Hitviews Pro: Five Secrets Reveal Brand Success Weapon: Webstar Video - Caitlin Hill - MediaBizBloggers

Top brands use celebrity endorsements because stars are rare, have a built-in fan base and add buzz or credibility to their products. Now there is a new medium and a select group of new stars. They create online videos using their own style and personalities. HITVIEWS calls them WebStars. These amazing performers are stars in any sense of the word and they do something few have been able to achieve: Draw millions of views to online videos.

That's a very significant fact. They beat the odds. 99% of all online videos draw fewer than 300 views. There are at least 41 hours of new videos uploaded every minute. Yet, these self cast stars are able to draw six- or seven-figure audiences almost every time they post on various sites. For over two years HITVIEWS has placed some of the largest brands, from Fox Television to Microsoft, into videos made by WebStars.

The results are good to breathtaking. Here are five of the dozens of vital, urgent facts we've learned about selling product by using online WebStars associated with HITVIEWS:

1. 70-80% of all views happen in the first 72 hours after posting. That means one video is not going to cut it. It's not TV. You can't make one :30 and the job is done. Success requires multiple videos and multiple stars to tap different audiences.

2. Yes, the stars like to talk about products they like. AND their audiences like it too. This isn't the 70s. We're not putting Rubber Soul in a TV soundtrack. This is 2010 and the Coke glass is in front of Simon Cowell. Webstar fans are happy that the entertainers they watch on their laptops are able to support themselves at the craft they love. (PS: Please don't ask me that question again, please J)

3. Let it go. The world has changed, Don Draper. The only time webStar videos have failed to draw a crowd is when an agency or client has tried to control the creative by talking to the talent directly. It looks like this should be easy, "URGENT: We can do it ourselves!" But so far, that hasn't worked.

4. The control brands should expect is veto power over the video before it is posted, and Hitviews always gives the client that option. Interestingly, the clients who have been most successful quickly trust us and the stars and let the videos go up after review by Hitviews' creative.

5. It's new. The creative must NOT look like traditional video because the computer is not a traditional box. It has a keyboard, mouse and very bad speakers. The videos that sell-through the laptop are made exclusively for the computer. They cannot be re-purposed any more than TV audio can go straight to radio. Yeah, that's totally lame and lazy. The reason WebStars attract a crowd is that they scientifically and intuitively know how to embrace their stage, the computer. Therefore, the pricing should be different too. A revolutionary proposal for pricing online video will be presented in next week's MediaBizBloggers entry.

Caitlin Hill is one of the most successful WebStars. Online she is known as TheHill88. She is currently Chief Creative Officer at Hitviews. Caitlin can be reached at Caitlin@hitviews.com.

Read all Caitlin's MediaBizBloggers commentaries at HITVIEWS Pro - MediaBizBloggers.

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