The marketing industry has been put through the ringer this year but marketers are still finding new and inventive ways to connect with their customers through social media and video.

There have been more than just a few calls for 2020 to have a do over. But, unfortunately it is highly unlikely that we’re going to get to a second run at 2020 come New Year’s Eve. Brand managers and marketers are going to have to find a way to pivot their approaches to selling their products in 2021 and adapt to a landscape that requires constant iteration.

Thankfully there are a variety of new trends and tools available to marketing teams to help them cope with the changing advertising landscape and looking at the data, almost all of them have something to do with video.

Almost 4 billion people are using social media according to a report by We Are Social. That is over half of the world’s population. It’s the primary form of communication for Millennials and Gen-Zedders and the way most people have chosen to stay connected with friends and family during COVID-19.

According to a consumer insights report from Animoto, video is still the primary method of choice for brand marketers. They found 96 per cent of marketers had placed ad spend behind video in 2019 and 2020, 91 per cent were satisfied with the resulting return on investment and 93 percent admitted to receiving a new customer because of a video campaign. 

And the key player? Well, Facebook continues to be the biggest converter of scrollers to customers when it comes to video marketing. This is followed swiftly by Youtube, then Facebook Stories, Instagram’s news feed and then Instagram’s Stories feature. 

Yet video itself is a general term. As a professional video production house we run the gamut of video creation; from animated explainer videos through to broadcast live action TVCs. So how can brands tap into video when they don’t have a pre-existing strategy and how can teams proficient in video better tailor their offering to 2021?

Video Shooting Restrictions

Remote video making

People across the world are spending more time on their smart devices and less time physically connecting in offices and in restaurants or even just socially in their own homes with their friends and loved ones. COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on how the world connects. It has shut down businesses, borders and everyday social interactions. As a result marketers are having to think of new and interesting ways to connect with their customers.

One of the most prevalent in through the use of video. It is dynamic, engaging and gets messages across fast. That said, traditional video making does require people to be able to gather and operate within a 1.5m radius, Brands have had to find new ways to make video. It’s just not possible to gather more than a few people in a room in many parts of the world. Processes such as remote recording through Skype and Zoom have become increasingly popular. We do it every single day for our clients.

Demand for slave computer capture and live streaming has also seen a surge whilst remote editing and motion graphics services have helped marketers freshen up user generated or old creative. Animation, long the darling of the corporate and B2B sectors, has become a huge resource for the advertising industry. It requires no face-to-face contact and affords a variety of cost efficiencies in its making.

Staying Connected

Communication is on the up

With all these restrictions in place and government and state legislation changing seemingly on a daily basis, brands and marketers have realised that they need to communicate with their customers and staff members better and more often. The number of explainer videos, presentations and online tutorials we’ve been making have all increased as well as up-skilling courses to help bring people together to work, collaborate, connect and socialise.

Demonstration videos

When people can’t physically get out to touch and feel something they still require a level of interaction in order to gain the confidence they need to make a purchase. The number of demonstration videos surfacing on the internet has grown steadily this year. Everything from kitchen appliances to clothes and cars are being shown and demonstrated online, through video. With mobile video consumption on the rise by 100 per cent year on year, these videos are short, sharp and wholly optimised for mobile and social viewing.

Google reigns

96 per cent of smartphone traffic and 94 per cent of all organic traffic comes through Google. If you’re not on it, you’re not anywhere. Video content is becoming an increasingly important pillar for Google alongside animation and infographics, which have the potential to be shared on social media up to three times more than any other type of content.

Brand Pivoting

Brand positioning and sensitivity

Brands are being created and destroyed in an era where company morals and ethics are being judged on social media right out in the open. Societal shifts being spurred on by groups such as Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion are forcing brands to pick a side. The result is that brands are using this as a way to align themselves with a particular group or groups of people. Understanding where brands sit on particular topics and creating video around it has become a huge trend within the social sphere, especially for brands with a younger customer base. 

Some trends remain consistent with 2020 and will continue to develop and evolve over the next 12 months. It is true that our world has inextricably changed but digital consumption only continues to rise and with communication now becoming increasingly digital, consumer behaviour through smart devices is only reinforced.

Personalisation

We are seeing it with people and products and have seen it grow for some years now. Brands are tailoring their offerings to target specific groups and demographics of people, increasing their value and relevance within each of those segments. The one size net fits all approach no longer works.

The best brands working in this area have worked out how to segment their audiences and deliver different types of content. Sometimes this is being done through the platform, acknowledging that the customers that use TikTok will be different to those that watch free to air TV. Some brands are using influencer campaign or micro groups or even broadcast programming to capture the attention of audiences. Audi Australia funded a Netflix documentary this year highlighting to advances in autonomous driving. Savvy for a brand heavily investing in the space.

Social Media downplays likes 

Social platforms have been dilly-dallying with the use and removal of like buttons and engagements signifiers for some time. Due to fears over the rise in teenage mental health issues and stigmas associated with popularity and high follower counts the biggest social players are choosing to remove or downplay certain features. This means brands are having to recalibrate how they KPI influencer and video campaigns.

Social Analytics

Metrics are getting more sophisticated

A few years ago it was extremely difficult to judge the value or worth of a particular platform or influencer on any given platform. But every day a new analytical software feature pops up that helps teams to identify and isolate actionable metrics. By collecting user-focused data sets, brands can re-evaluate their platforms and better target their content. Metrics like lead generation and potential to convert have overtaken vanity metrics such as likes and engagement. 

Video is king

Video is still the primary communication method being used on social media and its influence continues to grow. The increasing ease of making and the accessibility of professional video services means even the most traditional of brands are now creating and harnessing the power of video. It is believed that over 80 per cent of the content online will be video by 2022, as published in a report by Cisco.

Think Micro Audiences

Niche is on the rise

Brands are cracking on to the fact that communities with more engaged members are more powerful en masse than a single behemoth group with a lower average engagement level. Video marketers are combining many of the trends listed here to create deeper strategies; fusing new metrics and personalised content with new recording techniques to create niche groups that have a higher relatability and conversion rate.

Linkedin is growing in reach and popularity, namely due to its older and more focused user base. TikTok has exploded this year, a platform that almost exclusively targets the 16 to 22-year-old set. Understanding the right platform for a brand will go some way in helping them plan strategies accordingly in 2021. 

Looking to add video to your brand marketing arsenal in 2021? Reach out to the Snackable team today and find out how we can help you create short video with more bite.