Video Marketing is Big in Austin TX. Here's Why.
“People don’t live in Austin to work, they work to live there.”
-Robert Rodriguez
Is it just me, or is video marketing in Austin TX just a bigger thing than most places? Of course, video marketing is becoming a bigger thing in general, we know that. But video marketing and corporate video production in general seem relatively more significant in Austin TX than most cities.
To elaborate on what I mean, if you Google things like “Austin production company” or “Austin video production” you get to 100 Austin video production businesses pretty easily, whether they specialize in corporate video marketing or not. To compare with “Houston production company” you get to about page 7 before results really start to peter out, and it’s pretty spotty even before that. I counted roughly 50 video production companies. And that’s really something when you consider Houston is the 5th largest metro area in the US and Austin TX checks in at 31.
But that’s the supply side, how about the demand side? Austin companies do seem to emphasize corporate video production a lot more. As an example, let’s try a quick spot check. If you look at the fastest growing SMB company in Houston for 2016 according to bizjournals.com (I’ll not mention names here to be nice) you’ll see their site doesn’t have video on the homepage, there’s no video page at all and there’s no YouTube link (there are actually a few videos on their YouTube page but they aren’t apparent from the website). If you try this same 3-point video checklist with its Austin equivalent (Sparkcognition.com) you don’t see video on the homepage but you see an entire page devoted to video and throughout the site they link to their YouTube, which has over 50 corporate videos. And this is pretty typical for these markets, respectively.
So why is this? Well, we have some theories.
1. Austin’s Startup and Tech Industry
By definition, the tech industry is modern and their marketing techniques tend to be equally so. The tech industry is on the forefront of booming marketing trends, whether it be social media, digital advertising or content marketing like video marketing. And, as a field that pays well and is generally in high demand, employed are a lot of the higher tier marketing directors who tend to incorporate better, newer marketing methods, and video production is one of those. So, as long as Austin remains a hub for technology expect to see Austin video production sets popping up around town.
2. Austin’s Creative Scene
As dependable as an Austinite’s love for breakfast tacos, you can count on a thriving creative industry in the Texas capital. Largely stemming from a musical movement in the 60s and the youthful culture of a city that houses on the largest universities in the country, Austin has long had an artistic vibe in its DNA. Austin is the home of SxSW, The Continental Club, Richard Linklater, ACL Fest and one of the largest film school systems in the country at the University of Texas. If you were a creative in the state of Texas where would you want to live? Not only does that make for a lot of talent to make great video content it’s seemingly ingrained in the culture. Any marketing director you know probably knows someone that’s in a band, paints murals or does video production. It stands to reason this influence would translate into a robust corporate video scene.
3. Austin Loves Austin Culture
I’ve lived in several cities in this country and you don’t typically see city pride like you do in Austin TX. Austin loves its culture and so do its companies. So they want to see that culture in their video marketing. It doesn’t hurt that the city provides a great deal of great iconic scenery that make for great video production, like the Pennybacker Bridge, the many Austin murals, Lady Bird Lake, etc.
Michael Mason is the Executive Producer of Perfect Chaos Films in Austin TX.