Video Marketing Predictions: 2016

What are we at VPoint TV looking at this year on behalf of our customers?

We’re thinking about Mobile views this year. More and more people view on their phones, so what does this mean for production?

a) Vertical Videos might be the next big thing. If people view on phones or tablets, there’s no need for the traditional horizontal video production. We’ve not actually produced a Vertical Video for any clients yet, but it’s certainly something that we’ll be looking at shortly, particularly for our retail customer who need to appeal to consumers on the move.

b) There is some thinking around the notion that short form is best for mobile, but Google has recently conducted a little experiment to see what keeps viewers watching. They discovered that a 30 second good quality advert with a classic story arc with great editing and music still stands the viewership test. However, they also revealed that if a 90 second video is intriguing, it has even greater power to hook in viewers and keep them watching for longer. Therefore, it’s all about getting the content right.

For brands, a continuing trend will be collaborations between brands and influencers. Linking up with YouTubers or Bloggers has been popular for a while, particularly with retailers as it’s a fantastic way to tap into a new (and often very large) audience, get endorsed and/or simply build the reputation of your brand. If your brand hasn’t done this, it’s definitely worth looking at.

The number of social media platforms with clout is constantly growing – Twitter, Periscope, Vine, Snapchat, Instagram, Tumblr, Vessel, Go90, YouTube Red and so on. Some of these may be of interest to your customers, particularly if you are looking at B2C marketing. But for B2B marketers, LinkedIn is a relatively untapped resource. We’re going to be using it for our own (quite modest) marketing, but it’s something we’ll be suggesting to some of our customers this year too.

What’s our advice for the year ahead?

Video content marketing will continue to be the way forward – so it’s a case of making engaging content, getting lots of it out there and keeping it mixed up and varied.

Explainer videos are a popular and watchable concept – great for both B2B and B2C marketing. Keep them simple and short, with very focused messaging.

How to videos are a brilliant way of getting lots of video content out there and – if you get the subject, tag lines, titles and transcripts right – can get you some great audience engagement. Again, keep them short and watchable.