Well, the stats are in, and it’s official. The World Cup – considered by many to be the largest, most watched sporting event in the world – did in fact post the largest online video viewing numbers of all time as measured by a whole host of outlets and measurement services. Big deal, right? It’s a no brainer that we’d see such staggering numbers for the World Cup – I mean, it’s the bloody World Cup! One of a handful of events in our globalized, 24/7 media input world that can still rally that kind of focus and participation. So – yea – it’s no surprise we broke records for online viewership. Why should we care anyway? And what does this mean about how our companies and organizations should be thinking about online video now and in the immediate future?

The main reason why I cared is not because I’m a diehard soccer fan, but because we just expected to be able to watch the games. Live. Wherever we were at that moment. In good quality. With good audio (vuvuzelas notwithstanding). And a host of other features to keep us interested. And we did. Online. Over the phone. It’s amazing how quickly we’ve come to expect that we can consume a live event of the magnitude of the World Cup online. I mean – that is cool.

But does it matter to your business? How does this relate at all? In some ways, of course, it doesn’t. Sports have been a driver for many of the mega-events in recent online video history, primarily due to the nature of the events themselves. But outside of the media world – what does this mean for your online video strategy:

Go global. If your company has a global presence this event certainly confirmed what you may already know….that audiences around the globe have the capability and desire to consume online video. But don’t just throw anything out there. Make sure you provide the proper translations and content to fit the needs of the region you are targeting.

Interactivity = engagement. The majority of the implementations had a high level of interactive features woven into the experience. The ESPN3 player allowed the ability to switch between games, languages, get stats, chat with others. It’s not just about providing the moving pictures. The ability to customize players with interactive details and hot spots is growing quickly and provides many businesses with the ability to create more engagement and calls to action towards your ultimate business goal.

Be where your users are. The success of online video with an event like the World Cup hinged directly on providing fans the ability to get their fix wherever they were – at work, on the road, at home. This means thinking not just about video on your website but also how to syndicate your assets externally and how you might leverage mobile platforms to deliver your message to your users.