For the longest time, until the Gutenberg printing press, we have been an oral storytelling people. We share knowledge and history through stories, and we emote them through acting and conjuring the imagination.
It's no wonder that video has become one of the most dominant mediums of storytelling since the 19th century. It combines storytelling with music, visual and sound effects, and costume and set design. It's the sum of so many parts that grip viewers.
Video has also been very inaccessible to everyone. Equipment was expensive, and distribution was gated. With technology shrinking cameras down into our phones and high-speed internet becoming ubiquitous, everyone has gotten into video on a massive scale.
Video: The Medium of Now and the Future
As consumers became content creators, we now expect video to be at the forefront of marketing. Marketing is no stranger to video with ads and product placement in movies and television. But now it's an all-new level, and digital marketing is at the vanguard of video creation in so many different styles, mediums, formats, and more.
Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.
- Seth Godin
Video content is more than just a trend—it's a staple. According to Wyzowl, 91% of businesses now use video as a marketing tool, a figure that has remained high since 2016. This statistic alone underscores the significant role video plays in today's marketing strategies. Additionally, 88% of video marketers see video as an integral part of their overall strategy, highlighting its effectiveness and impact.
91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool – maintaining an all-time high since tracking this data in 2016
- Wyzowl
What Types of Video Content Are Being Created?
TikToks, Reels & Shorts - Short-Form Video
Our attention spans are short, and it's sharply illustrated by the dominance of short-form video popularized by TikTok in the last five years. Platforms like Instagram followed suit by including Reels and videos into their content mix. YouTube introduced Shorts to compete, which has seen a 7,500% increase in search interest over the past five years. These bite-sized videos are perfect for capturing attention quickly and are highly shareable.
User-Generated Content (UGC) and Authenticity
Long gone are the days of overly-produced and polished videos. People want authenticity, and by that, they mean simple and homemade-looking. Lo-fi video is very popular with the younger generations, who connect with that style of video because it looks like something they can create. A striking 65% of younger internet users consider themselves video content creators. Brands are now prioritizing genuine and unrefined videos to emulate UGC created by younger demographics to appeal to their style.
Interactive and Shoppable Videos
The next best thing to an in-store experience online is an interactive video. Shoppable videos, which allow consumers to watch a video of the product and then purchase directly from the video, are gaining popularity. This adds a level of engagement that is so actionable, it's a direct conversion. If you love what you see, buy it now!
88% of video marketers say video has helped them increase user understanding of their product or service.
- Wyzowl
Silent Video Optimization & Accessibility
While scrolling through social media, we don't always have sound turned on. That's because a lot of the time, we are multi-tasking, sometimes watching a movie while browsing Instagram. Optimizing video with visual captions that grab attention with no sound can stop a feed scroll, allowing viewers to see what's being said before listening. This is also great for accessibility for the hard of hearing.
Creator-Led Campaigns
Companies are partnering with content creators to enhance exposure and drive engagement. These creator-driven campaigns leverage the clout of influential personalities, tapping into wider and varied demographics.
Vertical Video Format
Much to my dismay, as someone who is slow to get on the bandwagon of vertical pictures and videos, this is the norm online now. With mobile phones being the primary consumption point of social content, vertical video immerses the viewer by taking over their entire screen. No black bars!
AI-Powered Video Creation and Editing
These days there isn't much that AI isn't touching, and video is no exception. Creating video solely from AI is tricky and not quite there yet. But more and more people are finding ways to include AI in their workflows.
Tools like Descript can help edit and repurpose video content, while other tools can help auto-caption video, add animations, turn content into scripts, and more. It seems like every other week there is a new tool to help with scaling video production.
For me, I think the biggest impact AI is making is in repurposing content at scale for different formats, mediums, and sizes. This used to take a long time by editors, and now the process is so much faster and automated.
What are the Primary Platforms for Video Marketing?
The big players are the usual suspects. YouTube is perched at the top of the hill as the largest video source online, and the second largest search engine out there. Its variety of long-form videos to short-form vertical Shorts that is open to all the web makes it the undisputed king of video.
Meta comes in a close second with Facebook and Instagram. Facebook primarily serves as a sharing platform for content found on YouTube. Instagram encourages users to create unique Reels and Stories, which are a fantastic medium of content sharing from contacts and brands you follow.
TikTok's algorithm is the strongest for video discovery. It is the best platform to discover new accounts and content from personalities and brands you don't know due to its algorithm that pushes new content to its users through its For You Page (FYP).
Each platform offers unique advantages and caters to different audience preferences. Understanding these platforms' nuances can help tailor your video content for maximum impact.
How Does Video Content Help With My Brand Awareness?
Video has, hands down, the highest engagement of all the mediums online. It stops us in our tracks while scrolling through social media. A website page with a video has a lower bounce rate and higher engagement. And Google loves to prioritize websites with different types of media on their pages, especially video. No surprise considering that YouTube is owned by Google and it's the second largest search engine.
Online Videos Have an Audience Reach of 92% Worldwide
- The Social Shepard
Videos are more likely to be shared on social media compared to text. This is a great way to gain brand visibility and awareness. Short-form vertical videos are easily consumable on mobile devices, giving viewers a quick and engaging way to absorb information.
Websites can also share your video content and include backlinks, helping you reach a wider audience and improving SEO, which can significantly improve search rankings.
90% of video marketers say video has helped them increase brand awareness.
- Wyzowl
Optimizing Video for SEO
Video thumbnails in search results can make your product listing and content pages stand out in search results pages (SERPs), leading to higher click-through rates (CTRs). Rich snippets, which include video thumbnails, tend to have higher click-through rates than standard snippets. With the added dimension of adding keywords in video titles, descriptions, and tags to optimize a video's metadata, you can increase your rankings.
Combining a higher CTR with product videos can increase conversion rates too. Shoppers are twice as likely to purchase after viewing a product video, which enhances the overall value of your SEO efforts.
Final Thoughts
In the past, I've personally been hesitant to get into video because I had concerns about quality, cost, and reputation. I've worked with many clients on marketing videos through video production agencies, but not for myself. I thought spending so much time and money on creating a video that didn't land well would tarnish a brand. Those fears are eroding very quickly with the evolution of video on the web.
Lo-fi and short-form videos' meteoric rise in the last five years has really dropped the barrier to entry, and people are much more forgiving. As long as the quality of the message is solid, and being authentic is at the core of the production, you are good to go. People want to hear from people in the most connective and raw format.
Personally, I'm more empowered to get into creating my own videos and pushing for more video on my social feeds. I'm sure I'll fumble, and I have a lot to learn, but you only learn by trying. Time to dive in.
