Look out, YouTube

Startups & Venture Capital

Democratizing the online video process

 

Boston Business Journal by Taryn Plumb, Special to the Journal

Friday, September 21, 2012

W. Marc Bernsau

Every minute, 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, according to the online video giant.
That’s a strong testament to the popularity of Web video and its dominance in everyday online life. Yet, at the same time, it can also prove intimidating to businesses looking to independently create videos and draw traffic to their own sites.
But Somerville-based Wistia aims to democratize the online video process. Founded in 2006 by two young entrepreneurs, the company offers hosting and analytics services that help businesses market to — and, more importantly, engage — customers through videos on their own websites (and on their own terms).
“Eventually, every business is going to use video to communicate,” said CEO Chris Savage, who co-founded the company with CTO Brendan Schwartz just a year after the two graduated from Brown University.
Studies and statistics appear to back up that assertion: According to a report by Social Media Examiner, 76 percent of marketers planned to increase their use of YouTube and video marketing this year.
Additionally, research by online marketing agency Distilled suggests that Web pages with videos typically keep visitors on-site for longer, and help drive more sales, according to SEO consultant Phil Nottingham, who is based in London. He ultimately described the space as “fragmented” with small sites like Wistia competing with free platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo, and larger players including Brightcove, Viddler and Vzaar.
Audiences today expect, even demand, video on websites,” said Grant Crowell, a Chicago-based online video expert. “Video is the best communications medium we have today, and it allows businesses to make any topic and service more interesting and helpful.”
Wistia has experienced that demand: The company serves what Savage described as “tens of thousands” of users ranging from locally based HubSpot and Help Scout, to international brands like IBM and HP.
The company integrates with other marketing platforms, including Constant Contact and MailChimp, to help leverage video SEO. Its analytics, meanwhile, help track how people are watching second-by-second — for instance, do they click away at a certain point in the video, or when a different person shows up on-screen? — to help determine what’s working and what isn’t.
“It takes a picture of the emotional arc of the video,” said Savage, who has a background in film, and an associate producer credit to his name with the 2005 documentary “Buddy.”
Whether big or small, the key is in the presentation, he said. Too often, people make videos that are “too long, too dry, or too complex,” he said.
So another element of Wistia’s work is teaching businesses how to video market. Whether a company wants to merely talk about a product, perform a demonstration, or provide a customer testimonial, the principles are the same: Keep it short, simple, and preferably fun, Savage said.
Wistia is backed by $1.425 million raised across two rounds of angel funding in 2008 and 2010.

Original story link here.