Top trends in video marketing

We are halfway into the year 2020, and my! What a year it has been! A lot has been going on lately, and we can see that from a safe distance. Thanks to videos.

It might interest you to know that a Hubspot study reveals that more than 50% of consumers want to see videos more than any other type of content.

A business approach and marketing tactic which involves using videos to promote your product or service is the definition of video marketing.

Knowing that video marketers get 66% more qualified leads annually, it is only fair to say that video marketing has taken on a life of its own. These videos increase engagement, educate consumers, and deliver messages efficiently in a short span of time.

With that being said, we are going to pay attention to the top trends in video marketing. Whether you are already a fan of video marketing, or you are yet to come on board, you should know what’s hot!

If you know what trends, you’ll have your video marketing on lock, and reap awesome benefits.

We are about to plunge into an ocean of facts and stats. Brace yourself!

1. Personalized Videos

A personalized video is a video that is tailored to suit each member of your audience. 

With the help of any video personalization platform, the same video can be used repeatedly, though some elements of personalization will be inserted. These elements of personalization include things like the viewer’s name, his image, job title or even email address.

Such a video can be used to respond to an inquiry, deliver support or simply show appreciation.

Since it reaches customers on a personal level, it can help drive sales. As a matter of fact, a survey reveals that more than 80% of people want brands to get to know them.

Additionally, many brands have noticed 16 times higher click-through-rates and 4.5 times increase in unique click-throughs with the integration of personalized videos.

Implementing personalized videos helps you form a powerful bond with your audience. It also makes you tower high above your competitors. 

They demonstrate that you have your customers’ best interests at heart. Therefore, you become their go-to brand in times of need.

The outcome? Greater conversions.

2. Vertical Videos

Having to hold your mobile device horizontally every time you want to view a clip is one of the most annoying things in the 21st century. Let’s admit it.

Vertical videos are videos that are made to be viewed in a portrait mode (therefore eliminating those annoying black spaces by the sides of the clip when viewed vertically). This produces a taller image instead of the regular landscape image that we have known for decades.

Many years ago, we would have writhed in laughter at this idea. However, smartphones and mobile apps seem to be having the laugh presently.

We hold our phones vertically almost all the time, and vertical videos are more convenient for mobile viewers. This is a high score as far as user-experience goes because the majority of Internet users are on mobile.

Also, the modern-day titans (I’m talking about social platforms such as Instagram and Facebook) have embraced vertical videos. These platforms are the actual influencers of our day and incidentally have a say in what trends in video marketing.

If they say vertical videos, then vertical videos it is!

On Snapchat, vertical videos are watched 9 times more than horizontal videos. Ultimately, Instagram introduced the IGTV which allows you to post videos that are up to 60 minutes long. However, the video must be vertical.

If that isn’t the last straw!

Furthermore, big brands are jumping on the train and consumers are giving them the thumbs up. A survey shows that 79% of consumers prefer the vertical format, while 65% of consumers regard brands that incorporate vertical videos as innovative brands.

Honestly, trends come and go, but when we look into the horizon, it is clear that vertical videos are here to stay (that pun was actually intended, but it works just right!).

3. Interactive Videos

These are videos that enable the viewer to perform digital actions with the video content itself. The viewers can click, scroll, and even drag elements on the video as they would with texts and buttons on the web.

Instances of elements that make a video interactive are:

• Form fields in which a user can enter data such as their name, email, job title, etc.
• Branches which indicate the different parts which a user can take to control the content they see
• Clickable areas termed hotspots which can take the viewer to another page or display content within the video
• A combination of buttons and branching to form quizzes which produce an assessment and a result when the video ends.

Interactive videos aren’t just one of those trends in video marketing that are here today and gone tomorrow. In fact, consumers care about media they can interact with and watch them 44% longer than linear videos.

Consequently, brands are increasingly implementing them as interactive videos account for 36% of all video content produced.

Interactive videos are more engaging, thus, more memorable. Research has shown that it commands attention and sports a whopping 591% growth in user activity for brands that implement it.

They have also proven to be 32% more memorable.

They are trackable, delightful, and all-round effective as Wyzowl discovered from 78% of the marketers who use it. Interestingly, they have been found to score a conversion rate that is 11% more than banner ads, Google display ads, and YouTube annotations score.

Interactive videos are a thing. Pure and simple.

4. Vlogging

Do you know what a blog is? I’m sure you do.

Well, a vlog is a video blog. As a form of web television, it has videos instead of written content as its medium.

It involves frequently sharing videos that feature the producer of the content capturing himself discussing issues of concern while going about his daily life.

Records indicate that on a global scale, 44% of Internet users watch a vlog each month. As if that isn’t enough, Emarketer reveals that there were at least 2.6 billion digital video viewers in 2019. 

That’s huge.

Seriously, vlogging is one of the hottest trends in video marketing right now and it is really popular on YouTube. It wouldn’t sport such popularity if it brought in no positive results. Just as blogs are important, so are vlogs.

Vlogging on YouTube can help you reach a wider audience because it makes your videos more accessible. YouTube usually makes recommendations to viewers. This can help with boosting your reach.

A smart move is to vlog both on YouTube and on your site. This will increase awareness and drive much-desired traffic to your site.

Did you know that vlogging on your site boosts your SEO? Factually, videos have been found to boost organic search traffic by 157%, while sites that include videos are 53 times more likely to pop up on the first page of Google.

Whether you run an e-commerce store or a membership site, vlogging can come in handy as an excellent conversion tool. 

Feel free to put a video on your landing page telling your audience why they should sign up, or pointing out the strengths of a product that you want them to buy. According to Unbounce, including a video on your landing page can boost your conversion rate by up to 80%. 

Go figure!

5. Long-form Videos

While it is a general opinion that videos should be short (what with the claims of a reducing attention span in humans, which I so fiercely debate!), long-form videos are on the rise.

The idea of what makes a video long is subjective to a certain degree. This depends on the platform on which it is being viewed, time constraints on the part of the viewer, etc.

But for general purposes, think 5 minutes upwards in video length.

These long-form videos have become increasingly popular in our day, thanks to the availability of the Internet and better video technology.

Additionally, the infinite growth of apps like YouTube, and the insatiable thirst of consumers for in-depth content have also contributed.

These videos create an emotional bond that makes the brand more memorable to the viewers. They give you room to add appealing elements such as tutorials and expert tips. Since you are contributing to the knowledge of your viewers, they’ll in return patronize you.

6. 360-degree Videos

These are videos in which a view in every direction is recorded at the same time. They are also called immersive videos or spherical videos.

They give a complete experience while watching them because you can control the viewing direction, much like you can turn your neck. Straight ahead is the basketball game, to the left and right are the spectators and cheerleaders. Above are the bright lights. 

You are in the center of it all. The cinematic experience is just… Wow!

360-degree videos continue their meteoric rise as one of the most popular trends in video marketing due to various reasons. 

Firstly, the panoramic view spices up the story and injects the element of emotion which captivates viewers. This, in turn, helps with the memorability of the brand. 

Secondly, it signifies to the audience that you are constantly evolving. People love a brand that knows what’s up.

Brands that have employed 360-degree videos have noticed remarkable improvements. They found that 360-degree videos received 29% more views and were watched to the end 2 times more than fixed-frame videos.

These brands have also recorded about 150 more shares and engagement with 360-degree videos than with regular videos.

There might always be disputes about whether the earth is flat or spherical. But whichever way the argument goes, we are certain that 360-degree videos are the order of the day. Because the Internet is no longer flat.

7. Video Testimonials 

These are just what the doctor ordered. They are videos of a satisfied customer or client talking about how a company’s product or service has been of great use to them.

In the video, the client introduces himself and states his business, the challenge he faced, and how the product or service was just the solution he needed.

The big deal about video testimonials? They are powerful conversion machines. The praises place the spotlight directly on your business, therefore attracting prospective clients who are lured by the good news.

They further build trust and credibility which are priceless gems for any business. The human element of “problem and solution” creates a bond between you and prospective customers.

Additionally, people are wary of salesy stuff these days. With a million and one marketing tactics buzzing around us, they could come across as annoying. However, people trust the accounts of persons who have been in similar situations.

Simply put, a satisfied customer is your best salesperson. A happy customer spreads the word.

8. Tutorial Videos

Another trend in video marketing is one that is really appealing to the present generation – tutorial videos.

These are videos that contain educational content and pass such information by allowing interaction with the video. They make for easy accessibility and transfer of information.

These videos have grown to be really popular in recent times. There are tons of them on YouTube and Instagram. They show off tips on countless subjects ranging from website creation to growing your own garden and everything in between.

Its steady growth is accounted for by the fact that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video. The 10% retained when the same message is read in a text just pales in comparison.

Add that to the fact that the videos are accessible at any time, and can be viewed on the go. That makes education easy and entertaining.

9. Soundless Optimization

The high-quality sounds and effects used in producing videos are some of life’s pleasures. However, we are better off without them sometimes.

Better even, we can enjoy the videos all the same.

Soundless optimization is the way forward. Videos that are optimized for silence are videos that are produced in a way that you can enjoy them perfectly without sound.

These videos utilize top-tier visual messaging, animations, closed captions, and on-screen instructions.

In public places, people tend to frown at noises coming from the devices of viewers. And when that cold stare comes your way, what do you do?

I guess silence is really the best answer after all.

There are a ton of other benefits of utilizing silent videos. These include the fact that there is no need to bother about sound in production. Also, captioned videos attain a 16% higher reach than regular videos.

They also have better comprehension and retention rates. Furthermore, optimized videos are favorable to the portion of the world who are hard of hearing.

Ultimately, captions help with SEO as they lace your video with metadata necessary for crawling and indexing. They receive 7.32% more views than non-captioned videos. 

To show how popular silent videos have become in our time, research has uncovered that 85% of videos on Facebook are watched without sound.

Amazing, right? Don’t say a word. 

10. Live Videos

 A Go-Globe study has shown that in this year 2020, live streaming is expected to account for 82% of all Internet traffic.

Live videos allow you to broadcast a live video feed to an online audience. It is a video technology that focuses on the present and shows (to a degree) the genuine nature of the producer.

With a live video, viewers can comment and react instantly to the video. This gives you an insight into how well people are concerned about you or your brand.

Facebook Live, YouTube Live and Instagram are the most popular live video services today.

Some benefits of live videos are:

• They can reach many people in a short time
• The ability to reach a target audience (your followers and subscribers)
• Budget-friendliness and easy production (your mobile device is all you need)
• A real-time engagement which is good for question and answer sessions

Live videos have stamped themselves as one of the foremost trends in video marketing. In fact,  67% of audiences who watched a live stream bought a ticket to attend such an event on subsequent occasions. While 80% of consumers prefer watching live videos to reading a brand’s blog.

Since 63% of people from the age of 18 to 34 watch live videos on a regular basis, there is no denying the fact that live videos are the now and the future.

11. Video Reportage

Video reportage involves the subjective representation of an event in a video by a person. Much like reporting news, it involves giving an account of events being observed.

When an event is on, it aims at capturing the buzz and bubble, with a person in the video speaking and giving detailed explanations of what’s going on. As one of the top trends in video marketing, it presents a splendid chance for the creation of valuable content.

Brands can use it to generate sufficient interest in their products and services. Video reportage can also be used to address criticisms and questions.

It serves businesses optimally because it indicates transparency. It avails the audience a good look at what’s involved in your business and the personalities behind it. Welcoming your prospective customers “backstage” is not something that too many would do.

A video reportage indicates that you are proud to communicate the values propping up your business. That, in turn, boosts your credibility.

12. Shoppable Videos

A shoppable video is a multimedia recording that enables a user to make an order directly from the video. It accomplishes this feat by displaying a product and the link to the vendor’s online store where a purchase can be made.

Actually, it is a kind of interactive video because the links displayed are clickable. It is one of the most valuable trends in video marketing because it achieves the goal of securing a sale without interrupting the customer’s enjoyment of the video.

Shoppable videos take advantage of the impulsive purchasing desire created by the video. 

Our generation loves convenience, so the shorter the customer’s journey, the better. The products displayed become instantly droppable in the buyer’s cart, therefore creating a highly simplified buying funnel.

Pepperidge Farm implemented shoppable videos and noticed that engagement, add-to-cart rates, and checkout were 8 more times higher than they normally realized. Additionally, UnderArmour noticed a 15% decrease in drop rates. 

With shoppable videos, you can be certain about which elements of your marketing are performing optimally. You can equally engage your prospective customers with personalized tactics for improved outcomes.

13. Optimization for Different Channels

This trend involves following each platform’s algorithm’s rules while going about your video marketing campaign.

Videos that are optimized for the various channels experience improved reach and record higher engagement.

For instance, it is much better to upload a native video than to merely share a link to the video on Facebook and Twitter. Sharing a link might cost you about 5% of organic traffic on Facebook, while on Twitter, native videos afford you more than double the replies and the retweets an ordinary link can fetch.

Other steps that can be taken towards the optimization of videos for various channels include:

• Utilizing stunning graphics and images
• Making vertical videos
• Optimizing the videos for silence
• Picking a compelling thumbnail
• Utilizing a catchy description in the headline

14. Virtual Reality

This is a video technology that has made its mark in the world of gaming but has carried the same effect into the video marketing ecosystem.

With virtual reality, you envelop your audience in your world, giving them a feel of what they would have if they purchased your product. As a trail-blazing marketing move, virtual reality can come in handy for businesses in the hotel, real estate, and tourism industries.

Using virtual reality, prospective customers can explore the locations first and enjoy the scenery of the destination before making a booking. Now, they know what they’re missing!

The greater the immersion, the greater the memorability. In fact, science has proven that virtual reality aids recall, and even create false memories. Those last three words are sure to put smiles on the faces of marketers.

The unstoppable train that is virtual reality is expected to grow to a global market size of $22.9 billion by the end of 2020. Also, the number of installed virtual reality headsets is estimated to grow to 37 million in 2020.     

The feeling of immersion that virtual reality gives is worth experiencing.

Last words

Finally, it is safe to say that these trends are the rave of the moment in video marketing. If you have integrated video marketing into your campaign, kudos! But you can take it a rung higher with these trends, though.

If you are yet to embrace video marketing, step your game up and market the hell outta yo business. You’d be thankful you did.

Next stop? Go ahead and read my post on how to improve your video marketing. Lots of good stuff in there for ya!

What other buzzing trends in video marketing do you know? How has video marketing impacted your business? Let me know in the comments.

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