It’s not a secret that video marketing is taking off more than ever before, and it’s only expected to grow even more in the future. In fact, the internet provider Cisco reported that by 2022, video will account for 82% of total traffic.
As digital marketers, we have to understand how to use this growing trend to our advantage and make sure that we are always ahead of the curve. In this blog post, we will be covering the top 5 digital marketing trend predictions for the coming year.
Video Takes The Cake
Video has been growing rapidly in popularity over the past couple of years, and it’s becoming impossible to ignore when creating a marketing strategy. Let’s start off with a few facts:
- Video advertising will account for at least 50% of all online advertising by 2022.¹
- 93% of marketers who use video say that it’s an important part of their marketing strategy.²
- 87% of video marketers say video gives them a good return on their investment.²
- 94% of consumers shared that watching a video has helped them make a purchase decision at least once.³
- Of those, 72% were swayed by a product demonstration video.³
- Customers retain 95% of the information contained in videos compared to 10% when reading text.⁴
- Using video on landing pages can increase conversions by up to 86%.⁴
On the flip side, 17% of non-video marketers don’t use video for marketing as they don’t know where to start.² We can help with that!
Let’s take a look at the upcoming trends so you can get a headstart on creating an effective video marketing strategy in 2022.
Work Smarter, Not Harder, With Artificial Intelligence
The use of AI in marketing is predicted to increase drastically by 2022, and will significantly impact how content is created, discovered, and distributed. AI-powered content creation will allow marketers to automate their processes using AI built-in templates to help them create high-quality content designed directly for their target audience.
As AI develops over time, we will see more and more content creation tools pop up on the market. These tools can even be used to generate personalized videos for the viewer, further improving their engagement and conversion rates.
Connect With Your Audience Via Live Streaming
Live streaming is not a new thing anymore. It has been around for more than two decades. But in recent years, social networking sites and content marketing agencies have given it a new life. They have made live streaming an integral part of their strategy and use it to create content to engage with their target audience.
This trend is significant in digital marketing because it fulfills two of our most critical goals – increasing brand awareness and building customer loyalty. Live streaming provides an opportunity to show your customers that you care about them by answering their questions before they can even ask them or getting feedback from them during the stream.
Shoppable virtual experiences
The shift towards live video content has changed the way consumers shop. With live streams, consumers can see the product in a much more authentic environment. Live stream shopping also offers a more personalized experience since retailers can answer any questions or provide recommendations users might have about the product.
The future of digital marketing is quickly becoming one where AI-powered assistants will make real-time purchase recommendations based on their understanding of who you are and what you need, as well as your current location.
Increase Engagement With AR/VR-Enabled Videos
Virtual reality has found its way to the world of marketing, and it is here to stay. Many companies are starting to use VR in marketing, including Google, Nike, Audi, and Coca-Cola.
Virtual reality will continue to be a major trend in digital marketing over the next few years because it offers marketers an opportunity that other technologies cannot – immersion. It is a powerful tool that will make it easier for customers to experience products and services in a way that can deliver more information, engage customers and create an emotional connection. Furthermore, it is cost-effective and efficient.
VR has great potential for innovation in the future as new technologies are developed with augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR). And that’s why the time to start incorporating virtual reality into your digital marketing strategy is right now!
360 Video
In 2022, 360 videos will be a part of the everyday digital marketing landscape as more people live their lives online. The use cases are becoming more and more popular every day because it enables viewers to better connect with what they see on the screen, making them feel like they are actually in that environment.
360 videos give viewers a full view of the scene they are watching. It is like having someone take you on a guided tour and letting you explore everything around you. It provides a more immersive, interactive and personalized experience than any other video format out there right now. And that makes it perfect for use in tourism, events and entertainment.
Embrace The Future By Optimizing for Voice Search
Voice search has a tremendous potential to change the way we search and interact with content on the internet, and it will soon become a prominent part of how we navigate the web. Voice commands are already frequently being used to do things that people have previously done via smartphones or computers – ordering food, booking flights, shopping for gifts etc.
The change in behaviour from text-based searches to voice-based searches will hugely impact how marketers approach SEO. In an effort to maximize your chances of appearing at the top of voice results, you need to focus on two aspects: content optimization and site navigation optimization.
Optimizing for voice means including keywords in your title, description, and headings. It also means including more natural language that people use when asking questions out loud.
Join The Short-form Content Empire
The trend of short-form content is expected to continue into 2022. The reason for this is that the internet is becoming more visual and this format will be able to communicate a lot more information in less time. This will help brands convey their message quickly, efficiently and effectively.
In addition, short-form content can also be used to create a more immersive experience for the viewer. This type of content can be monetized in a variety of ways because it can connect a brand with a customer on a personal level, rather than just through traditional marketing campaigns or commercials. More than ever consumers are going to a brand’s social media before making a purchase, so be ready for them!
Some examples of how you can use short-form content for your marketing strategy include:
- Challenges (don’t forget your #challengehashtag!)
- User-generated content (promotes authenticity!)
- Product placements/reviews
- Product showcases
- Educational/explainer videos
Video Ads Won’t Be An Exception
With short-form content beginning to dominate the organic space, it brings the question – how will this affect advertising?
As consumers are becoming more and more adapted to shorter and shorter video lengths, their attention spans and patience are decreasing across the board. As marketers, we need to be quick to adjust our efforts to match this change.
A survey done by RevJet shows that viewers are no longer willing to sit through long ads, even if it means abandoning the video they intended to watch. According to the responses of 1,000 adults, 28% of consumers will close out of a video after only 10 seconds of an advertisement. By the 20 second mark, 54% of viewers will be gone. When there’s an option to skip, however, nearly 100% choose to click past the advertisement.
With mobile ad spending projected to grow to $54.9 billion by 2025, you should definitely be taking this into consideration when building your creative strategy. In order to align with consumer needs, it appears that 6-second unskippable ads are going to become an important part of your marketing efforts in the near future.
To Wrap Up…
The digital world is ever-changing, and we don’t expect that to slow down any time soon. However, by looking backwards to identify trends, we can predict future shifts in the market and prepare for them as efficiently and effectively as possible to maximize reward.
What does your marketing strategy look like for 2022? Will you be incorporating any of these trends into your plans?
If you would like to learn more about how we help businesses increase their viewership and sales with YouTube marketing and Advertising, check out some of our Case Studies.