For many years now, video content has been at the forefront of most digital marketing trends. In fact, over 1.3 million videos are uploaded on various platforms every day. Think about that number for a minute. That is a staggering figure. But what’s even more impressive is where the majority of these videos are being posted. Most now involve social media platforms rather than websites and platforms like YouTube. That includes Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and of course, TikTok. Understanding that’s where consumers are, it’s no surprise digital marketing trends are encouraging a greater video presence.
A large push encouraging these digital marketing trends has naturally been the pandemic. With millions working from home and dealing with virtual platforms, increased consumption of video content was inevitable. At the same time, mobility trends are also driving change. Those on mobile devices prefer short-form and vertical videos. Short-form implies brevity, often a few minutes or less in duration. Vertical videos are those designed to be seen in portrait orientations, which are ideal for mobile devices. Not only do the majority of consumers prefer video content, they are increasingly migrating to these formats.
“The consumption of online video is growing rapidly, and the average person will spend half as much time viewing online video as they spend viewing conventional television this year.” -Jonathan Barnard, Head of Forecasting at Zenith
Digital Marketing Trends in Video Editing
As you might appreciate, posting a long-form video on a social media or mobile platform isn’t likely to attract viewership. These are ideal for websites and other video platforms like Vimeo or YouTube. Plus, they offer the ability to provide SEO content marketing in related articles. But short-form and vertical videos are needed for briefly accessed mobile sites. And businesses don’t want to reinvent the wheel or start from scratch when developing this aspect of their digital marketing. The answer? Taking long-form videos and editing them into short-form and vertical videos and fragments.
Though not readily available today, marketing experts see third-party applications and services soon meeting this rising demand. In the meantime, businesses will want to partner with the right digital marketing professionals to achieve this task. That means seeking out those with the right tools, processes and talent to create short-form and vertical videos from long-form ones. Likewise, since major social media and brief-video platforms use similar advertising models, a single strategy can be devised for all. Companies that do this well and efficiently will be able to exploit these evolving digital marketing trends.
“Video AI is currently being developed from what is essentially a creation point of view, identifying which parts of videos users resonate with, chopping and changing them, then re-serving them as an optimized form of content, which I think is quite interesting.” – Macy Edwards, Director of Digital Paid Media, Clickthrough Marketing
Digital Marketing Trends in Live Videos
When it comes to short-form and vertical videos, live videos are the most underutilized marketing tool. Survey after survey reveals that live video content is by far the most engaging and enjoys the greatest organic reach. Yet, it is also the least-used type of marketing content that businesses pursue. This has been clearly evident since Facebook Live was introduced in 2015. However, with everyone becoming more comfortable with live virtual platforms through videoconferencing, thing is rapidly changing. Most people have become quite comfortable with content creation apps. Thus, greater acceptance of live short-form and vertical videos has emerged among both companies and consumers.
With these digital marketing trends are noteworthy alone, live video marketing is now expanding into retail marketing. Real-time shopping videos are common on Facebook and Instagram. This is especially true as Instagram Reels extended posts to 30 seconds. Likewise, younger consumers are seeking TikTok and Snapchat videos containing similar content. Short-form and vertical videos that are informative, educational, and entertaining gain the most traction. For any retailer, this could be huge when it comes to attracting customers.
“…It could easily be argued that video is in fact the most powerful. Why? Simple! It’s all-encompassing. It allows viewers to see, hear and feel the content on a far deeper emotional level.” – Martin O’Toole, Freelance Brand Strategist
Storytelling with Short-form and Vertical Videos
All types of video content offer the potential to connect with consumers at a deeper level. If pictures are a thousand words, then videos must be in the millions. But it can be challenging to accomplish this in a sustained way when it comes to short-form and vertical videos. Brevity is sometimes not in your favor, and companies naturally want customers to return. As noted, educational and entertaining video content is one way to create brand followership. But another great way involves story-telling. Many marketing gurus suspect story-telling will be among the top digital marketing trends to come.
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The anticipated strategy to achieve this using short-form and vertical videos involves proper video sequencing. Think about a television program interrupted by commercials. Each segment of the program leads to the next, which keeps the viewer engaged. In a similar way, short-form and vertical videos would do the same thing. But instead of commercials, the intervening activity would be whatever consumers chose to do before coming back to your site. Digital marketing trends suspect some type of cliffhanger or ongoing story will keep customers attentive. And by doing this in an informative, authentic and entertaining way, companies can gain greater followings.
A Changing Algorithm Landscape in Digital Marketing
Without question, SEO content will continue to be relevant and drive customers to your platforms. However, short-form and vertical videos don’t permit SEO to provide a ranking algorithm like other content formats. Instead, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and others utilize alternative data for ranking. This may include visitors’ reactions, comments, or number of shares. It may also involve user interests, posting dates, and prior video interactions. These will evolve in the coming years, and it will be important to keep up with these digital marketing trends. But either way, short-form and vertical videos are here and a must for today’s modern business.
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