As videos are becoming more popular with individuals and brands, video marketing will be getting increased attention. This rising consumption of video content is why everyone is jumping on the video marketing bandwagon. It won’t be wrong to assume that if you shy away from video marketing, your brand might no longer be able to compete.
Take Video Marketing Out of the Toolbox and Put It to Work!
With the increased customer engagement, more and more brands are experimenting with different video formats to modify their marketing strategies, and tailor them in a way that will be most appealing to the audience.
8 Hot Video Marketing Trends
In recent years, we’ve seen some new emerging trends in the video marketing world. Here are a few things you should look out for if you’re planning to start your video marketing journey,
1. Live Video Streaming Is on the Rise
Live video is the new marketing tool for businesses. There’s no longer any need to make a video and put it on a video-specific platform. Just go live and give a sneak peek into your business – go behind the stage, flaunt your workplace, address customer queries – it can work wonders for you. With the launch of Facebook Live, this trend has gained more popularity, with multiple brands using it to showcase their awesome products and company culture.
Live video has more appeal: 80% would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, and 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts.
In fact, when it comes to live video other platforms haven’t fallen behind – Twitter also launched its Live video feature soon after Facebook Live rolled out.
More and more brands are turning towards live videos for advertising. Live videos are helping brands build better relationships with their customers.
2. Rise in the Popularity of Homepage Videos
With around 55% of users spending less than 15 seconds on a page, many conversion prophets have got a new trick up their sleeves to make users stay. Behold, the homepage videos.
If you’ve noticed, most websites today have an explainer video on their homepage. Explainer videos are like a sales pitch, showcasing your business idea and benefits in 60–90 seconds. Since people love watching videos, you can be sure that your website visitors will stay to watch the video. Plus, since these homepage videos are designed to impress and convert the viewer, a number of SaaS companies like Dropbox (got 10 million additional customers), CrazyEgg ($21,000 additional revenue each month) and RankWatch (27% higher account signups) have all revealed stunning conversion success reports.
3. The Emergence of 360-Degree Videos
The concept of 360-degree video is fun and engaging. Users have shown interest in watching content in 360-degree format. Magnifyre has shown that the same video gets 28.81% more viewers when published in 360-degree format.
Here’s a 360-degree video published by Microsoft that gives a 360-degree view of the quietest room on Earth.
While this format may not be suitable or economically viable for every brand, it can help boost your sales if used properly.
4. More Marketers Are Using Videos in Email Marketing
Combining email and video will help shift the focus from heavy text content, and will help businesses rely on videos to promote their brand. Just using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19%. Plus, email with videos gets click-through rates of up to 65% more.
NotifyFox tested out the potential of video in their cold pitch emails and got 100+ new users from their campaign. Here’s the video they used.
Email marketing gives your video more exposure, which means that the power of email and video content is combined in one.
5. Disappearing Video Content – Watch It or Miss It
With Instagram’s video story feature and Snapchat’s temporary videos, we can expect the rise of “disappearing” video content in the future.
With billions of new content pieces created each day, know that your yesterday’s content will fade away into digital purgatory. No wonder – platforms like Instagram and Snapchat already offer temporary video content that disappears after a while. Various brands have made effective campaigns with this feature.
Such content should be actionable and create a sense of urgency in the user. You can use such video content for promoting ongoing offers (with deadlines) or something like WWF did for a good cause. Check out their #LastSelfie Campaign.
6. More Companies Are Spending on Pre-, Mid- and Post-Roll Video Ads
Despite being interruptive advertising elements, these video ads have helped many brands in reaching out to their audience and turning them into customers.
These ad formats deliver the message in a short time-frame, and can be very effective in helping you establish your online presence. We mostly see these pre-, mid- or post-roll video ads on YouTube. Remember the “skip in 5 seconds” ads that pop up at the start of the video? Well those are pre-roll video ads. If designed well, these video ad stories can get viral.
7. Multichannel Video Marketing
Video content is no longer restricted to YouTube. Social media platforms have offered exposure to video content, thereby offering more visibility.
Due to the diversity of platforms available, you can reach out to a wide variety of audiences. In fact, due to the different nature of these marketing channels, you get a plethora of options to choose from.
Multichannel marketing allows flexibility. With so many marketing channels available, it has become easier to target the right audience.
Also, consumers that see ads in multiple channels convert 24% more than those who see it on one.
8. Animated GIFs for Engagement and Sales
The recent outburst of this trend can easily be seen on Twitter. Animated GIFs are similar to videos but cost less time and effort to produce. These GIFs are great to convey an idea, to create humor, or to tell stories.
GIFs come with multiple advantages. Your audience can understand the message easily, plus it connects with them on an emotional level.
Also, considering the fact that there are various free tools that allow you to generate GIFs, they make for a cost-effective marketing strategy – whether you intend to use it on social media or in newsletters to your subscribers.
Create Good Content Using these Video Marketing Tips
These changing trends offer you various ways to engage your customers. Go live, and give a 360-degree glimpse to your audience. Use animated GIFs and incorporate some humor to tickle the funny bone. Above all, monetize these strategies by making use of multi-channel marketing.
Before we go, here are some tips for creating good video content:
Create multiple short videos instead of a long one.
Instead of stuffing all your content into just one video, it’s better to split it in multiple videos so it doesn’t become too heavy for the user. This especially holds true for tutorial videos. Split them up into small explainer videos.
Focus on the timing, because timing is everything!
User engagement is directly influenced by the length of the video. If you don’t want to lose your video content to digital purgatory, make sure the video doesn’t drag on too long.
Speak in the language of your target audience.
It isn’t necessary to stick with a formal tone all the time. You can make it informal, crack jokes – do anything that engages your audience and connects with them on a personal level.
Video Marketing Is Here to Stay
Again, feel free to be light-hearted and non-formal in your video when appropriate, but this new age in video marketing must absolutely be taken seriously. According to Cisco, videos will be eating about 82% of all internet traffic by 2021.
Look at it from your own point of view – you’re almost surely a consumer of video content yourself, so you have first-hand knowledge of the importance of this trend. Boost your video marketing today starting with the trends above and the tips for good content. And let us hear how it works out!
Have you noticed any new video marketing trends or techniques? Let us know in the comments.
