If you have a YouTube account, you know how exciting it can be to monitor traffic on your videos. Well, Wistia is taking that excitement a step further with a MUCH cooler analysis of online videos.

Wistia enables users to track the engagement of their videos online. Clients use their software to share, collaborate, and organize videos. So what sets it apart from websites like YouTube and Vimeo? Wistia’s Video Heatmaps track how viewers watch a video — where they get bored, what they watch again, and where they call it quits. A color-coordinated timeline depicts these rewind, fast-forward, and stop actions and compiles them across viewers.

The age of video interaction is upon us.

There’s lots of new technology out there now to help your brand (personal or corporate) target specific users. Wistia’s ability to compile data on videos is cool, but it is the visual appeal of their Video Heatmap technology that sets them apart. We have come a long way from merely uploading YouTube videos and hoping for viral luck. Video Heatmaps lay out exactly where you should make improvements in your video.

Another local company we wrote about recently was MyBrainshark, which helps you produce online videos by adding audio to presentations. Both of these technologies can tell you the IP address and network of each person watching your videos. If you find that college kids on the East Coast are watching your videos the most, and that they are watching the entire clip, maybe they should be your main marketing targets.

This much, at least, seems obvious: There are no longer good excuses for creating boring videos.

Wistia introduces you to the consumers who re-watched parts of each of your videos multiple times. These kinds of users are the ones who are going to be the most engaged.

Videos are making the leap from social networking sites like YouTube and Facebook to the niche world of online merchandisers. No matter what your product is, you can make a video about it and someone will find it interesting. Pictures just don’t do a product like a handbag justice anymore. Imagine front and side photos of a handbag on a white backdrop. Now imagine a video of a gorgeous model parading down Newbury Street with that same handbag. Which is better for sales? The answer is the one that’s more engaging.

Videos are not only for those looking to sell. Chances are if you have a new job you will be trained with an online video before you step foot into the office. For this reason, Wistia and similar products could become a huge asset inside corporations.

For example, say you are teaching CPR, and one of the training methods is a video. If a student keeps rewinding a specific section of the video, she is probably a little confused. Use this information and learn from it. Go back and focus on that point in the lesson and re-teach it.

Educators and content producers of all varieties now have the power to learn exactly which parts of each lesson were confusing, where they lose students’ attention, and which students are actually watching the video.

Wistia, for one, can keep you informed about all these things.

Everyone and their mother is uploading videos, meaning the chance of your video going viral is getting slimmer. A recent article by another local startup, BookOfOdds.com, suggests 1 in 3.1 million YouTube videos will reach a million views in its first month.

Companies like Wistia are going to up the caliber of online videos, which means people might be more willing to spend time watching them; if you’re lucky, it could also mean an increased likelihood that they’re passed on. It’s up to you to decide what you’ll do to improve your video content, but Wistia seems like a good place to start.

Try leveraging these technologies to get more specific with videos. Do some A-B testing. If your targeting college kids, don’t mention how your product will help new moms because you will jeopardize the interest you’ve already established.

There’s lots to be done in the world of Internet Video. Wistia is just one great company leading the charge. They offer a 15-day free trial, and after that, their services price between $39 – $179 per month — a cost we think is pretty easily absorbed given the kinds of things they can do for you. What other video analyzers do you like? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Tags: companies, Company Profiles, online video, Wistia

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 8:37 pm and is filed under Digital. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.