How Will Video Content Dominate Social Media Feeds in 2021?

 

Video content has recently come out of its niche. It is now being accepted as a preferred mode of communication by the user-base of almost every high-engagement social media platform. What started out as a domain of elaborate content has now forayed into what we call as snippet form. With the rise of YouTube, there were many forms of creations that took birth. These different styles of content were all mixed together and formed the YouTube community. Then came in the revolutionary content creation platform- TikTok. TikTok technically gave birth to short-video content and amassed a significant fanbase in a brief span of time. Walking down the path of video content, Instagram took inspiration from TikTok and introduced a new feature- Reels. With two major players in social media hopping on the short video content train, it is safe to say that we will see a rise in the form by 2021.

The quirky nature and engagement aspects of short videos are what attracts people to the form. Video content marketing is considered to be one of the most profitable investments and according to Hubspot, 85% of businesses use videos to create engagement. Every social media user is now witnessing the rise of a new way of communication, and that entices them. It makes them want to explore more. There is an infinite number of opportunities when it comes to harnessing the power of video content. Although this form has been in the play for long now, short and engaging videos of less than 30-seconds are being preferred these days and have not been experimented with much in the past. There are special effects and filters available on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, which add the extra oomph needed in captivating the audience.

With prevalent pandemic and social distancing measures in place, the content intake of users has increased manifold. According to Deloitte, 80% of U.S consumers have subscriptions to paid video services as compared to 77%. This has opened up avenues for all sorts of content creators, and the influx of short videos is one such example. Now, since the social distancing measures are far from taking a backseat, it will be a while before we see a drop in intake of content. This is the time social media marketing services can use to maximize their brand awareness and engagement. Being a marketer, I know how imperative it is for us to jump on new features and keep expanding our marketing strategies to fit in line with the recent trends. With most social networks now moving towards video content, their guidelines are changing per the same. Instagram’s new regulations make it easy for regular content creators to get featured in the Reels tab on the public’s feed. My advice to budding marketers is to ride this wave now in its initial stage to obtain maximum exposure.

 

Now, let’s discuss some of the latest video trends to help you find your right mix:

Shoppable Ads

Shoppable ads are the most fun kinds of advertisements for the shopper. They provide a seamless experience that is very engaging. It’s basically a video of various products or services being used in the video that allows the users to hover over the item to get a link to purchase them. It can also lead to product description or any other type of information that the user may want to know. This interactive form of ads is something that is quite a rage these days. You can see a lot of these videos on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram.

Interactive videos

These videos, in simple terms, allows users to interact with actions while they view the content. They have strategically placed buttons to perform these actions. Now, these actions could be choices or stages of progression. Interactive videos are increasingly being used by social media marketing services to enhance their user experience and engagement. For instance, in the teaser trailer for The Jungle Book, Disney rolled out an interactive video which allowed the users to view BTS (Behind the Scenes) shots from the movie in the form of a slider. Now, the same concept was used in the film Black Mirror- Bandersnatch. This movie allowed its users to make choices on behalf of the characters of the movie and the scenes progressed in line with the user’s preference.

Short videos

The attention span of a general user is extremely short when subjected to content in such huge numbers. When YouTube launched its ads feature that had a preview of fewer than 6 seconds for the user to continue watching the ad or skipping it, it rocked the marketing boat. Now, marketers had this little window to showcase their product in precisely the amount of time it takes to entice a user. It opened up several avenues for the marketing world, and the concept was later moulded and adopted by Instagram and Facebook in their Stories feature.

Silent videos

To bring things into a better perspective, according to Nexttv.com’s research based on Verizon Media’s report, 92% of people watch videos with the sound turned off. Now, you must be aware of the auto-play feature of most of the social media platforms. This feature enables related videos to play one after the other until an action is made to stop. Silent videos with captioning are now trending and making the lives of people more comfortable. Don’t you think it is convenient to read small captions explaining the theme of the video rather than have someone speak throughout?

360-degree videos

This trend picked up with an increase in the adoption of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. 360-degree videos enable the user to immerse themselves in an environment that feels real or close to accurate. Although they are challenging to produce, they provide your users with a phenomenal experience.

Now that you are well versed with the latest trends that are about to take the marketing world by a storm in 2021, it is time you get into action and start developing a video marketing strategy in line with the same. Social media marketing services are not as easy to offer as it may seem; They require being up-to-date with each trend and harnessing their power to bring your clients the best possible results. 

Oh and remember, “Marketing is enthusiasm transferred to the customer”- Gregory Ciotti. 

This article has been published in accordance with Socialnomics’ disclosure policy.