Modern-day consumers are savvier than ever. They have immediate access to information about brands, they expect accountability and transparency from their favorite brands, and they want rapid responses to questions and concerns.

Often, video marketing is the solution. Videos offer easily digestible information in an engaging way that appeals to consumers. Perhaps that’s why videos are expected to account for 82% of all consumer web traffic by 2025.

It’s not enough to simply make videos, though. Fortunately, video technologies are making it easier for brands to create compelling videos that stand out, drive leads, and convert customers.

 

The growing popularity of videos

Videos have been gaining more attention for online consumers—a trend that was accelerated during the shelter-in-place orders of the COVID-19 pandemic. Audiences on the internet, and social media in particular, are more willing to spend time learning, researching, and entertaining themselves with video formats than articles or other types of content—and brands noticed.

Here’s why:

Visual stimuli

Watching videos requires more brain activity devoted to deciphering imagery, facial expressions, and other visual cues. This is quite different from reading a lengthy article and engages the brain’s learning abilities more readily.

In turn, watching videos improves learning and retention. Dopamine levels rise, drawing connections between the information on the video and the pleasure of the experience. In short, watching videos makes people feel good.

 

Shareable content

When people share content online, it’s often in video form. Attention spans are shorter, schedules are more demanding, and people want an escape. Videos offer a payoff for the time spent.

For brands, this means that a persuasive video is more likely to be shared than an email, article, blog post, case study, or landing page. Think of it as an opportunity to reach wider audiences and create content with the potential to go viral.

 

Educational opportunities

Not all video content is salesy. Some videos are educational and provide a learning experience for the audience about the brand or product. When the product is complex or jargon-heavy, sharing this information in a video format makes it easier to grasp its value and put it in a real-world context.

Consumers would rather see a short video that demonstrates how a product can be used and highlights its features over a long review article. It can deliver vital information and value in a much shorter time to give customers the information they need to make a decision.

 

Emerging video technologies that are disrupting video marketing

While videos were once limited to big brands with the resources to create polished, professional product videos, technology has made video marketing more accessible to every brand—regardless of resources.

Emerging technologies have only accelerated the popularity of video marketing for brands. Here are some emerging technologies making waves:

 

Short-form video content

When the pandemic slowed the world down and video became more popular, TikTok exploded in popularity. Consumers didn’t just want videos—they wanted short, snappy, authentic videos that captured their attention.

Since then, TikTok has been the leader in video trends. YouTube and Instagram, two popular visual platforms, have created features that mimic those of TikTok, including short-form clips that are 15–30 seconds in length, audio and interactive features, and more.

TikTok revealed a trend among younger generations. The videos that got the most traction were raw and authentic, validating those generations’ aversion to overly polished, salesy ads. Attention spans are getting shorter as well, contributing to the popularity of short videos. Creating short, human videos can personalize your brand and reach more audiences.

 

Interactive elements

A well-made video with quality content can shine without any bells and whistles, but newer technologies can add interactive elements that take video content a step further. It’s likely you’ve engaged with this type of content in your own life, such as checking out interactive videos on a streaming platform.

With interactive videos, consumers can watch a video and engage with clickable elements like branching narratives or quizzes that may change the rest of the content. They’re like “choose your own adventure” novels for the digital age.

Interactive videos not only improve engagement, but they can offer unique data insights to inform your future campaigns. By tracking the decisions consumers make when they engage with your video, you can learn more about the content they want to see, their decision-making process, and other details to improve user engagement across your entire marketing campaign.

For example, YouTube has features for clickable links that allow viewers to subscribe to the creator or shop the website directly from the video. This keeps the conversion top of mind, removes barriers to the next step, and creates a seamless experience.

 

Virtual reality and 360-degree views

Modern devices allow you to create videos on a computer, tablet, smartphone, or directly from your social media accounts. However, most of these formats are designed for standard videos. Virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree views can add another visual element to your videos to create more immersive experiences.

For example, online virtual walkthroughs rely on both of these technologies to provide a realistic rendering of a location. Naturally, VR and panoramic views have elevated videos for travel, tourism, entertainment, and gaming industries to simulate a unique experience, but there’s no limit to how you can use this technology to your advantage.

As VR becomes more widely available, it offers new opportunities to build brand awareness and create interactive experiences with a product or service. You can create VR videos from the start or adapt your successful video content for VR headsets.

 

Shoppable videos

At their core, conventional videos have a presentation that follows an article format—introduction, body, and conclusion ending with a call to action (CTA)—which give the consumer the information they need and tell them what action to take.

Though this is a good way to get leads, there is a technology that makes CTAs more compelling and seamless: shoppable videos. These videos allow consumers to interact with elements in the video frames, such as product features, then click to go to the product page and complete the purchase.

For instance, fashion brands may show a runway with interactive price tags or pop-up images that allow the viewer to click on the article of clothing or accessory they like and navigate directly to the product page for purchase.

 

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been making its way into virtually every industry, including video marketing. The resources involved in video marketing can be difficult to justify, especially if you need artists, graphic designers, videographers, writing and editing teams, and more. AI breaks down these barriers to make video production more affordable and accessible.

For example, AI-enabled video production tools can take on time-consuming tasks like video editing or closed captioning, freeing time for human creators to focus on the creative elements that humanize the brand and product. While you can’t delegate the entirety of video production to an AI tool, it can automate a lot of the tedious aspects of the process for more efficient video marketing.

 

Experiment with video technology in your marketing

New technologies continue to revolutionize industries. With video technologies, brands have an opportunity to streamline video production, increase exposure, and engage the ideal audience for videos that get results.

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Torrey Tayenaka is the co-founder and CEO at Sparkhouse, an Orange County based commercial video production company. He is often asked to contribute expertise in publications like Entrepreneur, Single Grain, and Forbes. In addition to Sparkhouse, Torrey has also founded the companies Eva Smart Shower, Litehouse, and Forge54.

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