As we project our way to 2021, it’s no secret that video marketing is a standout way to reach your audience. As the medium has developed over the past few years, one thing has become extremely apparent: the sky is your limit. As a business, you have the potential to explore a number of different creative avenues to test the waters of what works and what doesn’t for your target audience. It’s about engaging with your audience and entertaining them in a memorable way, to create a lasting impression of your business. You have the opportunity to combine storytelling with marketing, taking your viewers on a journey that both draws them in and entices them to stay.
There are a number of trends that have emerged showing the direction video marketing is taking, which as a business you can capitalise on. If you are looking for a starting place for your video marketing, these key video trends will give you the motivation you need to get started on engaging video content for your business.
Trend #1:
Training Videos
Right now, the digital era has well and truly taken over and users are bombarded with advertisements on a daily basis. From TV, scrolling the internet and jumping onto social media, you will be met with ads each step of the way. So how do you help your business stand out? One of the latest emerging trends is that of educational videos. It’s about adding value to your viewers, encouraging them to stop scrolling and listen. Touching on both auditory and visual senses, videos are a fantastic medium to produce effective and compelling how-to tutorials, lectures and more. The key: don’t make it an advertisement. Instead, find a topic that resonates both with your audience and your product and/or service on offer, and add value.
Did you know, 65% of people use YouTube to help them solve a problem. From renovating their bathroom to getting a splinter out of their hand, they are searching for video content to help. Sharing bits of knowledge or information goes a long way in building trust with your audience and engaging them in a memorable manner.
Trend #2:
Mobile Video is Growing Stronger!
Mobile video consumption rises by 100% each year. In fact, people are 1.5 times more likely to watch a video on their mobile phone. This is a key trend that you need to factor into your video marketing strategy. From Facebook and Instagram stories, to IGTV and YouTube, mobile videos can be displayed in a number of different forms to reach your target audience. From explainer videos that show how your product and/or service works to live videos where you host Q&As with your audience and engage them in real-time.
It’s only recently that video editing apps have become mainstream, with more and more apps being released to help businesses create eye-catching mobile videos quickly and effectively that can be auto resized to the dimensions of your choice. Studies have shown that captions are essential when it comes to mobile videos, as 80% of them are consumed with the sound off.
Trend #3:
It’s Getting Personal
Customers no longer want to just see a brand, they want to go behind the brand and meet the people and processes that bring it all together. Vlogs are the third most-popular video form (coming in after how-to videos and educational videos) and are a popular way to connect a brand with its customers. The idea is to humanise your brand. Leave behind the filtered, professional, company videos and dig deeper into the raw, authentic approach to connect with viewers.
The great part? This is much more cost-effective than professional video editing and much easier to do. But like any other marketing strategy, you need a plan in place. Think about your brand and what you offer and how you to can go behind the scenes to add value to your audience. This has the added benefit of making your brand more approachable and developing that key ingredient when it comes to marketing: trust.
Trend #4:
Live Videos
By 2021, live streaming is set to become a $70 billion industry. As far as engagement goes, being available to your audience and able to answer their questions in real-time both forms a vital connection and engages them. There are a number of different ways you can reach your customers, such as live webinars, Q&A sessions, product demonstrations and more. You can even ask people to send in their questions and go live to answer them one by one. This is an effective way of bridging the gap between brand and customer, and allowing for that deeper level of interaction.
The best part? Live videos are often prioritised in the social media algorithms for the simple fact they are happening in real-time. They also hook viewers for three times longer than recorded videos, with six times more interactions.
Trend #5:
Ease of Video Creation
The final trend that is taking us over into 2021 is the ease in which videos can now be created. If you go back just a few years, video product required specialised equipment, the commitment of a dedicated team and the investment of a large chunk of marketing dollars. In just the past two years alone, we have seen the advent of online software, apps and tools that are making video production more accessible. This is likely to continue over the next few years, as more and more apps enter the market to make creating eye-catching, compelling video content across a range of mediums even easier. We’ve even launched a service called ‘Shoot It Yourself‘ that supports you to shoot your own content.
The Future of Video Marketing
Video marketing will continue to skyrocket into 2021, making the need for an effective strategy a priority for each and every business. By utilising these trends we can already see emerging, you have the ability to put together an effective marketing strategy that has the potential to reach more customers than ever before.
If you’d like to get started on creating video content, please reach out and we can discuss the possibilities.
