Is online video the "next big thing" for online marketers? No.

Online video has been hyped as the new shiny of online marketing and pr, but video is not the panacea for your program and will not assure you success in 2008.

Here's some fun anecdotal evidence that proves nothing and is completely non-scientific, but provides a nice diving board for my points... Over the holidays, my family and I got into a conversation about "what I do" in the online marketing world and how that impacts their daily web usage. During the conversation, I asked if anyone had watched an online video on YouTube or embedded on a website. Out of the twelve people there, the two young people (under 18) said they had. There were four 20-something's, a couple of 30 year olds ands and the rest were 50 or over. The most common response was "why watch a video on the internet when the stuff on the TV is better?" When I asked who had read a blog, almost everyone said they had. When I asked about podcasts, about half of the twelve said they had. Even my father said he avidly listens to a podcast about motorcycles and a podcast about Nascar that he burns onto CD's to play in his vehicle (he travels a great deal) while he's on the road or working in his office. Clearly, I need to buy my dad an iPod.

Of course online video is still very young in mainstream adoption compared to blogs or even podcasts. However, the perception of online video by the mainstream (non-tech/geek/early adopter/techmeme reading crowd) is that it is competing with television. That isn't the case (most of the time), but it is a steep hill to climb. Try throwing marketing messages into an online video and that hill becomes even steeper.

I am normally very eager to adopt, explore or promote new media and means of spreading your marketing messages. However, I remain bullish on video. Some of that can be chalked up to personal preferences (I'd much rather listen to music or a podcast than watch a movie or a TV program), but much of my video bullishness comes from the realization that video is much more difficult, expensive, time-consuming, and viewer intensive than other media. In order for video to add anything to your program, you have to find a highly relative sweet spot that balances the input you make with the experience of your viewers.

Most businesses engaged in the online marketing world, let alone online marketers, are not at the point where they can justify the type of experimentation needed to make video work. In general, the bar is just still too high for both businesses and web users to make online video solve problems that aren't already being solved by other media. Accordingly, most online businesses and marketers are still struggling with the idea of text driven blogs or voice driven podcasts.

I do see a place for online video, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that it is not for every business or marketer and is more buzz than substance at this point.

I know that online video evangelists like Jim Kurkal and Shawn Collins feel differently than I do about the potency and potential of online video. They've both provided great examples of what video can do to augment a marketing program or affiliate site. But are they exceptions to the rule? I think so.

By all means, experiment with video and see if there is a fit for your audience, publishers, customers, users or community. But keep things in perspective and keep in mind your audience. However, don't throw together a quick skit on YouTube and force it on top of your existing marketing program. Otherwise, you're just adding fudge sauce to meatballs.