Mobile video consumption is gaining momentum in SA - with use rising 42% in the past year - and will increasingly encroach into the business world, forcing companies to adapt their strategies.
Although the South African experience will lag what is being seen in Europe and other developed markets - curtailed by the high cost of broadband - analysts say video will be a key driver for the digital business over the next few years.
Already, local companies can make use of an increasing number of global platforms that are positioning themselves to benefit from the growth in the use of video as a communications tool. Just recently, Twitter rolled out a video auto play feature for videos, Vines and GIFs in users' timelines. The feature plays the video on mute as users scroll through their timelines but becomes a full-sound expanded view visual once tapped.
On the up
Locally, the use of video is increasing, with the Interactive Advertising Bureau finding, in its latest report, that mobile video consumption is on the rise, with 35% of respondents saying they watched more videos on their smartphone compared with a year ago. This is especially true for South Africa, where 42% of those surveyed watched more videos on their devices than a year ago. In the US, this figure was 50%, while in Canada and New Zealand it was 42%, and 40% in the UK.
The report, "Mobile Video Usage, a Global Perspective", surveyed 200 consumers in each market. These consumers had to be 16 or older, own a smartphone and watch either long or short videos. The research was carried out between 14 April and 11 May this year.
Other findings include that 36% of smartphone video viewers surveyed said they watched videos of five minutes or longer, and apps are beating browsers as the access point to mobile video, with half the respondents using apps, compared to 18 of those who use browsers.
Research conducted last year by Fuseware and World Wide Worx, released in September, found the use of streaming site YouTube was gaining in popularity locally. The number of YouTube users gained 53% to 7.2 million South Africans, making it second only to Facebook in terms of local popularity. World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck noted at the time that the country was "seeing the beginning of the visual revolution in online usage in South Africa".
"The global rise of video is now making itself felt here. Once the cost of mobile data comes down for the emerging smartphone market, video will become a dominant medium, strongly supported by other visual media."
Fuseware CEO Mike Wronski added: "Content marketing and influencer marketing are two big trends corporates are embracing as the market matures. For the brands, this makes social media more challenging than ever before, but it is going to enhance the consumer experience of social networks."
Driving change
Ovum analyst Richard Hurst notes video will be a key driver of enterprises moving into the digital age and getting closer to their consumers. However, he says, there is still much in the way of infrastructure that is needed before South African businesses can truly benefit from being able to interact more closely with customers.
BMI-TechKnowledge director Brian Neilson adds companies will have to adapt to video in the same way as they had to cater for the bring-your-own-device wave. He says video is part of the overall rise in how the Web is affecting business - transforming business itself now, not just making processes more efficient. "Video is an integral part of this, and a key one because of the immersive experience video enables."
Neilson notes video is being integrated into all forms of online communication, and will impact all firms that exploit online marketing and other processes. "Importantly, it allows a blurring between previously separate processes; namely marketing communication, entertainment and training/instruction."
Goldstuck adds businesses definitely have to make more of an effort to include video in their marketing as it will eventually be necessary to accommodate all customers who want to access content or consume marketing messages mainly via video.
However, Hurst cites the high cost of broadband, and the relatively slow speeds most consumers experience, as inhibitors to video gaining traction locally as a business tool. He notes, however, this era is coming and will require companies to adapt their models to cope with the different way of communicating with consumers. "Video is changing the way we use the Internet; we are now getting to the next level, which is more interactive and a richer experience, but we need the right infrastructure to cope."
While limited broadband is a challenge, the fact that 7.2 million South Africans used YouTube last year shows the appetite for video will overcome bandwidth limitations, says Goldstuck.
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