2021: 5 video trends for the new year

As we have already seen in a previous post, video will become dominant in the coming months for those working in the digital marketing sector. For those who want to promote their business, video is the most engaging way to make your products and services known to customers.

So, where do the current trends lead us? And what video trends will be on the horizon for 2021? Here are 5 trends not to be ignored!

1. Personalized video

First of the five video trends includes personalization.

In recent years, the concept of video personalization has become an increasingly present reality in the digital landscape. The internet makes it possible to collect a lot of personal information. For digital marketing experts, the question is, how to use this wealth of information so that it actually becomes useful in communication with users?

Marketing has given an answer with the concept of personalized video. Today, the use of personalization in videos has been refined to such an extent that it is possible to produce a video that is completely tailored to each user who receives it; for example, through a personal greeting with the recipient’s name, the city where he lives, the gender of the user, their personal preferences, interests, the products he wants.

In addition, many other elements can also be personalized, from the video background, to the texts, the sounds, and the call-to-action whose click allows you to redirect users to pages related to content of interest. A practical example could be the sale of a product whose link leads directly to the product page, which is different for each person.

The video provides extremely valuable display data that allows you to improve your communication with your audience through one-to-one communication. The recipient of the video not only becomes the star of the video, but also the director during the visualization process, freely deciding what to see and where to click.

This is the era of personalization and individual communication. The key to success lies in creating an interactive message that makes people interested in your brand and your products through content that is relevant to the target audience.

If we speak in terms of benefits, the use of personalized video is more likely to increase the level of conversion of users into contacts. In fact, the user has the impression that what is offered by the brand has been made to reflect their needs; in this way, there is a good chance that brand loyalty increases and the user feels more inclined to perform the actions requested in the video.

Video can give new life to communications between those who want to transmit a message and those who receive it, making the communication personal and therefore more effective and, it’s a way to build trust.

2. Shoppable video

Social media has become a real marketing tool, so much so that platforms such as Instagram and Facebook now have dedicated marketplace spaces and direct links to purchases by retailers. Users can simply click on a button to purchase and, thus streamlining the path to learning about the product and eventually, ideally, buying it. This has also enabled brands to exponentially expand the user base that could be captured.

To this, let’s add some data:

• 66% of users say that video is the best way to learn about a product;
• 18% prefer text articles;
• 4% prefer presentations and e-books;
• only 3% of users prefer infographics and marketing calls (wyzowl.com).

The gap between the first and second point is huge. What do we mean when we refer to shoppable videos?

Also known as click-to-buy video, touchable video, or direct-sales video, the shoppable video is a tool with great persuasive power, capable of greatly increasing the conversion rate of e-commerce transactions that affects the buying habits of users.

Presenting a product with video is extremely effective. Through a call-to-action, the user is redirected directly to the product page that interests him. In addition, the video experience is able to show how the product is used and what it’s made of, in a 360-degree view. The user draws information about the products of his interest, without leaving the video screen, where he can actively interact with the contents. In this case, the opinion of influencers for promoting products, providing details or through comparison to other similar products, can be helpful. This supports the decision-making process of the user, who is also guided by the preference algorithms on social media, which become more and more precise and developed over time.

The possibility to add interactions between video and user makes the latter feel involved during the viewing process. CTAs can help direct the user to the website or even place the product directly into the cart, which is immediately ready for checkout.

So, if used effectively, just imagine how shoppable video can speed up conversions!

3. Interactive video

You can’t help but notice how demanding and selective users are when it comes to choosing content. It becomes difficult then, to win their attention and stand out from the competition.

You must first take into account the needs of your target audience based on a few considerations:

• 54% of respondents think that those who advertise a product should change the way they interact with users;
• as many as 75% of users expect the activities to move towards new technologies and stay up to date to provide new experiences;
• up to 84% claim that the experience provided by the brand is as important as the product or service being sold (salesforce.com).

When it comes to interactive video, the range of possibilities opens up to dozens of different methods to interact; from cursors that allow you to see the background of the video itself, videos navigable by 360 degrees, made to measure wearables thanks to your smartphone camera. We can expect the possibilities of interactions with video to multiply further in the near future as these technologies are still evolving.

The fusion of images, text, and sound, and the possibility to build a story makes interactive video a valuable tool for those who want to increase brand awareness and get valuable feedback from users to understand where to invest in their business. In addition, interactive content proves to be an excellent ally of lead generation, with an average click rate of 50% and a conversion rate of 40% (marketingarena.it).

The possibility to make an interactive path to the viewer of the video is also important: users can even skip the parts that aren’t of interest, leaving him the freedom to focus on content that is interesting.

4. Streaming and real-time video

While YouTube remains the leading platform for enjoying online video, Twitch is also gaining popularity. While it initially focused on the gaming market, in 2019 and even more so during in 2020, some of the biggest names on YouTube are broadcasting on Twitch, even if it has nothing to do with the gaming world in general.

It’s likely that the lockdown period that the whole world experienced during the first months of the year has also had a big influence on this as people turned to sharing and viewing more on social networks. We saw a literal explosion of live events on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and also Twitch. In fact, social algorithms currently often give priority to live video events precisely because they happen in real-time.

This is the point of live video, allowing those who make them to convey sincerity and honesty for their viewers. Users perceive a feeling of intimacy that encourages them to interact in the comments in real-time. A large proportion of users — more than 80% — would prefer live video to social or blog posts, especially for companies (insidemarketing.it).

In addition, to live video, you can also use real-time video, i.e. videos capable of providing information and data that are updated in real-time.

Real-time video can be used for news. For example, you won’t need to generate similar videos with the news of the day on a daily basis, but you can have up-to-date videos that change with the most recent news item. Another growing trend involves the live updating of complex data and animated infographics that deal with reports or banking data that can self-update with each new view.

Real-time videos can capture viewers three times longer (financeonline.com) than pre-recorded videos and can produce six times more interactions.

5. Less is more

The last of the five video trends, but not least is the concept of cleanliness and minimalism, both visual and conceptual.

Digital transformation brings an explosion of possibilities, like the many ways to make an interactive, live, and real-time video that leads the user to landing pages and e-commerce. The world of video production is destined to expand further, but we also know that the richer the video gets, the more potential for confusion.

So, simplicity is key! 

Back to our starting point: possibilities and technologies open worlds. With video, it’s about how you use it and how effective you can be in your purpose. Quality has never depended on equipment but on the production process. Thinking of an effective idea and realizing it in a simple and clean way is the way to stand out in an increasingly chaotic landscape. As long as you focus most on substance, there is a good chance that your message will be heard.

If you are thinking about making videos, we hope you’ll find guidance and even inspiration for using video to make your communication more effective!

Babelee

Copywriters, video creators, digital marketers and developers: this is who we are! Young, passionate, geeky and very keen on media and technology. Fancy to meet the team? Contact us or submit your cv, we love talented people.