For Online Consumers of Video As Well As Stock Footage Buyers, It's All About Search

Peter Sargent | May 11, 2007, 03:21 PM

In the evolving market for providing stock video footage, content is king. The right footage (from the richest libraries) of the highest quality is key to any footage provider's success. But that certainly doesn't matter if there's no way for footage buyers to effectively find the content they seek. The same goes for consumer media sites offering online video (e.g. YouTube, MySpace, and NYTimes).

My colleague Sapna discusses the most effective strategies for marketers to drive traffic to their video content in a report she released back in December. "Marketers should use both text-based search engine optimization (SEO) tactics and multimedia-specific guidelines to optimize their multimedia content for search engines." If you're a client and haven't checked it out yet, go here.

And stock footage buyers (from agencies, post production houses, and visual effects firms) rely on their experiences as consumers to locate the content they seek at work. In actuality, it's even more critical for stock footage houses to refine their SEM strategies since their customers' needs are very specific (whereas consumers might just be looking for any video content they find entertaining.) And as we see the evolution of increasingly more players providing stock images and footage, it makes more sense for buyers to search the Web rather than head straight to Getty's Website.

One interesting nugget I have heard from some footage houses is that they have taken steps to make the display of video clips an easy process (providing dynamic pages that allow for easy playback). But because crawlers aren't as effective at reading dynamic pages, some footage houses have had to revert back to static pages to maximize their search engine optimization (SEO).

So..ThoughtEquity, Ribbit Films, and other footage houses out there, get your hands on this report!