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7 Video marketing trends for 2020

January 23, 2020 Digital Marketing, Video Marketing 0 Comments

Video was a major trend in 2019 and it will continue to be the ‘next big thing’ in 2020 as well. An average Indian spends more than 2 hours watching videos on smart devices. This duration is bound to increase & videos will remain the favorite content format for marketers in 2020.

Marketers see this opportunity in two ways – 

1. Producing video content for India’s 325 mn video consumers

2. Targeting video platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and OTT platforms for advertisements.

You may be eyeing one or both of the above opportunities and some of the insights covered in this document will surely help you chart out your video marketing strategy for 2020.

Let’s look at major trends likely to shape your marketing agenda:

1. Watching a video will become primary activity for smartphone users

Most popular activities on smartphones in India

Source: A billion screens of opportunity, 2019, E&Y.

A report by E&Y – A billion screens of opportunity, 2019 suggests watching a video is the second most popular activity in the year 2019. We expect this to be the No. 1 activity during 2020. And hence, a smartphone user will primarily use smartphones for consuming videos.

2. Regional language content will dominate English language content

Are you prepared for this? Still, most marketers are busy decoding video challenges & they have not moved beyond the language they understand most – English. Trends suggest that the growth in Internet users is dominated by rural users

Last year, Hotstar announced that their 63% video consumption came from Non-metros. Not just that, more than 40% of content consumption was in non-english language.

A clear insight – if you want to attract masses & create lasting impact for your content, prepare your content in regional language.

3. Use of videos will become inevitable for Facebook & Instagram ads. 

This is a simple yet very insightful trend. We all have seen reduced effectiveness of image based advertisements on Facebook & Instagram ads. Advertisements with video get a higher ‘ad relevance’ score. It’s time you prepare a video ad for every small or big video marketing campaign you’re planning in 2020.

4. Short format videos (less than 2 minutes) will perform better

By default, video advertisement is of short duration and we’ve all seen positive ROIs with short 15-20 second video ads. This trend is likely to continue in 2020 as well. When it comes to content, viewers are likely to spend less time on each video. If you are planning to invest in educational videos, product introduction, how-to videos or knowledge based videos – keep it short. Short videos with 1-2 minute duration will drive higher impact in 2020.

5. Use of videos instead of images on social media stories

Social media stories are a great way to consistently engage with users, without flooding timelines. Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp – all three giants boast of 500mn Daily Active story users.

Stories product daily active users (in millions)

Source: Techcrunch

The main reason why stories are doing so well is because it expires within 24 hours. Fear of missing out aka FOMO – that drives millennials to be hyper active on social media – make stories a very interesting feature. Millennials do not want to miss out on trends and when you hook them with interesting stories that last for only 24 hours, it surely drives excitement among them. 

We have experienced immense success with video stories in 2019 and we expect that video stories will continue to dominate in 2020 too. 

6. Increased use of Live videos to drive authentic engagement

Earlier, posting good social media content, responding to user comments and engaging with fans was ‘way to go’ for brands on social media. However, times have changed & this no longer helps in driving organic visibility on users’ timeline. 

Social media algorithms have matured in such a way that brands are finding it hard to make content visible on the newsfeed. Live videos, however have a very different nature. Most social media networks are pushing ‘live video’ events very strongly and it hooks users because of its real and engaging format. 

Linkedin too enabled ‘live videos’ recently with its ‘Linkedin Live’ recently, proving the relevance of live videos for social networks. 

Some insights:

Live videos hook users three times longer than normal videos.
It provides authentic interactions between brand & audience.
Adds human touch to video marketing.
Lets you repurpose content for future use

7. Mute videos will also see high traction

Did you know: 85% of the videos are watched ‘without sound’ on Facebook, according to Sprout Social. There are strong reasons to believe this. Particularly in India, where the majority of video consumption happens on smartphones & amid chaotic environment, plenty of users tend to keep volume on ‘mute’. 

This calls for smart editing on videos – by putting text overlays & beautiful animation. As a marketer, your 15 second Facebook advertisement should be able to convey the message even without audio.

Do you think we are missing out on anything for Video marketing trends for 2020? Do share your comments below!

About the Author

Tanmay Shanischara

Tanmay is Founder & CEO of MeDigit Solutions. A first generation entrepreneur, he started MeDigit because of his passion for marketing & strategy. He loves travelling, motorcycling & movies!