyone was remote and often distracted.

For Finastra, the video content strategy started by rethinking the video marketing tech stack. As Finastra’s VP of Marketing, Joerg Kleuckmann, puts it, “It all kicked off from an experience I had when COVID started. I was clicking on an ad from a competitor because they had a digital event, and I thought it was our event, and I got confused.” Not only that, when people did access video content from Finastra, they got distracted by something else on YouTube.

Many marketing leaders dealt with similar challenges. Latané Conant, CMO of 6Sense, says that every marketer has to be an “octopus.” They have to cover different disciplines and teams in order to understand what type of video is best for the company and the customer.

Paige O’Neill, Chief Marketing Officer at Sitecore, believes that content is still the biggest challenge, whether a hybrid or digital or in-person format: “How do we connect the dots between the two and serve up that experience for customers?”

In a hybrid environment where people engage online and offline, marketing teams must provide an ongoing journey customized to what personas need the most. B2B video marketing must be more like events, and events must be more like digital multimedia. Both tactics require a lifecycle strategy that builds a relationship with attendees before, during, and after the experience.

To reinvent the team’s B2B video marketing strategy, Finastra launched Finastra TV in 2022 to broadcast video content related to the banking industry. The channel allows viewers to find the content most relevant to their industry and engage with it at their own pace.Finastra TV Interface“We’re going to build the Netflix for the financial services industry,” Franco says. “Finastra TV is always promoting. It’s always engaging.”

Most importantly, first-party data became the foundation for the new video marketing strategy from the start.

Learn more in our PLAY episode, “Finastra TV: Building Your Own Company Channel.”

VIDEO MARKETING WITH FIRST-PARTY DATA

Streaming platforms like Vimeo or YouTube can host video content, but they offer limited analytics tools. The same goes for social channels, where marketers can measure views and understand viewer demographics but not how qualified they really are as prospects. This is why measuring the success of video marketing often only goes as deep as top-of-funnel metrics like views, social shares, and time watched.

To create a B2B video marketing strategy with the personalization power of Netflix, marketers must focus on collecting first-party data from viewers. By understanding individual prospect behavior across all video content, marketers can better understand people’s interests and viewing habits and follow up at an individual level.

The first step for this kind of video marketing is simple: create video content that your prospects want to view. As Conant explains, teams should organize video production in the same way that “media companies deal with content.” By starting with the market fit for the product—and the content that establishes that market fit—teams can plan content for each persona.

At Finastra, the team created a content strategy based on different seasons and topics that consist of 10 to 15 episodes per topic. The goal was to build a digital stage that drove opportunities, not just views. Every viewer who accesses Finastra TV fills out a form once with relevant contact information and then has the freedom to watch all the episodes. This first-party data is automatically routed to Finastra’s CRM, which in turn scores the lead based on viewing activity.Types of Data“We developed a custom solution on the channel where we dropped a cookie behind the user’s first Marketo registration form,” Klueckmann explains. “Gating is a thing of the past. Forms are a thing of the past.”

Finastra TV, which is built with Brightcove, now offers the sales teams an opportunity to follow up based specifically on which videos the lead viewed with a CRM integration that analyzes who is most engaged based—and what conversations may be most relevant to them. Event content is repurposed to make it video-first and, since then, Finastra TV is fully integrated with the customer journey.

A TRANSPARENT JOURNEY

COVID-19 taught teams valuable new digital tactics to persevere through an unprecedented challenge. The next step is to integrate those tactics with real-world events and interactions. This all starts with understanding the tech stack that you need to see each customer touchpoint as it happens, whether online or offline.

“We’re in a hybrid journey right now,” says Paige O’Neill from Sitecore. “How do we bring the best of digital but go back to those customer interactions?”

By offering Finastra TV, the team saw a 26x increase in ROI from physical events, capturing the potential of a hybrid customer journey in new ways. This wouldn’t be possible without the first-party data integrations that help Finastra understand exactly who is watching what and passing that information to the sales team.

As B2B video marketing follows the success of streaming platforms, the importance of customer data is only going to grow. By building a data-first multimedia strategy, you can ensure that video content is fully integrated from the first touch of the customer journey to the last.

HOW TO BUILD INTERACTIVE LIVE STREAMS CORRECTLY

bsp-admin-1 on May 30, 2023

While interactive content and shoppable videos are nothing new, the demand for live commerce and live interactivity videos continues to grow. Not only are viewers showing higher engagement rates, brands and retailers are recognizing their potential to drive higher conversions, connect with younger buyers, and boost sales.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that live commerce has been shown to generate up to 10x conversion uplift. In fact, the U.S. livestream commerce market is projected to account for $35 billion in sales and 3.3% of all U.S. e-commerce by 2024.

However, the technical complexity of live streaming, particularly when incorporating interactive elements, can be daunting. Furthermore, understanding the nuances of interactive videos can be especially challenging for some content creators.

In this post, we’ll take a deep dive into the benefits, the technical requirements, and the challenges you’ll need to navigate. You’ll learn how to harness the power of live interactivity and ensure you get it right to maximize its potential.

BUSINESS BENEFITS OF LIVE INTERACTIVITY

For starters, adding interactivity to your live events helps you stand out from the millions of videos that are uploaded to the internet every day. But there are several other ways it can benefit your business.

DEEPER COMMUNITY BUILDING

Interactivity plays a crucial role in helping viewers feel as if they are truly a part of your community. This community-building can extend beyond your brand and products by fostering connections between like-minded viewers who are engaged with your video. Allowing them to actively participate in the content facilitates social interaction and creates a more dynamic and enjoyable experience for all.

BETTER AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Another key benefit of interactive video is the ability to gather instantaneous feedback and insights. Traditional metrics such as video views are table stakes by now and by themselves are no longer sufficient. Today’s creators must understand which aspects of their livestream resonate best with viewers and incorporate these understandings into future content. Data gained from interactivity, like viewer behavior, preferences, and demographics, will offer insights that can also help achieve other key goals like sales, subscribers, and retention.

ENHANCED USER EXPERIENCE

Moreover, live interactivity can enhance the overall user experience by integrating seamlessly with various technology ecosystems, such as Learning Management Systems (LMSs), e-commerce platforms, marketing technology (martech), HR platforms, and Over-the-Top (OTT) media platforms. Adding interactivity to any of these platforms should be an essential part of the viewer’s overall digital experience. Using that interactivity to deliver greater personalization creates a unique end-user experience tailored to your company and specific to each viewer’s journey.

IDEAL CYCLICAL JOURNEY

When implemented effectively, live interactivity can propel users into the ideal cyclical journey: content consumption, engagement with your digital experiences, positive response to calls to action, and brand affinity growth. Successful completion of this cycle will encourage users to share their experiences with others. The end result is amplified reach and increased impact of your interactive video content, bringing even more users into the cycle where it can repeat and continue.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS OF LIVE INTERACTIVITY

With a thorough understanding of these benefits, you may be ready to level up your live interactivity but questioning what it takes to start implementation. Short answer: that depends. Why? It may be helpful to break the technical requirements down into two categories: basic setup and advanced setup.

BASIC SETUP

A basic setup has a couple main requirements. Online video platform (OVP) for content distribution and playback Platform capable of handling video overlays and calls to action (CTAs) However, this only scratches the surface of live interactivity’s potential.

ADVANCED SETUP

To truly unlock the power of live interactivity, creators need to go beyond the basics and integrate their interactive video platform with other systems, such as e-commerce platforms, LMSs, and marketing technologies. An advanced setup in this sense means more than simply connecting the two. Rather, it should enable interactivity that is personalized and unique based on specific attributes of a user’s profile pulled from the system you’re connecting to.

An advanced setup will open up new possibilities, for example:

  • Connecting with e-commerce platforms to allow users to buy a product from within the video without having to navigate to a purchasing page.
  • Personalized calls to action based on previous purchase history.
  • For internal use cases, like training, the LMS system and player working together to create in-player quizzes, establish success criteria, and determine whether the user passed.
  • Create customized content recommendations based on user behavior within the LMS.

These scenarios offer a glimpse of the potential, but there are countless additional opportunities for your particular use case. By producing a well-integrated interactive video experience that communicates with other technologies, it greatly enhances the end-user experience and becomes an invaluable asset for creators.

HOW BRIGHTCOVE CAN HELP

Brightcove Live Interactivity simplifies the advanced setup. With features including surveys, polls, quizzes, real-time chat, and shoppable e-commerce, you’ll be fully prepared to deliver captivating experiences that boost live audience engagement.

For example, Brightcove’s proprietary chat technology allows you to incorporate chat into live videos and provides greater control over branding and user experience.

With mobile web-first interactive player overlays, you can also create a consistent and visually appealing experience that aligns with your brand while seamlessly integrating with product management platforms. Retail and e-commerce businesses will also appreciate the easy-to-manage events console that gives you the ability to add product information to the livestream in real time.

Although live-streaming can be stressful and challenging, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t realize the many opportunities and benefits it holds. If you’re nervous about truly going live but still want to incorporate live interactivity features, Brightcove Simulive and/or Cloud Playout could be the answer. These solutions allow you to pre-record your content, air it as “live” when you choose, and then simulate a live experience complete with live interactivity features. They essentially combine the best of both worlds while mitigating the risks and costs. Additionally, these features will be automatically transitioned from your live event to a video on demand (VOD) asset that can continue to drive value over and over again.

For creators looking to take their interactive experiences to the next level, developer events and APIs allow you to customize and build upon these features.

With the rich analytics on both a user and aggregate level, you’ll be able to understand which of these interactive elements are driving the most engagement.

CHALLENGES OF LIVE INTERACTIVE EVENTS

Clearly integrating live interactivity into video content offers significant benefits and opportunities. However, it’s important to be aware of the challenges and pitfalls that could occur when incorrectly implemented.

First, it’s important to strike the right balance. While incorporating interactive elements is appealing, overuse or poor implementation can distract viewers from your content. It can also inhibit the actions you want viewers to take as a result of viewing the content.

You should also keep in mind that interactivity goes well beyond merely incorporating shoppable video within a player. The most effective interactive experiences are those that integrate seamlessly within the user’s journey across your digital properties. Interactive elements shouldn’t be jarring or overly apparent, but designed to subtly enhance the user experience and gently guide them towards desired actions on your site.

LIVE INTERACTIVITY DONE RIGHT

Successfully implementing live interactivity requires having the right mindset that focuses on creating a seamless user experience. In addition to the right technology, it also requires that all of the systems work together harmoniously. Brightcove Live Interactivity offers a comprehensive solution that delivers everything you need to enhance audience engagement and create captivating interactive experiences in your live events. By leveraging Brightcove’s powerful features and adopting a user-centric approach, you’ll unlock the full potential of live interactivity to help achieve your goals.