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by Sallie Ransom
Loading — connecting — show time! While the concept of streaming
video on your Web site is intriguing, the reality remains very much in
the future. Or does it?
Web streaming is today’s novel promotional effort. A mixture of
the novel and the familiar is important for your marketing plan. The traditional
brochure and VHS copy of your promotional video are not replaced by the
latest trend. Those marketing basics are valuable tools, and we know children
appreciate consistency. We also know children seek the new and unusual.
Web streaming is a key ingredient to making your existing Web site more
dynamic, and it gives your Internet audience — campers — an
instant connection to your camp community. An alternative to Web streaming
is to make your video available on your Web site for download.
Streaming Vs. Downloading?
Recommendations for
Camps
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Web streaming is the process of taking audio and
video images and producing them into continuous packets —
streams — of information. |
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Two main benefits of Web streaming:
- instant access to your key messages; and
- ease of posting additions or changes. |
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Recommended stream is one continuous packet between one and
three minutes, giving Internet users instant access to concise
information. |
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The streamed content is hosted by a different server than
the Web site you are viewing, which prevents slow access because
of volume traffic on that particular Web site. |
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As of summer 2001, streaming content reached more than half
of all Internet users. |
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More than half of the people watching streaming content are
seeing movie trailers;42 percent are listening to music and
watching weather reports. |
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An expert in the field explained it like this: a stream is like a PDF
file. You open it, view it, but cannot alter it. It exists in “real-time”
because you access it from a separate server. A download is like a WORD
file. You save it to your hard drive, view it, and actually have the capability
to alter it. Because it’s now a file on your system, you can cut
and paste images/footage just like you could a WORD document.
While the above characteristics do separate a stream and download, the
biggest difference is time. The average download time of a full video
is eight to ten minutes. A streamed video clip is accessible in less than
a minute. Visitors to your Web site have limited attention spans and expect
instant results.
Why Web Streaming?
So, why isn’t everyone taking advantage of this development? The
major factor delaying a Web streaming revolution is bandwidth. Most households
operate with a 56K dial-up modem. The bandwidth size affects the quality
of streamed audio and video content. Only those with cable or DSL connections
enjoy Web streaming at its best.
The cost of adding streamed content to your Web site will depend on
the number of clips you offer and the number of times those clips are
accessed each month. A camp might expect to pay around $45 per month to
have a three-minute video clip seen by up to one thousand visitors to
the Web site.
The rapidly shifting nature of the Internet means that we must consider
Web streaming today, even though many Web surfers will be without a high
bandwidth connection until tomorrow. As more homes and offices make the
high bandwidth transition, you are enriching the time spent visiting your
Web site with streamed content. You are presenting a novel element that
intrigues young people and helps make the connection to camp.
Originally published in the 2003 September/November
issue of Camping Magazine. |
