Forbes, Executives Using Online Video

Forbes Article; Executives Increasingly Use Online Video

Forbes Insights, in conjunction with Google, just released its study, "The Rise of the Digital C-Suite: How Executives Locate and Filter Business," which surveyed 354 top level executives at major US companies to determine how they discover and share business information.

Some of the key findings include: Executives like the Internet.  Not surprisingly, the report found that C-level executives (just like the rest of us) find the majority of their answers on the Web.  Of the respondents, 70% prefer to read work-related information online versus 30% who said they prefer print.  The same goes for Internet video.  Over two times as many executives would rather watch online video (69%) versus traditional broadcast media (31%). Text is still king but online video is quickly moving up the ranks.  When asked which format they most prefer to review business information, over half of the C-level executives said text (56%) while almost a quarter said Web video (24%).  Sarah Alter, VP of eCommerce and New Markets at Discover Financial Services, seconds the finding, "Video is definitely going to become a critical means of sharing information." C-level execs use online video more than their lower level counterparts.

The study found C-level executives are more likely to watch online video than lower level executives; a quarter of C-suites watch online videos for work compared to 16% of non C-levels.   Younger executives are using online video for research. Executives over 50 still strongly prefer text to video (72% to 6%) but the gap is much smaller for executives under 50 (the demographic of executives beginning to take over leadership roles...); 56% opt for text compared to 27% who'd rather get their info from Web videos.

Executives are getting their business information from online videos. A full 25% of all respondents surveyed said they view work-related Internet videos on business Web sites daily while 17% watch work-related videos on YouTube.

What does it all mean? Most significantly, executives (typically the final decision maker in the buying process) are showing a strong preference for researching business decisions (like whether or not to buy your product) on the Internet. And, increasingly, they're using Web video to help make those decisions.  So, as a marketer, one of the best ways you can get your message in front of top-level executives is to use - you guessed it - online video.