Video is king in marketing plans 2018

Below we have collated some of the top video marketing trends of 2018 and some interesting stats on video usage

 (Sourced from Hubspot)

1. Video usage is on the rise.

• 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool — up from 63%, the number reported in our 2017 survey.
• 99% of those who already do use video, say they’ll continue to do so in 2018.
• 65% of those who don’t currently use video, say they plan to start in 2018.

2. We watch a lot of video.

From the video content we watch at work, to online streaming services and beyond, video is a central part of how we live. We asked respondents specifically how much video content they’d watch in a typical day, and the average response was 1.5 hours. 15%, meanwhile, told us they watch more than 3 hours of video on a typical day.

3. Marketers rely on video to help them do their jobs.

Video is often cited as a tool that helps drive various areas of business performance, and the numbers back up those claims:

• 97% of marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service.
• 76% say it helped them increase sales.
• 47% say it helped them reduce support queries.
• 76% say it helped them increase traffic.
• 80% of marketers say video has increased dwell time on their website.
• 95% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.
• 81% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.
• 69% of people have been convinced to buy a piece of software or application by watching a video.
• 85% of people say they’d like to see more video from brands in 2018.

4. Consumers love video.

It’s probably unsurprising, but video seems to add tremendous value to our experience as customers, too …

Where both video and text are available on the same page, 72% of people would rather use video to learn about a product or service.

5. We love to share.

There’s a popular misconception that people will generally only share frivolous, entertainment videos (cats and epic fails!) Our findings suggest that, if you create video content that your specific audience enjoys, 83% of consumers would consider sharing it with their friends. Being a brand is not necessarily a disadvantage — content is king!

6. LinkedIn is poised to fly in 2018. Snapchat? Not so much.

We asked our respondents about all sorts of different platforms and techniques — YouTube, Facebook, interactive video and more. The most eye-catching metrics, surprisingly, came from LinkedIn, suggesting that a video revolution could be set to take place on the ‘professional’ social network in the coming year.

While currently only 38% of marketers share video content on LinkedIn, three-quarters of them reported it to be a successful tactic — and comfortably over half (55%) said they would continue, or start, in 2018.

VIDEO TRENDS

(Sourced from Business2Community)

1. Online video content continues to grow share of marketing spend

The first and most obvious trend to note here is the continuing explosion of online video and its impact on the marketing budgets of companies large and small. Video is no longer the up and coming digital marketing tactic we were all talking about a few years ago. It’s dominance across digital channels is undebatable and its growth seemingly inexorable.

Recent stats show that 43% of consumers want to see more video content from brands and 51.9% of marketing professionals see video content as delivering the strongest ROI. Another study from Hubspot, finds that 48% of marketers planned to integrate YouTube and 46% plan to integrate Facebook video into their digital marketing strategies last year. This is expected to grow in 2018.

2. Marketers catch on to benefits of transcribed video content

The growth of native video content across social media platforms has precipitated a huge demand for transcribed videos, with as much as 85% of Facebook’s 8 billion daily video views may be taking place without any sound. This is a hard stat to pin down but whatever the figure actually is, it’s significant and growing. This is partly to do with the way people consume social media video directly in their feeds without turning the sound on (Facebook mutes video in user’s feeds).

Annotating videos doesn’t just allow audiences to watch muted content but it is also a huge boost to SEO, helping Google and other search engines like YouTube understand what your video is about and therefore rank it better against relevant search terms. In 2018 we will continue to see brands creating content that has been designed to be appreciated with the sound on or off, as this trend continues to grow.

3. Popularity of live video streaming continues

Live streaming is a trend we’ve been watching a while here at Aspect and 2018 could be the year it really comes into its own. The appeal of live streaming can be found in both its authenticity and accessibility.

With regard to the former, it’s clear that the appeal of ‘live’ televised video content has transcended the age of content on demand with live sport and music remain as popular as ever and a whole new generation of ‘live’ shows doing the rounds (Spring Watch and Stargazing Live on the BBC instantly come to mind). The ‘on air’ experience of live broadcast brings an appeal that is hard to match and many businesses are beginning to wake up to that fact. Authenticity is not always a term that is synonymous with marketing so tapping into this with live streaming has huge potential to humanise companies and brands in the eyes of consumers.

4. The direction of VR marketing may become clearer

It’s fair to say that there’s both a lot of cynicism and a lot of enthusiasm out there for the marketing potential of VR. So far it hasn’t materialised despite the continuing popularity of various VR systems out there. This might be because the experience of VR is still largely confined to gaming but the possibilities of its practical use in industries like leisure and tourism, real estate and retail is potentially huge.

However, the truth remains that unless you’re already wearing a headset, it’s unlikely you’ll don one just to experience a brand’s VR marketing. As this fledgling video tech market continues to grow though, we may begin to learn how brands plan to leverage this space.

5. Mobile optimization and square video content

One ongoing trend that needs no explaining to anyone who owns a smartphone (and let’s be honest – who doesn’t these days) is the growth of mobile optimised video. As the cost of mobile broadband data continues to fall and WiFi in public places becomes ever more commonplace, the frequency with which we view video on our mobile devices increases.

The upshot is that brands are now creating content designed specifically for a 1:1 screen ratio (a square in other words). Facebook’s change in its creative guidelines for video producers in 2016 may have spurred on this trend but the increase in complete viewing rates by 67% compared to traditional 16:9 ratio content viewed on mobile is also likely to have played a big part.

6. 360 Video content goes from strength to strength

Along with VR, AR and live video, 360 is something I’ve been talking about in 2017 and 2018 is going to see this exciting technology continue to spark the imaginations of innovative video content producers out there. Unlike VR, 360 video doesn’t require a headset so its take up has been far quicker with consumers and marketers alike. Despite evidence suggesting slightly lower view rates, click through rates are markedly higher compared to standard content.

2018 will likely see brands and businesses that have traditionally relied on physical shopping or viewing spaces (think retail and real estate) continue to adopt this technology as it allows consumers to experience and browse their products in ever more immersive and realistic ways.

7. ‘Purpose driven’ brand video popularity booms

One thing that seems almost predictably unpredictable in these times are the continuing tensions and upheavals taking place on the global stage, whether it’s the rise of populism and populist leaders and movements, global warming or growing instability in many regions of the world. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by brands and in these fractious times we’re likely to see more and more ‘purpose driven’ brand videos as businesses look to take an ethical and moral stance.

Whether this is purely a brand marketing strategy designed to acquire and retain customer loyalty by associating themselves with the burning issues of our time or born out of some higher sense of corporate moral or social duty, is one for the moral philosophers to argue over, but we can expect to see more branded content taking a moral stand on specific causes and issues in 2018.

Contact 18 Degrees to chat about your video marketing plan 1300 275 166