Trends come and go on social media like wildfire, often burning bright before eventually ebbing and vanishing completely. However, there are some social media video trends that have proven to be more resilient and affect marketing in numerous ways.
If any part of your marketing strategy involves using videos on social media, there are 4 key trends in particular that you need to be aware of:
#1 Short-form videos
Undoubtedly the most enduring trend on social media, short-form videos seems to be here to stay. By keeping the duration of your marketing videos short you will be able to cater to viewers on social media who generally prefer videos that they can watch quickly.
It is worth noting that the ‘optimal’ duration for videos varies between platforms, and can range from 15 seconds to 2 minutes. To fit content into that time frame you may need to learn how to speed up a video or use jump cuts, and having a good editor such as Movavi Video Editor can help with that.
#2 Live videos
Ever since social media platforms started to integrate live streaming it has transformed the video landscape. In a nutshell, live videos have proven to be more engaging than conventional videos, and tend to have a better reach too.
When it comes to marketing, live videos present an opportunity to engage viewers directly with new and exciting types of content. The emphasis in live videos is on authenticity, so its production costs can be lower than that of normal videos in many cases.
#3 Mobile-friendly aspect ratios
As much as the horizontal 16:9 aspect ratio may be the standard for videos, on social media, there has been an increased emphasis on aspect ratios that are more mobile friendly. In particular, the two that have caught on is the vertical (9:16) and square (1:1) aspect ratios.
The aspect ratio that you’ll want to use for your marketing videos will vary depending on the platform, i.e. vertical for Snapchat and square for Instagram. Recently Facebook seems to be leaning towards square aspect ratios as well, and they currently occupy more screen real estate on its feed than 16:9 videos do.
#4 360, 180 and VR
Admittedly VR is a trend that hasn’t fully caught on just yet, but it is steadily growing and is worth earmarking for the future. Already 360-degree videos are starting to be easier to record and produce, while other formats such as the 180-degree videos that YouTube utilizes are gaining popularity as well.
Most social media platforms are heavily investing in VR technology in some way or other, which makes it likely to feature prominently in the future. In fact, it is a trend that could very well change the shape and form of video marketing on social media completely.
For now, the novelty of these videos can be a draw, and make it worth looking into for marketing.
By now you should see just how important it is that you take advantage of these trends when marketing on social media. Not doing so really isn’t an option, as they are vital if you want to remain competitive on social media and be able to engage viewers and draw them to your videos.
While it is likely that other social media video trends will have a part to play in marketing in the future, for now, you should have a good idea what you need to focus on. Think of these trends as an opportunity to mix up the video content that you use in marketing, while at the same time cashing in on the benefits that they have been proven to provide.
