Susan Friesen — January 18, 2020 
Video Content Marketing Trends & Tips
In the past few years we’ve seen a massive increase in video content popping up online, and there’s no sign of it slowing down.
From creating webinars to putting short clips in emails, a video marketing strategy is a must if you want to truly engage with your audience in order to improve brand awareness and boost leads and sales.
According to Wyzowl, a company that creates animated explainer footage, 83% of marketers say video helps them with lead generation, and 87% say it has increased traffic to their website.
Some other benefits include:
- It’s good for SEO. If your stuff is compelling enough to attract views and shares, your Google search ranking can improve.
- It’s a timesaver. It doesn’t take long to create short yet engaging clips in comparison to writing an article or blog.
- It’s affordable. It can be more cost-effective to create a short clip vs. producing an ad or a blog.
- It gets attention. People may scroll through written words, but most will at least give a glance to interesting footage.
As we head into 2020, here are three video content marketing trends you can expect to see going forward.
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Vertical videos.
Just when everyone seemed to get the memo that horizontal filming is best, vertical videos come along! This is because consumers watch a lot of things on smartphones.
Instagram and Snapchat were the first to utilize vertical videos in Stories, and Instagram Television (IGTV) was next.
Here’s how Netflix used vertical digital marketing videos to showcase previews.
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Live streaming.
This refers to anything that is recorded and broadcast in real time. People like to feel like they’re being spoken to directly and authentically, and live streaming is also a low-cost way to produce collateral.
We’ve seen more and more social platforms implement this functionality, including Instagram Live, Facebook Live, Twitter Live and LinkedIn for a select few.
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In-video shopping.
So far, it seems to be largely clothing retailers who are leveraging this tactic.
How it works: Users can click on a section of the screen (say, a skirt on a model) and be directed to the link to buy the item.
A recent survey by Brightcove revealed that 23% of consumers overall and 30% of Millennials want links that let them directly purchase a product.
Now that you’ve got an idea of what’s going to be popular in 2020, here are some ways to incorporate engaging footage into your campaigns this year.
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Use your landing pages.
A survey by marketing technology company eyeview showed that video on landing pages can increase conversions by 86%. It’s a great way to increase search rankings, as Google’s algorithms are increasingly prioritizing websites with this type of content.
Other advantages: It can lead to more social shares, build trust and awareness and reduce bounce rate.
Shopify created an inspirational brand montage that lives on their homepage. It explains what they do, highlights different customers and announces they now support one million businesses.
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Blogs and articles.
Did you know blog posts can be just as valuable as a landing page? Think about filming your post instead of writing it (or do both), and you’ve easily increased the odds of that info reaching more visitors.
Moz.com, which is considered an SEO authority, found that showing a clip with blog images and text increased reach by 3X.
Here’s how one of our clients, Financial Recovery Institute, uses it in a blog to tell a story.
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Emails and newsletters.
The digital marketing videos you create will depend on your objectives and goals. For example, are you announcing a new product, an event, or a course you want people to sign up for?
You could also use email to give people a sneak peek of longer footage on your website. Once you’ve decided what you’re promoting, you can begin shooting.
Something to note: There are over 30 major email clients, including Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Apple Mail. Some of them don’t support the requirements for using clips in emails.
Several of the popular email newsletter services like Constant Contact, aWeber and MailChimp make it simple to share what you film by using a screen capture and linking the image to the original content.
That way, a user can just click on the image in the email and be directed to your clip. Want to learn more? Check out eVision Media’s recommended email newsletter providers.
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Social media platforms.
A solid social media strategy is essential, and you only need to glance at your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn feed (and of course YouTube and Pinterest) to see how big a role video plays for companies.
Some formats you could shoot for social media include:
- How-to guides
- Q&As
- Behind-the-scenes glimpses
- Events
- Interviews
- Unboxings (if you have a physical product)
- Facebook allows you up to 240 minutes (though you probably wouldn’t want to use all that time),
- Twitter provides 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
- Instagram gives you one minute if shared as a post, 15 seconds as a story and up to 1 hour as a live or IGTV video.
- LinkedIn has a 10-minute limit.
- Snapchat allows 10 seconds.
It’s important to remember that each social media platform has rules around how long your digital marketing videos can be. Here’s a quick reference guide:
Make sure your videos are optimized for each social media platform. Viewers on Instagram expect different things than those on Twitter, for example.
We can’t possibly cover every platform or video content marketing strategy out there, but I hope this has given you some ideas on how to use this valuable tool in 2020.
Remember: No matter what you’re creating or selling, it’s all about storytelling. It’s time to tell the most authentic and compelling stories you can about your products or services!
And if your organization needs help with social media marketing, it’s best to find a qualified service provider who understands the specific nuances of the different social channels and what works best on each.
Originally published here.
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