In 2020, the video advertising trends we have become used to will be evolving with new trends taking over to become the norm.
Video is definitely going to be a core area for marketers to focus their efforts on—according to the latest video marketing statistics, videos increase search traffic by 157%.
But creating the right kind of video ad and distributing it across the most profitable platforms is what marketers will have to be cognizant of.
In the article below, we look at the video advertising trends coming your way in 2020 so you, or your advertising agency, can prepare your strategy.
1. Video Advertising Platforms
The popularity of video advertising is only going to grow, but in 2020, the platforms that video ads will be appearing on are set to expand.
In the past couple of years, there has been a sharp focus on creating video ads for video-centric platforms—YouTube, Instagram, and eventually Facebook.
But these aren’t the only channels marketers should be looking to advertise on. Twitter and Pinterest are making their own space in the video advertising niche, with success.
LinkedIn video advertising is also gaining in popularity—if personalized correctly, LinkedIn video ads can massively help to build community and diversify your LinkedIn content.
Don’t limit the platforms you plan to advertise on in 2020—there are so many more people you can reach if you expand the platforms you use.
2. Segmented Video Ads
We’ve mentioned personalization already, and it is going to be a massive part of 2020 advertising, video and otherwise.
Analytics are going to be every marketer’s friend, even more than before—deep diving into the engagement your content is receiving will give you a good idea about who your audience is.
However, avoid focusing your efforts on demographics—it is important to know the age and gender of your audience, but you should be looking into behavioral segmentation.
This means understanding in what life stage your customers are, what they are looking forward to, how they interact with online elements, their needs, and their frustrations.
Creating personalized advertising content for targeted segments of your audience has one massive benefit—it will resonate more with that particular group, leading to more conversions.
Segmenting your audience may not be an easy task but it can result in profits in 2020, so it is definitely worth the effort.
3. Video Advertising for Mobile
Video viewing has slowly been moving towards smaller and smaller screens. Desktop viewing is no longer the golden metric—instead, the focus is shifting to mobile viewing.
Your video needs to be optimized for mobile—this means quick load times, and vertical viewing modes.
Load time can be decreased by using smaller sizes for videos—this won’t affect the quality on mobile but will help to keep more people interested in your video ads.
And vertical viewing is another area that needs to be a priority—most mobile apps and social platforms are ideally viewed vertically, which is why video ads need to follow the same format.
You do not want consumers to have to move their phones into the horizontal position just to view your ad—it will encourage them to turn the ad off, in fact.
In 2020, create your video ads with mobile users in mind and you will have more successful conversions.
4. Short Video Ads
There has definitely been a push towards short video ads—attention spans have been decreasing over the last few years, so this move makes sense.
You want to hold your audience’s attention within the first 3 seconds, and pack in as much content as possible in the next few seconds.
Does this sound impossible? If not impossible, it is incredibly difficult and that is why the definition of short video ads is going to change in 2020.
Instead of focusing on an action-packed ad that lasts only 10-seconds, look at creating 20-30 second ads that are engaging, tell your story, and connect with your audience.
Prioritize storytelling over completion rate and you will have more success with your advertising campaigns in 2020.
5. AR Advertising
Augmented reality has really taken off in 2019. AR is everywhere, from the mobile apps of mega brands like IKEA and L’Oreal, to Snapchat and Instagram filters.
And AR in video advertising is quickly going to become the norm—platforms like Facebook are testing inexpensive AR video ads, which are promising far more engagement.
If you haven’t already had occasion to work with AR, now is the time to do so—AR is going to change the face of content marketing and advertising in 2020.
6. Rise of Cinemagraphs
Cinemagraphs take the best of video advertising and still imagery to create a unique and fun blend of visuals, much like GIFs.
Created using a still image with only a few elements animated to provide motion, cinemagraphs are arresting enough to halt a scrolling thumb without being as labor-intensive as a video ad.
The difference between a cinemagraph and a GIF is the amount of motion in the visual—certain elements move in a cinemagraph, whereas a GIF is like an animated film scene.
One can see why these visuals would be fun for a consumer to come across on their social timelines—you can create cinemagraphs of a process graphic or an illustration.
Creating video ads using cinemagraphs could be just what your marketing campaign needs in 2020.
7. In-Stream Video Advertising
Facebook and YouTube have made live video a priority over the last year—and it is slowly gaining traction over produced videos.
The popularity of Instagram Live is also a key factor in this area, but as of now, Instagram doesn’t allow in-stream video ads. But Facebook and YouTube do.
In-stream video ads are the way forward in 2020—creating ads that appear seamlessly during a live video will almost certainly guarantee completion rates, and eventually conversions.
Use a mind map to plot the ideas from your live stream so you can create a video that is relevant to your audience and your live content.
Instead of focusing your efforts on news feed ads, work towards creating in-stream video ads in 2020.
Summing Up
Video advertising trends are slowly but surely changing and in 2020, we are going to see some major changes.
We have highlighted seven 2020 video advertising trends that marketers need to focus on:
- Multiple platforms
- Audience segmentation
- Mobile advertising
- Short ads
- AR in advertising
- Cinemagraphs
- In-stream video ads
Now that you know about these video advertising trends, you can optimize your video marketing campaign for a fruitful 2020.
