Video is one of the most powerful ways to interact with people in a digital space, due to its highly engaging nature. Many businesses are now beginning to take notice of this. In 2021 86% of businesses said they used video as a marketing tool. Video is now rightly seen as a necessity in a marketing strategy and not just nice-to-have.
In order to build a successful video marketing strategy, it’s important to forecast video trends so you can stay ahead of them. In this blog, we’re going to share some of our predictions for video trends in 2022.
1. Live Streaming
Video live streaming became massively popular in 2021 due to the inability to host in-person events. Live streaming became essential for businesses that wanted to stay connected during lockdowns. Last year really set a precedent for live streaming capabilities, it proved that almost any event could become digital. We believe that live streaming will remain a popular form of online content in 2022.
With almost every video sharing platform now featuring live streaming video capabilities, it’s becoming increasingly easy to create live video streams. Audiences love live videos; they feel authentic and can be interacted with in real-time.
2. Interactive Video
Interactive video isn’t by any means a new technology however, it is growing in popularity. With interactive video the audience is no longer a passive viewer but an active participant, encouraging deeper engagement.
This year Feature Media partnered up with Digma to create an interactive video demo. The Digma platform allowed us to add interactive overlays onto a video, providing the viewer with links and information pop-outs. To view our interactive video, click here.
3. User-Generated Video
More brands are now using user-generated video in their advertising campaigns. 85% of consumers say that they find user-generated content more trustworthy and nearly 70% find it more authentic. Often user-generated video adverts work particularly well on social channels because they blend in perfectly with surrounding content, getting more engagement. User-generated content can still of course be ‘produced’, given guidelines so that best quality and accessibility are ensured.
At Feature Media, we recently produced a user-generated social campaign for Spray Plant UK. The video was made from videos that customers submitted to be reposted on Spray Plant UK’s Instagram page. This advert performed well getting 60,000 impressions, higher than a test video, which was heavily branded.
4. Video Designed for “Sound off”
Social media sites auto-play videos without sound as a default setting, so the majority of videos consumed on social media platforms are being watched on mute.
This has resulted in many videos, destined for social media now being designed for sound off.
To optimise your video content, keep to the rule of “design for sound off, delight for sound on”. This may mean adding closed captions to your video content, to make your video more accessible to a wider audience. A good practice for accessibility anyway.
Here is an example of an explainer video designed for sound off by Tech Insider. This video uses great visuals to break down a complicated subject. They also haven’t overused text so it’s easy for people to follow along and digest the information.
5. Vertical Video
More content than ever is being viewed on mobile devices and because of this there is an increasing demand for vertically ordinated video. Portrait video takes up more of a mobile screen and therefore demands more of the users’ attention, and as a result better engagement. Vertical videos have a 90% higher completion rate than horizontal videos, with less than 30 of mobile users watching videos horizontally.
When posting videos to social channels it is always best to create portrait or square videos for the best engagement. If you’re having difficulty deciding what format to post your video, get in touch or read our blog here.
Here is a video we created sharing some staisitcs on vertical vs horizontal video (this is also an exmaple of a video desgined for sound off).
6. Search Optimised Video
One way to boost your search engine ranking is with video content. Often video is overlooked for search engine optimisation (SEO) as many believe that text is the only contributing factor. However, Google now puts video snippets next to 26% of search results, as it encourages better click-through rates. By properly search optimising your videos; adding relevant titles, meta tags and meta descriptions, your video is more likely to be pushed to the top of search results.
For advice and support regarding any of the marketing trends laid out in our blog, get in touch.