It was a night in July 2007 when a new town hall was discovered. Men and women from around the United States participated in a debate of sorts between 2008 Presidential hopefuls on the Democratic ticket.
What made this event unique is not that the candidates took their message on the road, but that the candidates received questions via video streaming site YouTube. Multiplied thousands of Internet users tuned in for a town hall meeting that was available on a global basis. Viewers even used YouTube to pose their own questions to competing candidates.
While this forum made for some rather interesting video questions, the implications of the use of video streams are phenomenal. For the first time citizens from across the United States were invited to be a part of something that simply required the ability to stream video on the web, and the audience responded.
The CNN debate was sponsored by the video streaming giant YouTube. This approach to debate may have had some people thinking it was a cross between politics and a reality TV show and some would argue that’s what it ultimately became.
However, this debate also helped foster the notion that anyone’s voice can be heard from any point on the globe. The debate format was sometimes eccentric, sometimes anticlimactic, but interesting nonetheless and memorable for the milestone it passed in forging a new way to connect with the public.
This is not an article about politics. It is, however, a beacon pointing out another merit of video streaming.
Children’s television channels have been working to integrate video streaming into televised children’s games. The effects of this new paradigm are not lost on children who gravitate to the technology and appreciate the potential for their own brush with fame.
The presidential debates using video streams for questions should allow all who are involved in Internet-based business to consider video streaming in present and long-term marketing goals.
Many video streams on download locations like YouTube have in excess of a million downloads. Some statistics indicate many people are spending more time with their computers than they are television and other forms of media.
Television and movie companies are catering to the need with hi-resolution trailers and television show downloads – all using video streaming technology and all from the comfort and privacy of on demand personal computing.
If people are spending so much time online doesn’t it make sense to find a way to bring your business to a group of consumers who are already immersed in all things pop culture?
Pushing forward with video streaming as a marketing tool is not only cost effective, but can be used as either an entertaining infomercial or something as simple as a guided tour through your primary site. In either case, site visitors may be inclined to ride the video stream than to click endlessly through a new site in the hopes of finding something worthwhile.
Video streaming can help you discover new ways to reach customers – and there’s no debate about that.
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