Yesterday, Twitter announced it would be closing down Vine, the six-second video sharing platform, just four years after its launch.
In many respects, the move summarises the ways in which it’s been a tough year for video. We’ve seen a huge rise in people using ad blockers, much to the frustration of advertisers and brands. Facebook also admitted that they had exaggerated video viewing time on the website, and when audiences were watching video on the social media platform, they were doing so with the sound turned off.
Despite all of these things, marketing professionals are continuing to assert – as they have been for the last couple of years – that video marketing is the next big thing in content marketing. When you think about it, it’s not hard to see why – there are many reasons why video is appealing. Video marketing is certainly an area that we’ll be looking into for the near future, and it’s something you might want to consider too. Here are some reasons why video marketing is here to stay.
If pictures speak a thousand words, videos speak millions
In 2015, video was the fastest growing digital sector. It’s also been estimated that by 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic. Why? Because consumers are spending more and more time engaging with content on their phones, most of which is video content.
Video marketing is a smart investment purely for the reason that, when it comes to content, it’s is the easiest to digest and the most appealing. Video is naturally engaging, and it offers businesses a way of presenting information creatively as well as quickly that’s simply unparalleled. YouTube is the second largest search engine for a reason – because people naturally want to view and understand things through the medium of video.
The form is evolving
Video marketing comes in many forms. From feature-length films, to in depth YouTube reviews, to six-second influencer videos, there’s so much brands can do with video that goes beyond the television advert.
If you need proof that video is still evolving, you only need to check out Ted Baker’s latest ad. The brand recently released a three-minute “shoppable” film to promote their A/W 16 range which allows users to save and shop looks while they enjoy a fabulously pun-filled mini action movie. Craig Smith, Ted Baker’s global brand communication director, told Marketing Week that the video ends with a ‘to be continued’ because they view the medium as a long-term investment. With brands like Very.co.uk following suit and talking of shoppable Instagram videos, it’s clear that brands are embracing shoppable ads as the latest new frontier in video marketing.
What’s next for video marketing? Only time will tell – but there definitely will be a ‘next’.
You don’t need to be a tech whizz or have a huge budget
It’s tempting to think of slick and flashy productions, like Ted Baker’s, when you think of video marketing. However, video is very much in the grasp of smaller businesses.
While the cost of corporate video production is falling, there are other, more simple ways that smaller businesses can harness the power of video marketing. The first to consider is the wealth of video sharing platforms on social media. Yes, we might have said goodbye to Vine, but platforms such as Periscope and Facebook Live are being increasingly used by brands to share fun, interesting or “in-the-moment” content. And of course, you can also share videos as well as images on Snapchat and Instagram.
Alternatively, you can look at using animation as part of your video marketing strategy. Animation is a simple way of using video and can be used to create super creative and entertaining content, as a visual support for an informative video. If you’re not a tech whizz and can’t create animations yourself, tools such as Biteable make it really easy to create videos and animations for free.
Vine might be gone, but it’s very clear that video is here to stay.
Looking for an animation? Need help with your marketing strategy? Get in touch with Digital Glue and see what we can do to help.
