In the past, content marketing consisted primarily of textual content, and that was sufficient for a while. Then incorporating still images became important to keep things interesting. In the past few years, consumers have made video the tool of choice for visual content. In today’s world, marketers must make a shift to even more video content if they wish to stay relevant. Here are 4 video marketing trends to help guide your strategy in 2017:
1. The most effective videos will be silent-friendly.
While there are some who still watch video with the sound turned up, most actually prefer silent video. In fact, according to Digiday, 85 percent of video viewers prefer to watch with the sound turned down. Does that mean your videos should be completely silent? No. It only means that your videos should be produced in such way that your message is discernible with or without sound. For example, including captions in your video will boost its viewership even more. Of course, with Facebook’s recent introduction of allowing videos to now display with sound in the newsfeed, their survey results differ from Digiday. According to Facebook’s user feedback test, Facebook users do prefer to have the sound play automatically in their news feed. Our thoughts, whether the sound is on or off, make your video silent-friendly for those who prefer not to hear the sound as they scroll through the newsfeed.
2. Personalized videos will see increased use.
A great way to stand out in a prospective customer’s email inbox and make a personal connection with them is to create a short, personalized video. Simply record a short, personalized video with your mobile device or webcam, either to introduce yourself or to follow-up on a previous contact. Sales teams that like to stay up on trends have been doing this for a while, and now it’s becoming a more widely accepted trend.
3. Video storytelling will move beyond social media.
Video storytelling increases engagement, triggers social sharing and gives people a reason to talk about you online and off. That’s why so many marketers use this tactic as part of their social media marketing strategy. This tactic will expand into other elements of marketing. For example, rather than the traditional “About Me” page with text-based content about the company owner and senior staff, and maybe some photos, businesses will create a series of short videos of each individual telling the story of how they gained their expertise and experience. What do you think about that? Would it capture your attention?
4. Live video will become even more popular.
“Going live” became THE thing in 2016 – at least as far as video is concerned. In fact, Facebook even started advertising their “go live” feature on broadcast and cable television. Do you think they think it’s a big deal? With every other major social media platform also offering live functionality, this will be the most significant video trend of 2017. Marketers who use live video wisely will have a distinct advantage as they engage their audience in new and creative ways.
Video is beginning to dominate the world of online content. Search engines like it, consumers expect it, social media platforms promote it, and smart marketers use it to get results. If you haven’t incorporated video into your overall marketing strategy yet, maybe it’s time.
