The Complete Series: Video Trends in 2020

It’s 2020, which means many companies are planning for the new year by developing strategies for their marketing content. Many of those companies will choose to incorporate video content this year, taking advantage of video’s many benefits and supplementing other written and visual content with more dynamic options. To aid in this process, we’re sharing our analysis of a series of video production trends that we believe will dominate video campaigns this year. Let’s get started!

Authenticity

First, we expect to see a prioritization of authenticity in video content in 2020. Viewers in the digital age are demanding authenticity from the content they interact with online. Today, it’s more possible than ever to document the “perfect” photo or video without any consideration for whether the experience is being accurately represented or not. Influencers are praised by some for their idyllic content, but others criticize the way it makes an unattainable lifestyle look more appealing than the reality actually is. Given this dichotomy, many viewers would rather see ultra-real content in 2020.

Video is a great tool for brands to accomplish this. They can build trust with audiences by letting their guards down and showcasing a more “real” experience on camera. Authenticity has the added benefit of making video production easier to accomplish for companies without robust video equipment. A casual video can be filmed selfie-style without any fancy backdrop, lighting, or audio equipment, and many audiences will be drawn to the down-to-earth approach. On the other hand, expertly-produced content can still be authentic when the messaging is true and feels approachable to viewers.

Ultimately, it’s up to brands to decide how they will interpret this trend in the coming months. No matter how the trend is applied, prioritizing authenticity for all new content is a great way to create genuine connections with audiences.

For more about authenticity, check out our full article on this trend here.

Vertical Video

Next, we expert that vertical video content will continue to thrive this year. Vertical video uses a 9:16 aspect ratio, and it’s what you see on platforms like Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, and Snapchat. The benefit of filming video vertically is that on mobile devices, most people hold their phones vertically. Even though flipping the orientation to watch horizontal content is an option in many platforms, audiences simply choose not to take this extra step.

Many studies confirm the importance of vertical content. MediaBrix, a mobile-first video ad platform that is now owned by Verve, found that vertical ads have a completion rate of 90%, while horizontal ads have a completion rate of 14%. This is a significant difference, and it points to consumers’ unwillingness to deal with the inconvenience of changing the viewing orientation. Snapchat came to a similar conclusion, finding that its best content on the app was created with vertical dimensions, and this applied whether the content was a Snapchat-native show or just an advertisement.

Finally, in 2020, many purchasing decisions are made entirely on mobile devices. Rather than in the past where desktops had the most influence, mobile content is no longer secondary, so missing out on the opportunity to connect with consumers on mobile will hurt brands in increasingly devastating ways.

To learn more about vertical video content, check out our full article here.

One-on-One Video Communication

Our third trend is one-on-one video communication, which is the concept of using video to communicate with a single person face-to-face on video. This idea has many existing applications, including video interviews and virtual business meetings. But, in 2020 we expect to see an expansion of the uses to include sales and customer support teams.

Both teams will be capitalizing on the same benefits by incorporating personalized video content. Sales teams can insert short videos into their pitches or email outreach, for example, using the video to touch on the exact points each unique customer needs to understand to help drive the buyer’s journey. Customer service teams can take a similar approach, using video to walk customers through the challenges they’re experiencing in a way that feels more personal and makes complex information more easily digestible.

Learn more about both of these options in our full article here.

Internal and External Video Production

Another video trend in 2020 will likely be a mix of internal and external video content, meaning that some content will be produced by the company itself to supplement content made by agencies or video production companies.

This combination has implications for the scale of the content that is possible to execute, making it easier to support professional content with smaller-scale internal content. Companies will still benefit from the expertise and investments in equipment that agencies and production companies offer, but the scope of a brand’s video strategy often increases when they utilize both options in conjunction with each other.

To understand more about the nuances of this strategy, read our full article here.

Video-First Platforms

Video-first platforms, meaning platforms that are designed for the consumption of video content, really took hold in recent years. Facebook famously declared in early 2017 that it would become a video-first platform, with Mark Zuckerberg calling video a “megatrend” that the company would need to optimize for.

Video-first platforms that dominated 2019 include TikTok and YouTube, both platforms where users spend hours upon hours solely consuming video content. The popularity of these offerings is telling as we move into 2020, hinting at the need for public perception to shift towards seeing video as a primary medium for consumption.

AR and VR in Video

AR (artificial reality) and VR (virtual reality) have been shaking up a variety of industries since their inception, and advertising has just begun to scratch the surface on what might be possible with the technology moving forward. Incorporating dynamic components into “standard” video content makes audiences a part of the action, creating a more memorable (and enjoyable) experience in the minds of consumers.

The video below gives an example of what brands have to work with this year, and it’s inevitable that more capabilities will exist before 2020 comes to a close.