Changes to video in 2020
Recently I was at the Digital Marketing Summit in Dallas, Texas where we were learning about some of the new trends and upcoming changes to social media. One of the things that was emphasized is creating video that matches what each platform is trying to push. Each social media platform is trying out new ways in which we consume video. By thinking about what video orientation each platform prefers, your video will organically reach more people. Let’s face it, we know the more eyes on our videos, the better off we are.
Square – Landscape – Vertical
Okay, so which orientation works best? Square? Landscape? Vertical? Let’s break this down as easily as possible.
Vertical video has begun taking over Facebook video feeds. This is mostly because Facebook has seen success with Stories. As we are going about our days, vertical video is much easier for the viewer to consume. Vertical video is also a thumb stopper. This means that it makes people stop because it’s different and something that they aren’t used to seeing on their newsfeed. It’s been said that Facebook will continue to organically favor vertical video in 2020. This means as marketers and business owners, we should start using vertical in our video strategy.
Even with vertical creeping in, square video is still an effective way to get views on Facebook. We suggest using both video orientations and seeing which works best for you. It’s never a bad idea to mix things up every now and then either.
Like Facebook, Instagram has seen a lot of success with Stories. Not enough for them to change how video is viewed in your feed though. Square video is still how your viewers will see content as they scroll down their feed. One thing we would suggest when creating video for Instagram is keeping a slightly different tone behind what you are posting on Stories versus the Feed. Stories need to be interactive and give your audience something to act on. Your feed can include branded content, special offers but still should have a level of engagement for the viewer. Don’t forget to use hashtags!
We believe that LinkedIn is going to be a HUGE platform to watch in 2020. They are currently using square video orientation on their platform and are seeing good results. LinkedIn is great for B2B video content. That could be branding, promotional or educational. If you aren’t using LinkedIn, 2020 should be the year you look into it. If you need help, vem is here for you.
YouTube
YouTube is still a goldmine. They are currently sticking to landscape or wide-angle video orientation. One of our goals for 2020 is taking YouTube seriously. YouTube is a long game kind of platform. We have a video on YouTube that we posted a little over three years ago, didn’t really do anything with and it’s been viewed over 13,000 times. For a small channel like ours, that’s HUGE. Imagine if we had kept up with posting content. The same is for you. Post content. As much and as often as possible. Make a schedule and stick to it! Done is better than perfect. If you want help creating videos for your channel, let us know. We are here to help.
