What are the biggest video marketing trends of 2016?

Video marketing certainly isn't new, but the growing need for visual content across distribution channels has turned it into one of the biggest trends of 2016.

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Date published
August 02, 2016 Categories

Video marketing certainly isn’t new, but the growing need for visual content across distribution channels has turned it into one of the biggest trends of 2016.

Hyperfine media has created a useful infographic highlighting the individual trends within video marketing, and here is my analysis of each of them.

Branded video content

It is predicted that video will account for 69% of all internet traffic by 2017. For brands, video content is a powerful way to:

Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat are the most popular social platforms for video content, and brands can benefit from each of them, depending on their target audience, their goals and their strategy.

Facebook

Native Facebook videos are favoured in Newsfeeds, and it’s no surprise that there has been an 3.6x increase in video content between 2014 and 2015. Brands are exploring how useful videos can be in their Facebook marketing strategy and Buzzfeed’s Tasty channel is the best example to showcase the power of video content.

Tasty started as a standalone Facebook page with short videos featuring easy recipes and it now counts 65 million likes, while it has also spread to more specific pages, adding an even wider audience to Buzzfeed’s reach.

Moreover, Facebook introduced 360 video, which opens the path to further opportunities of appealing video content. National Geographic was among the pages to try it out.

YouTube

YouTube counts more than a billion users and has seen its average viewing session rise to 40 minutes, which is 50% more from 2014.

Jamie Oliver’s FoodTube is among the most successful YouTube channels with its use of storytelling, counting 2 million subscribers who eagerly await every new video.

Snapchat

Snapchat currently counts 10 billion views daily from dedicated users who catch up with the latest creative (and ephemeral) content.

Many brands have already started experimenting with Snapchat’s unique appeal and vertical video seems to be effective on its own, as it leads to a more engaging experience.

Landing page videos and product videos

Many ecommerce pages have discovered how effective video can be, either in a landing page, or in the promotion of a product.

It has been observed that video can increase conversions up to 80%, while 88% of visitors will stay longer on a site that showcases the right video.

Video content can be found in the “About Us” section of a page, as a way to introduce the company to customers, which has proven to be very successful for Zappos and its famous company culture.

What’s more, many ecommerce sites feature videos in the product pages, in order to allow customers to get a complete idea of the product, as ASOS does with the catwalk for its clothing.

This leads to an improved trust and confidence among customers who feel that a video is a more realistic representation of the actual product.

Use of GIFs on social channels

GIFs are very useful in a content marketing strategy and they’re handy for sharing shorter versions or teasers of longer-form video content.

GIFs have been used by brands mostly on social media and email marketing and they can form part of a brand’s promotion, customer service or even the company culture.

Many brands have included GIFs as reactions when dealing with customers on Twitter, while Tumblr may be the ideal medium for a brand to become creative and Disney certainly knows how to use its content, which makes it the most popular brand on the platform.

Storytelling via live streaming

Live video is a very interesting video trend that no brand can ignore and Facebook’s decision to join the game of live streaming made it more competitive.

It has been observed that people spend 3x more time watching Facebook Live videos compared to ‘normal’ videos. 

Snapchat has also focused on live streaming, curating the best videos into relevant stories, giving everyone an insight of the world at any moment. Discover may be popular, but Live Stories also attract 10 to 20 million viewers every day, which proves the opportunities they may offer to branded content.

Periscope is another interesting platform to explore live streaming and it has already established its presence in storytelling, as more and more users (and brands) take advantage of its broadcasting services.

There is an estimated 15% of brands using Periscope, while its recent announcement of replay highlights and tweet embeds create more opportunities for branded content, whether it’s a sneak peak, live coverage of an event, or a press conference.

Videos in email marketing

The use of video content in email marketing has proven to be very effective, leading to a 50% increase in CTR, but also a 35% increase in customer loyalty.

It’s even more interesting that recipients prefer seeing the word ‘video’ in subject lines, which leads to an increased open rate of 19%.

A brand may use video content in an email for:

Training courses seem to make the most effective types of video content, with product demos being the second most effective choice, while brand image messages do not seem to be very effective, at least not in the way some brands want them to be.

This article was originally published in longer form on our sister website ClickZ.

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