A recent article in BtoB Magazine chronicled the strong results that security software company Symantec Corp. has seen with online video campaigns over the last few years. Dating back to 2006, the company saw impressive results for its video-focused initiatives, including the creation of its "Hal IT Admin" character that was a major hit with customers. Videos featuring Hal were created by Symantec and posted on YouTube as well as the company's own website and quickly racked up more than 50,000 views by the end of 2007.
Earlier this year, Symantec decided to relaunch Hal to coincide with the introduction of its Backup Exec 2010. This time around, the company opted to use the Brightcove online video platform to host two new Hal videos on its SymantecTV website instead of posting the videos on YouTube. As Michael Parker, vice president of interactive marketing at Symantec, notes:
"We're using Brightcove and tying it right into Omniture so we can see how many people are viewing the videos, how long they are watching and what action they are taking. We know how much a lead costs - $60 per lead is an industry average - and we can already see that even though the videos have only been out since January they are getting a strong ROI on lead generation."
Since January, more than 10,000 people have watched the new Hal videos and the company is seeing about a 19% conversion rate, according to Parker. Symantec also expects the cost-per-lead for the new Hal videos to be well below the industry average at the end of this year.
It is truly exciting to see the impressive results that Symantec's Brightcove-powered video initiatives have generated in such a short period of time. Like many B2B marketers who are rolling out online video campaigns, increased conversion rates and user engagement are of the utmost importance in driving the effectiveness of online video initiatives. We're proud to support so many innovative B2B marketers like Symantec, and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the year brings for the organization's new video campaigns.
