Video Marketing Trends According to our Experts

If you’re a marketer, business owner, or simply got chosen to lead your company’s next video, at this point you’re probably not wondering whether video is worth it, you’re likely asking where to spend your organization’s money. You want the right type of video, and you want to show it to as many people as you can. That last part is where video marketing trends come in. Where people are consuming the most video and how will be huge determiners of what your next video looks like and where you distribute it. 

What are Video Marketing Trends Anyway? 

Every year we notice shifts both in how people are using video and how they’re consuming it. Of course, we also notice how video producers are changing up their video style, gear, and production techniques, but that’s for another time. Here, we’re talking about shifting consumer preferences, so you can know where your audience is watching video and how to get in front of them more effectively. 

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Need a hand with your company marketing video? 

We can move your brand forward with video. Get a quote from one of the Bay Area’s top video production companies.

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The Top Video Marketing Trends for 2023

Here’s the rundown of the big changes we’re seeing in video marketing. Of course, this list isn’t meant to be comprehensive, there’s a lot going in the industry. It’s also not either/or. All of these work together, and you’ll likely be using a combination of these for your video. At BX for example, we often create spots for streaming TV that we cut down to use on social media. The biggest thing is to make sure you know where you’re going to place your video ahead of time so you can produce it accordingly.

1. Streaming, or Over-the-Top (OTT), Video Ads

Here’s a statement that will shock nobody: people are streaming a lot of television. In a time that many are calling the golden age of TV, it seems like there’s a new streaming service that pops up every month and people are flocking to them. It’s a great time to be a viewer because all of the content that your heart desires is out there. 

Which means that it’s also a great time to be an advertiser and place your videos where all of those people are watching. OTT has its advantages over social media and other online videos because it’s a relatively captive audience. Audiences have to sit through your ad (often whether they like it or not depending on whether your ad is skippable) to get to their desired content, so the chance of a brand impression is higher than somewhere they can just scroll past. In our experience, streaming ads work best when they are creative, punchy, and well-produced. If social media is the place to try out quick, shot-on-iPhone video content, OTT is the place to go big.

2. Silent Videos 

In what feels like coming full circle back to the origins of film, silent videos have become a thing again. And a highly strategic thing at that. Most people are consuming content these days on their phone — with their sound off. So much so, that videos with sound or without captions can actually be jarring or off putting. 

With that in mind, savvy brands are creating videos that already include captions, only use on-screen text or a combination of the two. It makes sure that your audience gets your message whether or not the sound is on and caters to how they consume content. But it’s not just social that benefits from silent media. An event, trade show or conference is another perfect use case for video sans sound. In a busy, noisy area, a silent but visually compelling video can help draw a crowd to your organization, giving you a competitive edge.

3. User-Generated Content

People naturally trust other people more than they trust a brand, especially a new one. Add to that the endless amount of content being uploaded to the internet every day, and user-generated content is a trend not going away anytime soon, or really ever. There are so many ways for brands to engage this way, with brand partners being at the top of the list. Rather than trying to create an organic community/platform on your end, you can take advantage of someone who already has the expertise, platform, and community to reach your audience.   

4. Social Media Stories

Whether its stories on Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook, videos that only have 24-hour shelf life are great investments. With a limited time to view them, consumers are extra motivated to watch them in real time rather than waiting. As such, they’re great ways of pointing to other, longer-term content, like other videos. You can give people a small taste of a video, product, or event and then link out for them to engage with other content. They’re also great as testing grounds for new content since they’re not made to last. 

5. Search Optimized Videos (Video SEO)

Everyone is familiar with SEO for web pages and written content. But video is just as important. Google now includes video results in its universal search results, not just on the video tab. And to get there, you’ll need to be intentional about the title, keywords, video transcript, description, and more. 

Adding video to a webpage is also a huge boost for getting the page ranked higher in search results. Even a simple video that walks through an article’s content, for instance, can be very effective for SEO. After all, it’s giving your audience multiple ways to consume your content, so they can choose what’s best for them. These days, people are more likely to hit that play button than read through the full article. 

6. TikTok Videos and Instagram Reels 

Not only has TikTok remained massively popular, but Instagram continues to invest in Reels which means video content will only become more important on the platform. For brands, there are a lot of options for how to engage, from following the quick trends that come and go but can gain views quickly, working with brand ambassadors, or sharing their own short content. 

7. YouTube

YouTube has been around a long time, but did you know that it’s the world’s second largest search engine? With literally billions of people watching every single month on this video platform it’s a great place for business. Whether it’s uploading videos to your own channel, using YouTube in-stream ads, or both, it’s a great place to get a lot of traffic. 

The caveat is that just being on YouTube doesn’t mean guaranteed success. You’ve probably gone to a big brand’s channel and noticed some surprisingly low view counts. Getting good traffic means having a well thought out strategy, investing in quality video content, and creating YouTube ad campaigns. We’ve worked with plenty of clients who’ve gone big on YouTube and seen big payoffs as a result! 

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Need a hand with your company marketing video? 

We can move your brand forward with video. Get a quote from one of the Bay Area’s top video production companies.

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Final thoughts on Video Advertising Trends

You don’t need to be a trendsetter to take advantage of these video marketing trends. While TikTok dances go in and out of style, we believe taking advantage of some or all of these overarching trends when investing in your video can lead to some stellar ROI for your business over the next couple of years. We’ve seen it with our own clients and are confident you can reap the benefits as well! Hit us up to talk through your next project and get a quote.