Brands are increasingly experimenting with videos to engage customers. With TikTok’s meteoric rise and Twitter introducing 6-second video ads bidding, marketers see tremendous opportunity in these platforms. Let’s dig deep to understand more about these video marketing trends of 2019 and how you can leverage them to drive traffic, engagement, and conversions.

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Video marketing is a thriving industry that has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade alone and will continue to do so in 2020 and beyond. Having a video marketing strategy is essential to reach and impress customers and prospects alike. Let’s look at some fascinating video marketing trends and stats.

• Videos will form 82% of internet traffic by the year 2020 – Social Media Today
• Instagram has over a billion active users and 500 million daily active users – Statista
• TikTok with one billion app downloads (across Android and iOS) in 2018, surpassed Instagram and Facebook to become the most downloaded app in 2019 – CBS News
• Twitter attributed half of its 2018 Q1, ad revenue to the video format – The Drum
• Twitter launched 6-second video bidding for advertisers this August
• Users prefer to watch videos without sound, according to WordStream’s compilation of video marketing statistics.
   

Let’s find out what’s changed with video marketing and how it impacts your marketing strategy.

Video Marketing Trends That Will Reshape Your Marketing Strategy

Video marketing has made significant developments over the past few years, and apps such as TikTok and Twitter are at the forefront. Let’s look at the trends to keep up with.

1. Twitter Innovates With 6-second Video Ads

While 6-second video ads have been around since 2016, with YouTube’s Bumper Ads and Facebook’s short video ads, and more recently Instagram and Snapchat’s Story Ads; Twitter joining the battleground changes marketing dynamics altogether.

In their blog about video ads, Twitter acknowledged that:

• Mobile video consumption is at an all-time high
• Short-form and sound-off videos (with clear branding) drive better ad recall and message association
   

Twitter’s new bid units are available for Promoted Videos, In-Stream Video Sponsorships, and In-Stream Video ads that are 15 seconds in length or shorter. Advertisers will be charged only once their ad is viewed for 6 seconds.

Learn More: Will 2019 Be The Year Of The Six-Second TV Ad?

If videos are going to form 80% of internet traffic, you need to find a way to cut through the noise. To maximize the impact of your video campaigns you need to consistently churn out fresh and relevant content, in the form of short videos.

Here are a few insights for your short videos.

1. With shortening attention spans, it is important to capture audience interest and engage them in the initial moments of the video. Videos without sound can be annotated with the brand name, product, marketing message, captions, or text description to ensure consumer awareness.

For example, Hefty® Party Cups in their YouTube bumper ad, captured customer attention with clear and over-the-top brand messaging in an energetic video of a party and became one of YouTube’s top bumper ads.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/FeT4FdO7MNk

2. Ultra-short videos are the right fit to give a glimpse into product features, capture micro-moments of customer interaction, or create brand awareness.

For example, Sephora’s Beauty Blender video showcased their limited edition 40 shades of foundation in just 3 seconds.

TFW your fave foundation now comes in 40 shades💃🏽🕺🏾💃🏼 🕺🏻💃🏿🕺🏽 Apply @beautyblender Bounce Liquid Whip Foundation with the new, limited-edition electric violet swirl beautyblender for a smooth, streak-free finish. Get them only at Sephora ✨ https://t.co/fLHi9a8Epi pic.twitter.com/WQEcHOfEOK

— Sephora (@Sephora) December 14, 2018

3. Short videos present a tremendous opportunity for B2B video marketing on Twitter and LinkedIn as they have a niche audience and less clutter. Moreover, these ads can be used to create brand awareness and product announcements.

RXBAR a protein bar company, does it cleverly on Twitter, by posting short and colorful videos that highlight their products and packaging.

Our family is growing. pic.twitter.com/0ByDTybkSe

— RXBAR (@RXBAR) August 23, 2018

Learn More: Snapchat and TikTok: Social Media Marketing Trends for Gen Z and Millennials

TikTok Outdoes Instagram

Instagram, one of the leading social media apps, is being overtaken by TikTok. While Instagram has a healthy mix of millennials and Gen Zers, TikTok has a majority of Gen Z users, the instant generation. It’s not rocket science to see why TikTok, a short video platform, is a hit among its young community.

Instagram is reportedly working on Clips, where users can record video segments in a video story, overlay music on clips, adjust speed and timer, just like TikTok, says a news report on SocialMediaToday.

However, TikTok is not just another video marketing trend that will fade away. Here are a few insights that can help you bolster your video marketing campaigns for TikTok.

1. Users take to TikTok to create and collaborate with their communities on a creative platform. It is an excellent opportunity for early adopters to create brand awareness and gather their fan base.

For example, the NBA used their TikTok account to show the personal side of their players with the app’s musical features. This enabled them to promote basketball even to the viewers who are not fans because the players seemed more human and relatable.

2. Video content is more authentic as it is created by users. Brands can rope in popular TikTok users (or shall we say influencers) to reach out to their target audience.

Learn More:  Top 10 Instagram Marketing Strategy Tips for 2020

For example, Hero Cosmetics partnered with 20 TikTok creators to post videos of their morning routine with Hero’s Might Patch product (skin patch for acne). The campaign is expected to reach 4 million school-goers with hashtag #schoolsurvivalkit and free patches to students with .edu email addresses.

3. TikTok challenges have the potential of going viral. And many brands are leveraging user-generated content to create challenges for brand awareness and user engagement.

For example, Guess was one of the first brands to launch a challenge on TikTok, #InMyDenim, where users could post videos wearing Guess’s new denim line with an overlay of singer, Bebe Rexha’s I’m a Mess in the video. Guess could create product awareness with an average person modeling their outfits.

Learn More: Top 3 Tips to Get Your Video Marketing Strategy Ready for 2019

Over to You

While short videos are the latest video marketing trend, a good marketing strategy should have a healthy mix of videos of varying lengths and diverse content like how-to videos, explainer series, or story format videos.

Short videos will help create a stir and garner interest in your brand. Once, the target audience connects with your brand, long videos with more depth in content can take over to get your message across and drive engagement and conversions.

What are your thoughts on recent video marketing trends? Write to us on Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook; we’re always listening!