Over the last few years, the number of videos posted online has been skyrocketing. On average, businesses are publishing 18 videos a month and have a total of 293 videos in their library (Hubspot). Not only are we posting more videos than ever online, but according to Forbes, users spend a billion hours a day watching videos on YouTube! In 2018, video is continuing to become the preferred way to not only receive information from others, but also to express ourselves online.
Here are eight video marketing trends that you should know about for your 2018 marketing strategy:
1. Video on Facebook
In 2017, Mark Zuckerberg told investors, “I see video as a mega-trend… that’s why I’m going to keep putting video first across our family of apps”. Over the last year, Zuckerberg ramped up the investment he was making in video, and created Facebook’s new “Watch” section. He plans to spend an additional billion dollars through 2018 to make Facebook a go-to platform for video over current video giants YouTube and Netflix.
2. Training video
Videos are a great resource when we want to transmit information in a clear and visual way. Since YouTube’s beginning, “how-to” tutorial videos have been a popular way to learn new things, but YouTube isn’t the only place people go to for instructional videos. More and more companies are starting to post video to private servers for internal training. From employee orientations to service and installation guides, you can save time by training all of your current and future employees with a video that could take only 1 day to shoot and last forever (or at least until you have changes in company policies, products, equipment, etc).
3. Transcription and captions/subtitles
Transcribing your videos is not only a great way to get a huge SEO boost by allowing search engines to read what your video is about, but you can also use a transcription to add captions or subtitles to your video. In 2018, you will want to make sure that all of your social media videos are captioned. This is especially important for Facebook, where the default setting is to auto play videos in the news feed with the audio muted. Both YouTube and Facebook will generate captions for your video automatically, but those are notoriously inaccurate, so be sure to go into your dashboard on each platform and correct the captions before you make the videos public. You will need large, eye catching captions to get the viewer’s attention. If your video doesn’t catch the viewer’s eye and allow them to understand what is going on with the audio turned off, they aren’t going to stop and watch, and your videos won’t get any views.
4. Live video
The live-streaming trend has been growing over the last few years, and will only become stronger in 2018. Facebook users spend more than three times longer (Facebook Newsroom) and comment ten times more (Facebook Newsroom) on live videos than they do on prerecorded videos, and Twitter has found that video of a live event increases brand favorability by 63 percent (Adweek). But you have to make sure your live videos are high quality, with good lighting and clear audio. Viewers won’t spend much time with videos that are dark and hard to hear. (By the way, it IS possible to use professional video cameras for your live streamed videos, as long as you have the right equipment – you don’t have to settle for shaky, handheld smartphone images!)
5. Sponsored videos
Video platforms like YouTube and Facebook allow you to purchase paid ads, which play before or during original video content, but companies are now starting to partner directly with the video creators by sponsoring their content in exchange for advertising from the creator themselves. This can maximize your investment over traditional ads, as viewers are more likely to look into something that their favorite creator mentions in their videos, rather than an ad that interrupts the video content.
6. Brand authenticity
Videos are a great way to show the people behind your brand. One way to increase your brand authenticity through video is by using employee testimonials. Testimonial videos from some of your current employees, talking about what they love about your company and why they choose to work there, can help increase user confidence in your brand.
7. YouTube Stories
The popular ‘stories’ format introduced by Snapchat in 2013, and adopted a few years later by Instagram and Facebook, is now getting another variation on YouTube. Originally called “Reels” but just rebranded to “YouTube Stories”, it’s a collection of short videos that viewers can watch from the top of their subscriptions feed, from the creator’s stories tab, or from the YouTube home screen. Creators can decide whether they want the videos in their story to disappear after 24 hours, or stay published until they are manually deleted. YouTube’s Stories is currently in beta release and can only be viewed on mobile devices.
8. 360º video and VR
360º video is an immersive and interactive way for organizations to share their stories, experiences, and locations. Social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter allow creators to upload 360º video that can be viewed by tilting your phone or just swiping on the screen. As 360º video becomes more mainstream, prices of expensive VR headsets are dropping, which will make it even easier for people to become immersed in 360º videos in 2018.
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