MBATube Killed the SEO Star
It feels positively Philip K. Dick-esque to think that from the mid-20th century until roughly 5-10 years into the new millennium, moving images delivered across cathode ray televisions were the medium de rigeur to communicate information to a large audience.
Although the advent of Google Glass and Oculus Rift suggest that VR advertising could be just around the corner (think of the possibilities for fabric softening bears!), video remains, according to the Amsterdam-based MBATUBE, the “medium of today’s generation.” According to the site, “approximately 80% of all internet traffic will be video” by 2019.
Video has become an essential tool that educational institutions use to “recruit and educate students.” Right now, “79% of frequent Internet users watch video online,” according to MBATUBE. For business schools, however, there has been a noticeable gap in the marketplace for an “exclusive video platform” that enables them to engage prospective MBA students.
Founded by Dutch academic marketing advisor and Leiden University MBA alum Rick Rudolph, MBATUBE, according to its bio, is the “only official video portal” on the World Wide Web where “leading business schools can showcase their MBA programs via video.” MBATUBE “bridges the social gap between educational institutions and prospective students” by hosting official “promotional, testimonial and lecture content.”
The platform is user-friendly and, most importantly, free to use. Business schools generate MBATUBE profiles to which they “upload videos and information to be hosted on the site.” Institutions that sign up for MBATUBE have increased opportunities to boost targeted views, increase website traffic, improve SEO, and reach a “diverse global target audience.”
Participating schools include:
McCombs at University of Texas at Austin- Jones at Rice University
- Goizueta at Emory University
- Carnegie Mellon
- McDonough at Georgetown
- Haas at UC-Berkeley
- Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business
- Boston University Graduate School of Management
- Cornell’s Johnson School of Business
- University of Washington.
McCombs at University of Texas at AustinMBATUBE allows participating business schools to “access real-time analytics on videos” so they can “see how users react to [their] videos” and “get in touch with users who liked, shared, rated, commented or added videos to their playlist,” according to the site.
In addition to MBATUBE’s 85k+ FB followers and 6k+ Twitter followers, the site generates 60k+ views per month with an “8-minute average stick ratio.” The average age of visitors breaks down as follows:
- 35% between the ages of 18-24
- 30% between 25-34
- 27% between 35-44.
And the breakdown by country, according to the site:
- 21% India
- 14% US
- 10% UK
- 8% Netherlands
- 8% Germany
- 6% South Korea
- 5% Indonesia
- 2% Vietnam, France, Nigeria.
Prospective post-grads tend to undertake thorough research into potential programs so they can make informed decisions about which school will offer the biggest bang for their buck. MBATUBE posits on its site that business students in particular tend to “engage with institutional admissions staff and pose critical questions before embarking on their program of choice.”
MBATUBE allows prospective students to “compare hundreds of MBA programs,” view promos, testimonials, and lecture videos; create playlists, perform global searches for all matching MBA programs, and share videos with their social media network.
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
