5 Important Video Marketing Trends To Keep an Eye On for 2018

Video marketing has grown by leaps and bounds throughout this year, and is a highly competitive environment. With so many marketers vying for the attention of consumers, it is important that you stay ahead of the curve and constantly innovate in order to maintain and grow your audience.

Now that 2018 is just around the corner, there are a few video marketing trends in particular that you will want to keep an eye on. Most of these trends have already established a foothold, and are likely to grow further throughout the coming year.

By being aware of these trends, you could prepare your video marketing strategy accordingly – and gain an invaluable advantage:

• Live video

Although not a ‘new’ trend by any means, the growth of live video throughout 2017 has been nothing short of astronomical. That surge is in no small part due to the large social media platforms that have started to support it – including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

For marketers, live video is attractive not only because it is a unique type of content – but also because it has been proven to generate greater exposure and higher engagement levels. In short if you can include it as part of your video marketing strategy for 2018, it should ultimately lead to more conversions.

• Mobile viewership

Over the last few years the number of viewers watching videos on mobile devices has steadily increased. On average about half of the views of videos in 2017 were from mobile devices – and that figure is expected to continue rising.

In short in 2018 it is highly likely that more viewers will be watching your videos from mobile devices than from desktops – and you should definitely take that into consideration. Ideally any marketing videos that are published should be optimized for viewing on mobile devices, and take into account their smaller screen sizes as well.

• Square aspect ratios

Due to the rising mobile viewership there is another trend that you should watch: Square aspect ratios. On many social media platforms, using a square aspect ratio allows videos to take up more screen real estate in mobile newsfeeds, and as such improves their views and engagement levels too.

For best results it is preferable if the entire video is in a square aspect ratio. Otherwise using a standard aspect ratio (16:9) in a ‘letterbox’ with captions to turn it square can also increase engagement levels – though not to the same degree.

• 360-degree videos

Towards the latter part of 2016, 360-degree videos were pegged as a trend to watch in 2017 – due to their potential as a form of more interactive content. While 360-degree videos have done well in that regard and generally improve engagement levels, they have largely remained a novelty throughout the year.

The reason why you should keep a watch on 360-degree videos in 2018 is because they have gradually become more feasible than they used to be. In the past marketers may have been put off by the equipment and cost that was required to produce these videos, but that has definitely improved over the course of this year.

Initially it is likely that 360-degree videos will remain a novelty of sorts, but that has benefits as well for marketers due to its potential to generate more interest.

• Muted videos

As a video marketer you should be aware that it is likely that a significant number of your viewers will be watching muted videos in the coming year. Already many viewers on mobile devices watch videos with the volume muted or turned down, and that number is expected to increase to encompass desktop viewers as Google Chrome introduces measures to block autoplay videos that aren’t muted come January 2018.

It is important that you take this into account, and create videos that include subtitles or captions to get their message across – as opposed to relying too heavily on a voiceover. Some viewers may unmute or turn up the volume after that, but using text or visuals to hook in the viewer in the first few seconds is critical.

By keeping an eye on these trends and monitoring them carefully, you should be better prepared to face the challenges of video marketing in 2018. By getting in early on some of these trends your videos could stand out by appearing more unique and original.

Of course it is equally possible to be unique and original with other styles of video, and you could read more about screen recording, video capture and other ways to create marketing videos. Knowing what trends are likely to shape video marketing in 2018 will let you create videos that take them into account, and use them to your advantage.

Written by: Kira Smith is a video marketer who likes to constantly keep up with the latest trends across social media and other video platforms.