The Internet is unlike television. It has become commonly accepted to see riveting sporting events stopped, compelling drama series segmented, and favorite comedies stalled due to commercial breaks. We dislike the experience, but it is tolerated all the same. Web browsers are a different breed. Much like the radical channel surfer, browsers have small attention spans. The media gambit of buying up commercial space and inculcating ad lingo into our auditory/visual senses will not carry weight on the Web.

Businesses that want to generate intrigue on the Internet must put in their time. There are more advertisers on the Web and more “channels” to surf, so there is more contention for consumer attention.

Banner ads quickly became comparable to telemarketing in the minds of the consumer. They don’t interrupt our dinner, but blink, bleep, and burp in an annoying and constant fashion. Banner ads can be effective, but the Web has made way for other opportunities for advertisers to vie for browser attention.

Video has powerfully made its way onto the Web scene, and naturally, advertisers are scrambling to wrap their heads around this new form of marketing. Viral marketing has become a buzzword in the Web world. Company marketers have wracked their brains inventing clever ways to generate the interest of Web viewers, make an indelible impression, and have viewers pass on the article or video along to a friend.

There is a difference in quality of course. Some videos are sagacious, compelling, and incorporate a marketing message; while others are pointless and void of any marketing value. How can your company exercise the former?

Dare to be bold

Traditional advertising has been mostly conservative. There is a message (sometimes disguised in a scenario) and a product/service offering a solution. Web videos want to get a marketing message across as well, but in a more novel (and sometimes bolder) way. The Internet has created a platform for advertisers to evolve from tradition and make things a bit more fresh and appealing.

A promising business has to find the perfect balance between banal and monotonous PowerPoint presentations and risqué, off-the-wall sensationalism.

Don’t make the Web a television

Many, unaware advertisers were overjoyed at the incorporation of video on the Web. They figured the Internet would be another avenue to place their commercial ads. They were wrong. As aforementioned, Web viewers are expecting (if not demanding) something else. They do not want to see the same ads on their Web page they have seen countless times on television already; if they are going to pay attention, it better be something new (and worth watching- the end to your video is just a click away).

You have to account for the difference in pricing. You can comprise a whole Web video campaign for the same cost as one second of television commercial time. This means that the juggernauts cannot simply buy all the airtime. The little guys have as much a chance of being noticed as anyone else on the Web.

Optimizing your content on the Web means that you can better target those who will not see your Web video as an interruption, but an opportunity to experience knowledge and entertainment about a product or service. This is the same hopes for the television advertisers, except they are doing it for the price of $10,000 per second and little of them exercise any ingenuity in attempting to captivate the viewer.

Be creative

There is no exact formula to contribute to online video success. The good news is that it is less costly, provides more room for creativity, and browsers are deciding to watch your video; so, find your muse and do some productive experimentation.

If you want a stage to be boring, strictly tell people about your product/services, and not endeavor at creativity, then using the Web to showcase your video is not for you. Plenty of tactics aid a Web site/company in getting noticed, but leveraging the Web with videos is a new and powerful technique- it is suggested you give it a try.

Think of commercials and other Web videos that you find to be particularly effective. Start by modeling your videos from their structure. A popular method has been to create recurring characters and tell a story. Geico provides a good example: their gecko and the cavemen have been effective in branding their company, providing a message about their services, and relating information about their business.