With more than 175 million U.S. consumers watching online videos in September, it’s no secret that marketers must consider video as part of their content marketing strategy. Hulu, the top video property for delivering ads, may be an ideal platform for marketing videos to be viewed on the web, and the company claims it is positioned to generate $240 million in revenue this year.
Hulu’s year-over-year revenue growth demonstrates the past year’s dramatic surge in online video viewership. In a keynote address at GigaOm’s NewTeeVee Live conference this week, CEO Jason Kilar said ad revenue in 2009 was just $108 million, and he expects his company to take in more than double that amount this year.
Kilar suggested that advertising is the most profitable component of Hulu. More than 352 advertisers have promoted their products on the site in the past three months, and Hulu delivered 800 million ad streams in October, he says. ComScore data confirms this, showing that the site delivered more than 793 million ads in September. He revealed that the company will soon offer personalized advertising options, allowing brands to address users by name.
This new customized ad feature makes the site an appealing video platform, and Hulu is successfully delivering the most ads among online video channels. Still, marketers may want to consider that ads on Tremor Media reach the broadest audience – the platform reaches more than 26 percent of the U.S. population.
Additionally, original video content posted on YouTube can help boost brands among online consumers. Brafton recently reported that the social video site is steadily gaining viewers, and the recently launched Topics on Search feature can help branded clips enhanced by video SEO standout.
