[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Over the past several years, video has proven to be an integral component of content marketing, and surely marketers will be depending even more heavily on video content in the coming year. Video marketing can make a huge impact on your business goals by enhancing brand awareness, brand identity and brand authority, as well as increasing web traffic, capturing, nurturing and converting more viewers to customers.

Considering the massive benefits of an effective video marketing strategy, it’s well worth keeping an eye on the latest video marketing trends. While a “trend” always seems to sound like something superfluous, these trends are driven by the development of technology; for example, the emergence of mobile devices, apps and new social platforms.

So don’t dismiss the importance of trends – they show you new avenues through which your prospective customers can be reached. Here are five video marketing trends that your businesses should be taking up this year:

1.  Documentary-Style Storytelling

As video continues to expand, and more and more businesses are creating video, it’s crucial to make your brand stand out, to keep viewers deeply engaged, and to be memorable. Storytelling has always been an important part of marketing, and that will continue ten-fold as access to video continues to grow.

Video makes telling your story a sensory-rich experience and can evoke feelings of happiness, inspiration, excitement, power and much more. One of the best ways to tell a story is with a professionally filmed and edited ‘mini-doc’.

The trend of mini-docs has grown in recent years, and these short documentary-style videos are one of the best uses of professional filming and editing services. All types of businesses can benefit from a professionally filmed and edited mini-doc, by creating a story about the business (or an aspect of the business) that can live on as ‘evergreen’ content – content that can be used for an ongoing, longer period of time.

The richness of the look and style of a professionally-produced video adds a positive perception of your brand to your website or other digital home. So, while this is a trend that has existed for a little while now, it’s also a cornerstone of video marketing that isn’t going away anytime soon.

2. Creating Videos for Multiple Devices

For years, video content has frequently been referred to many people as a “YouTube video”, because YouTube is the only place many people knew of for sharing and viewing video. Well that has certainly changed!

Don’t get me wrong, YouTube is still a huge ‘player’ (pun intended) in the world of online video; It’s owned by Google and a key part of Google’s search algorithms that help to prove legitimacy and relevance. But other resources, like social media platforms, are gaining on YouTube and in some ways surpassing it with regard to video engagement power.

This means you should post your video content on more than just a single location, which also means you’ll have to be a bit more thoughtful about what you’re sharing, who your audience is, and where you’ll be reaching these viewers.

As you plan out your video marketing goals, you’ll want to take into account the various specifications and styles of engagement that occur on these platforms. With minor tweaks, you can craft videos for each that communicate the same message.

3. Ensuring Your Video Content is Mobile Friendly

Video content these days needs to be mobile friendly. If your videos are being shared online, in an app, via email, or social media platform, it’s more than likely that over half of your viewers will be watching it on a mobile device.

In fact, over 48% of millennials say they view videos solely on their mobile device. (Animoto) When viewing via mobile, it’s all about effortless experience.

If content does not show up well on a mobile device, the viewer is likely to drop out and start their online search over often opting for a competitor with a more optimal mobile presence.

A few tips for making your videos more mobile friendly are:

• Avoid lengthy introductions, grab viewers’ attention within 5 seconds.
• If new viewers are being targeted, keep your videos short, ideally under 1 minute. Viewers can see the length of your video before they even press play, so make it short enough for new viewers to invest their time. Use longer videos for those interested in more details.
• Use on-screen text or subtitles.  Many people get exposed to a video as they’re browsing online with no sound active. Clue them into your video with on-screen text.
• Make sure the experience of viewing requires minimal effort or wait-time on the part of the viewer. Test out various hosting platforms or ways of accessing your videos.

4. The Use of Temporary Video Content

One of the most popular social media channels, Snapchat, is based on sharing video content that is temporary, only available for viewing for a limited amount of time. This caters to engaging audiences that are on social regularly and don’t want to miss a thing!

Temporary video content taps into a feeling of exclusivity, and Snapchat has proven that temporary video content can be effective with a predicted 217 million daily active users by the end of this year. Temporary video content can also feel very honest and transparent, working like a behind-the-scenes portal into your daily life.

This type of video content typically lacks polish and a professional touch, which gives it a more raw and honest feeling. Depending on your business, offering this type of raw, authentic insight can be highly valuable.

If you’re a business that is concerned with compliance or sensitive issues, you can set rules about what aspects of your company you discuss in which ways: informal social content vs. professional edited video content.

5. Live Streaming Video Content

In past years two major social channels, Twitter and Facebook, invested heavily in live streaming, with Twitter changing the landscape just a bit with their live-streaming app Periscope.

Now Facebook and Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) have adopted the same Periscope-style option of live broadcasting, and many businesses are finding these options invaluable!

Much like temporary video, Live Streaming offers a more raw, authentic portal-like view behind-the-scenes or on-the-scene with your business.  It gives individuals a chance to broadcast and host their own live show.

• Live streaming is a great way to:
• Unveil or demonstrate a new product.
• Give viewers a look inside a special event or conference.
• Have a casual interview with a member of your company (if compliance isn’t an issue).

Share content that would ordinarily be shared in your blog, such as daily tips or how-to’s.

These five video marketing trends have been around, but continue to evolve and grow along with social trends and the needs of customers and clients. These trends will continue have a big impact on video marketing, and content marketing in general.

While some can be done on your own with nothing but a smartphone, never overlook the value of also offering professionally filmed and edited content as well.

Most importantly, be sure to have a well-planned video marketing strategy to decide what types of video content you’ll be sharing, what will work best to help you achieve your business goals, and how you plan to measure and adjust to reach success. A professional video production agency can help you get started and optimize your content along the way!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_raw_js]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[/vc_raw_js][/vc_column][/vc_row]