Ten Years of YouTube

(April 27, 2015) – Do you remember a time when videos on the internet were considered to be something of an anomaly?

Sure, it was there, but it was usually confined to a low-quality format without any of the options we take for granted with professional video today.

This was a time before YouTube. And it’s a little strange to think about, but that was only ten years ago.

On April 23, 2005, Jawed Karim, cofounder of YouTube, uploaded the hosting service’s first video. The video, titled Me at the Zoo, has since acquired over 22 million views (which is relatively little compared to the 2.2 billion views acquired by YouTube’s number one most watched video, Gangnam Style).

Very few could have foreseen the huge changes that would be ushered in by a service that first hosted a video of someone describing why elephants are cool. Obviously, the way businesses interact with consumers, market themselves online, and think about professional corporate video is very different from how they did over ten years ago. Let’s check out one of the most popular advertisements on YouTube to try and understand what makes a great online marketing campaign great.

Sharing Video’s Strengths

Remember this ad from over half a decade ago?

This Old Spice ad is one of the most watched ads in YouTube’s history, and it effectively doubled sales of the deodorant after it first debuted. One reason it’s so effective is because of its unique approach to visual storytelling that uses video to its full potential. The constant changes in the background are an approach that could only effectively be used for humor in video. And, because its so impressive, entertaining, and short, it’s easily shareable, which would have been a silly idea before YouTube.

YouTube and New Goals

Actual organic sharing of your professional video content is absolutely what YouTube marketing campaigns should strive for, because “online word of mouth” is incredibly effective. If you can create content that people actually want to share, because it’s funny, unique, or tells a compelling story, then your corporate video content will have a much easier time circulating through social media than if not.

This has been YouTube largest effect on video since it began just over a decade ago. Content developers now aim to creative innovative video that surprise viewers with subtlety and innovation. Because there is so much great content online, businesses should look to web video professionals to help tell their stories and create new ways of telling them.