Video is necessary

Did you know YouTube has over 100 million views per day? The number is staggering. Videos are posted by nearly everyone now on this channel, and as a marketer it is almost necessary to have some sort of video presence online. Now, the problem for those of us in school PR: YouTube is blocked by nearly every school technology department! And it is probably necessary. There are some questionable videos on YouTube and it can be a controversial and distracting element in a school environment. However, here is the view I have as someone who recognizes this is where one of my biggest target audiences is hanging out for hours and hours: IT IS NECESSARY. So at OHP, I know it is blocked while students are in school, but based on a recent survey we did, nearly 85% of our students have the internet at home, 93% are watching videos online always or sometimes, and 71% of them are using YouTube. What this means? This medium cannot be ignored. It is a great and FREE avenue to spread the word of what we are doing in a medium that prospective students (who aren't blocked from YouTube at home) and current students identify with and have made into the "new way" of broadcasting. YouTube is located at www.youtube.com

So, if YouTube is absolutely out of the question, I recommend having videos hosted on your website or hosting them on SchoolTube, a safe and moderated YouTube-esque site, that will host your videos and let you embed them neatly into your website. If you look over to the right on the sidebar you will see SchoolTube's Career-Technical Channel being fed into this player I was easily able to embed into this blog. SchoolTube is located at www.schooltube.com

I am going to be attempting some innovative marketing methods using both YouTube and SchoolTube (hopefully if time allows!!) and I will keep you informed on this blog of my progress and results.