Online video content has revolutionized the way digital marketers approach their strategies. It’s been around for decades now—YouTube launched in 2005—and each year, what’s popular is a little bit different than ever before.
That fluctuation extends to video marketing trends as well. Digital marketing and video production in 2024 is a vastly different beast than it was in the early days of internet video, and there’s no reason to think it won’t just keep on changing.
To stay competitive, you need to keep up with the latest trends. What are those trends, you ask? Well, let’s dive in.
Interactive Videos
The secret sauce that makes video content so effective is how engaging it is. When you can find ways to make your videos interactive, you can even further boost that engagement. Features like polls, surveys, and quizzes give your viewer a way to immediately respond to a video while or after watching it.
If you do live streams on Instagram or Twitch, you can take questions from your chat in real time. It gives you the rare opportunity to address any comments or questions immediately as they come up.
Making Videos Shoppable
The best way to get someone through the marketing funnel is to make it easy to convert when your audience is primed to take action. Think of a tantalizing window display that draws customers in off the street to make a purchase after walking by.
As Google puts it, your video content is your new shop window. Shoppability is an exciting new subset of interaction that you can integrate into your digital marketing and video production. You just have to take an informative and entertaining video featuring your product and add links to additional information and purchasing options, and you can create a seamless transition between discovery and conversion. No need for physical windows when you have digital ones.
Incorporating Real People
Part of the reason that video content is engaging is because it creates a sense of human connection. Seeing another person on screen engenders a more positive, personal bond between the audience and the message they’re receiving.
While actors and influencers have been mainstays of digital marketing and video production, there’s growing room for a new kind of spokesperson: a real one. When people see your videos as they scroll through social media, they’re primed to view you as part of their social ecosystem. Recording real people who work for your company helps you further become a part of it.
You can have the actual person who designed a product show it off and demonstrate it to an audience or have a founder come on camera and talk about what the company mission means to them. Personality can be a huge untapped resource for small businesses, so don’t be afraid to show yours off.
Integrating AI and Machine Learning
AI is changing the way things work in nearly every industry, and digital marketing and video production are no different. Statistics say that 75 percent of marketers are using AI to help create or edit their video content, and that number is likely to grow as the technology continues to evolve.
While creating entire projects with a few keystrokes is enticing, it isn’t even the most exciting thing that AI and machine learning can do for your marketing. A huge part of measuring the efficacy of a campaign is analyzing the mountain of data it generates, seeing which aspects work and which underperform. With AI tools, you can parse that data much faster and discover trendlines easily.
Graphics and Animations
If you’ve ever had to explain a complex or abstract idea in a video, you know how hard it is to get your audience to understand your meaning. Fun, poppy graphics and animations can be just the thing that helps bridge the informational divide. They can turn hard-to-grasp concepts into entertaining experiences while also giving you the creative opportunity to further cement your brand identity.
If you don’t have a lot of confidence in your own art skills, working with an experienced production company like Pretzel Logic Productions can help connect you with talented illustrators and animators who will bring your message to life.
Short-Form Content Continues to Rise
Short-form video exploded with the rise of TikTok and has only continued to proliferate with the creation of Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. The format isn’t going anywhere, so if you’re not yet taking advantage of it, now is a great time to start.
Short-form videos are an easy, engaging way to spread your brand’s message across a plethora of channels. Since it can be passively consumed, it’s a more effective way to deliver information to your audience than a static web page. And with the shorter runtime, it’s much more likely that the viewer will watch the entire video.
Don’t get the wrong idea; you shouldn’t go all in on short-form and abandon long-form videos. They can still be incredibly helpful for your marketing efforts. Short-form video can just be another tool in your toolbox.
Long-Form Content Is Here to Stay
While short-form video has seen an explosion of use, it isn’t necessarily the best format for all your video content. For videos like explainers and product demonstrations, long-form is the way to go. It’s even taking the place of more traditional help docs, presenting the same information in a much more digestible way.
Long-form video also allows for creative liberties that short-form doesn’t. You can get deeper in the weeds on more complicated concepts or execute bigger ideas that wouldn’t fit into shorter form. Your long-form content can also serve as an informational archive for your audience, giving them a place to turn—whether that’s your YouTube page or your business website—to learn more about who you are and what you do.
Accentuating your marketing with video is a tried-and-true strategy that continues to help businesses grow. If you want to make the most of your video marketing, it’s vital that you move with the times. Partner with a company that specializes in digital marketing and video production to stay on top of the latest trends and create marketing videos that engage your customers.