Smart Marketers Are Using Video Storytelling to Engage Audiences

When done well, video content is engaging and highly informative. You can captivate an audience and convey a lot of information through imagery, text and sound.

And, video isn’t just reserved for platforms like YouTube. Facebook earned the highest percentage of digital video ad spend in 2017. LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest are all leaning hard on it, too. Can you remember a time before TikTok copycat features cropped up on every social platform? We can, and it wasn't too long ago.

Video is a popular content format for social media and one of the fastest-growing trends for digital marketers.

In fact, users have increased their video-watching habits at an incredible rate because of the pandemic. Video marketing has become even more necessary for brands to embrace as users turn towards online purchasing solutions over in-person. But oftentimes, this opportunity is contrasted by the reality of slashed marketing budgets and reduced strategies due to lost revenue in 2020.

7 Video Marketing Trends to Follow for 2021

With video content on the rise and budgets tightening everywhere, digital marketers need to be smart about following the latest trends for video marketing that will increase their ROI. Here are some top trends to consider.

Live Streaming

Facebook Live gets—by far—the best organic reach and the highest level of engagement. This format is also popular on Instagram stories as well and allows the viewers to participate in real-time events. With fewer in-person events taking place in 2021, brands are smart to capitalize on creating digital events to snag attention and participation from their target audience. It’s easy to use live streaming for influencer marketing, live shopping experiences, unboxing, and more.

Organic Advertising Content

Explainer videos are a huge opportunity to advertise without interruptive ads. Surveys have found 94% of consumers say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product and 84% converted to make the purchase after watching. Explainer videos may explore a basic pain point for those just entering the awareness stage, or it could review product/service features in detail for someone in the decision stage.

Video Remarketing

LinkedIn finally added the remarketing function, as the last major social media advertiser to climb on board with this feature. Video remarketing on LinkedIn lets marketers add people to a specific audience segment after they’ve watched a certain percentage of their video. This makes it easier to target audiences with relevant content through video ad funnels—or experience paths that show a series of ads in a certain order.

Platform-Tailored Content

When it comes to video ads, the formats are different across different platforms. Advertising on Snapchat is going to require a different setup than posting a video ad on YouTube or Pinterest. The style of an ad on Instagram is going to be completely different than one posted to TikTok. The most engaging video marketing content is going to be done in the same style the audience is already consuming for a given platform. Top brands are ready to capitalize on the etiquette and content requirements of the platform they're using.

Movement and Unexpected Elements

Talking head interviews are out and movement-filled videos are getting all the attraction. Content that is getting attention offers engaging elements that might include creative special effects, text animations over video, animated illustrations instead of real people, and more. Examples of industry influencer accounts creating this dynamic kind of content in two very different ways include Food Theory and Binging with Babish. Gary Vee brought in an animated version of himself in 2020, educating with a comic strip style. Finding that unexpected angle or element is what will set one brand apart from the sea of global competitors.

Shoppable Content

Including links within videos is one of the most powerful ways to spark impulse buys and raise revenue. Shoppable videos make it easy for people to purchase what they are considering as they watch the video.

Plan Around Sound

85% of Facebook video is watched without sound.

Most marketers create videos with the expectation that the audience will turn on sound—but for many viewers, this just isn’t the case. Marketers need to create their video content in a compelling way for both sound and silence. Compelling titles, captions and unexpected video elements will increase the likelihood of a viewer turning on the sound for a full experience.

Best Practices for Video Ads

Video has solidly been trending up for three years. It isn’t going to go away anytime soon.

In 2018, 55% of businesses used video in their email marketing.
More than half (63%) of all US internet users don’t like ads interrupting video clips.
Short 6-second clips are the most interesting ad format, according to mobile advertisers.

Video can make a powerful impact. In order to get the most out of your video advertising, hire a creative firm that can help you with advertising strategies and video that follows best practices.

This article was written by Alethea M. from www.embertribe.com