With Blue Monday safely behind us, we’re right into 2018 now and ready to make an impact. But have you taken time out to evaluate and reflect on your video marketing strategy?
Here are the five video marketing trends that every marketer needs to know about now with tips on how to add them to your own campaign.
Of course, if you’d rather sit back and watch, I’ve created a video just for you too.
What can you do about ad fraud?
There are estimates that ad fraud costs global businesses between $12bn and $16bn. For brand managers, these fraudsters have a huge impact on RoI.
With these high costs and brand value at stake, it is vital to be vigilant of this issue now. Firstly ask the right questions from your suppliers and build a clear picture of where your ad spend is going and where ads are being placed. If necessary, it could be worth investing in third-party software that can stop the fakers. Check out this article on Adweek for more information about ad fraud, especially in relation to mobile.
How do I beat the adblockers?
Around 29% of UK internet users have downloaded adblockers (OfCom), although there are signs that adblocker usage is stabilising, it is important to take them into account when creating campaigns. In some ways the solution is simple; create content that people want to watch, and then people don’t want to block them in the first place.
There are two parts to beating adblockers. Initially, it is important to create engaging, relevant content, and then to monitor the frequency, size, and format of ads, as well as where they are in the sales cycle. This brings me to my next video marketing tip…
The power of emotional video
Emotional video is one of my favourite topics and I may have mentioned it once or twice here on the blog… But I don’t make any excuses for this as emotional video marketing is one of the most effective ways to enact behaviour change in your customers. It does not matter what you’re selling, whether you are in B2B or B2C, making an emotional connection will help you grow your brand or gain short-term sales uplift.
You can find out more about how to discover the most effective emotional drivers for your next video campaign here.
Voice search and video SEO
According to comScore, 50% of all searches will be achieved through voice search by 2020. Therefore, for those of us who use video for SEO, it’s definitely the right time to think about how voice will make an impact in the next few years.
Since the Hummingbird algorithm update, there has been a shift in SEO towards responding to conversational style questions with relevant answers. Video can work well here to create content that meets the needs of what people are searching for with engaging answers. For instance, can you create a how-to video that helps a viewer out with their query?
Personalisation and video
Combining personalisation with video marketing is another top trend for 2018 offering brands the opportunity to improve engagement rates. It opens up a two-way conversation between your brand and your audience – making them feel special.
The British Heart Foundation achieved a 14% increase y/y with a personalised video marketing campaign for its London to Brighton bike ride. The charity pulled information from fundraisers’ public profiles and dynamically compiled personalised videos hosted on landing pages, which they then encouraged supporters to share.
Video personalisation also helped the National Lottery to cut through the noise at the Rio Olympics, which resulted in a massive 460% increase in Twitter engagement. Lottery players were encouraged to use #IamteamGB or #IamParaOlympicsGB in order to receive a personalised video with athletes saying thank you.
thank you for saying #IAmTeamGB. Now join the team 🇬🇧 on 27 Aug:https://t.co/AY04pJk7Ht pic.twitter.com/ULWjQCUVKT
— The National Lottery (@TNLUK) August 14, 2016
It is crucial to pitch personalised content so that it does not feel intrusive; target the moments when people are likely to want to engage with your brand, where they are hanging out online.
TL;DR
My trends for 2018 are ad fraud and adblockers on the negative side, and ways to beat them through engaging content, thinking about your audience and how they search, and personalisation. Above all having a measurable video marketing strategy is paramount to ensure you’re getting RoI and meeting your objectives next year and beyond.
Do you agree or disagree? What are your top trends?
For more tips on video, check out my new book, “Video Strategy” – it’s available for pre-order now.