#trending in video - July 1, 2020

Hey everybody and welcome to another issue of the #trending in video blog brought to you by Best Made Videos®. Best Made Videos® is a local Seattle based wedding videography company and live event videography company, and this is our weekly video marketing blog where we keep you up to date on the latest tips and tricks in the world of video production, videography, video marketing, and more! Today we're looking at two video marketing articles. The first is from Women Love Tech, and the second is from Forbes and both of these are talking all about video marketing trends to keep an eye on in your video production content creation strategy.

The first article is all about influencer marketing trends to keep an eye on in 2020. The article begins ever since we have moved our eyes and interest to the various social media platforms, different brands have started using those platforms to appeal, to target demographics they are trying to attract. The idea of influencer video marketing quickly gained traction. It may have started with celebrities using video to endorse specific businesses, but it has quickly evolved into regular people with a good eye for visual video storytelling and a growing follower base, as well as micro influencers with specific people following their creative video output online. This is a fast developing video marketing segment that more brands are using to their advantage. Still before you rush to connect with all the various video influencers online, you need to understand your industry and the ways in which video influencers connect with their target demographics.

Each year brings about new video trends in this sphere, so it's up to you to recognize which of those video trends are the most opportunity for your business and how you should work with specific video influencers to make the most of those collaborations. As all video marketers have already noticed, video content creation has shifted slightly in preference of video over written content or pure imagery. Yes, Instagram still has tons of beautiful photos, but live streaming videos, video stories and animated video content have all become more video oriented. It inspires more of a fear of missing out among followers and invites much more engagement of viewers onto your video.

Brands are now collaborating with video influencers who know how to create, edit, and refine their video content. Video reviews are far better than written only content, while the latest digital tools allow video influencers to edit videos and add artistic features and filters to make their videos more authentic and more engaging. They talk about collaboration between influencers and brands and how that is affected by the lifestyle of influencers more than anything else. It originally began as a simple side-gig or small money earning the opportunity, but video marketing and influencer video marketing has grown into a time consuming full time. Job research has shown that video influencers spend as much as nine hours on their phones every day, actively posting videos, written updates, images, and engaging with their audience. Understanding the video influencer behavior can help brand select the influencers who are going to devote enough time to working on their specific social strategy. The demand for full time video influencers has grown, so more people in this industry are aiming for a comprehensive mobile phone plan with endless amounts of data so they can post regularly during the day and engage with all of their different audiences without delays. They also choose more advanced video devices and cell phone devices that have high quality cameras and built in functionality that will enable them to create more appealing content. Technology, as well as network selection are incredibly important and are effected by the growth of the influencer video marketing community. They allow brands to fine tune their selections and connect with the right influencers from the start.

Businesses are also looking for video influencers who connect on core values. In 2020 brands are going to refine the ways in which they select the right video influencers for longterm bonds, precisely because the overarching goal is to create long lasting relationships with a few select video influencers. In addition to choosing people within your specific industry, you also need to look beyond their expertise and consider the values that they have. If they share the same values as a video influencer, as you do with your brand, you are looking at creating a bond that has a strong potential to last. The article also talks about and nano video influencers that are stealing the spotlight. These are video influencers that don't necessarily have an incredibly large follower base, but they are video influencers who target niche, demographics, and having incredibly strong retention and collaboration with their video followers.

The article concludes that it's basically essential for brands nowadays to reach out to video influencers and utilize their leverage, to create new video content online, to draw a new engaged consumers to the brand. The article says, let's let these simple preferences guide you in selecting your 2020 video influencer partners, and you'll allow your brand to utilize the full potential of influencer video marketing and it's many perks. I definitely think that this is a useful video marketing article for us in the Seattle area. I think too often brands struggle with trying to create video content that resonates with a younger audience, and I think that partnering with online video influencers who already have a strong follower base is going to be a great way for them to increase the reach of the video content they're putting out. I definitely think that we need to utilize more of this in the Seattle market as a way to continue the trending upward of positive appreciation of the video content that we are putting out.

The second article we are looking from forbes.com is talking all about how to create can't miss virtual marketing campaigns to engage your audience. The article begins asking about if you remember all of the meetings you had at the end of last year, about what this year is video marketing strategy would look like? They know it's time to revisit those plans. If you haven't already and revamp your video marketing strategy to match the changing environment in which we find ourselves in, in the second half of 2020.

In the video marketing world, the main change that has occurred is a shift away from experimental video marketing as the world moved inside to avoid COVID-19. Many brands are now turning to community, building as a focus of their video marketing and that means more digital video content to connect with audience members who are spending more time viewing video at home and online. It's more important now, more than ever before, to pursue a virtual video marketing strategy that meets customers where they are.

Now simply isn't the time to stay the course with whatever marketing plan you have planned in the fourth quarter of 2019 consumers needs, and habits are changing dramatically and your video marketing efforts should change with them. If you want to engage your brand's audience as the COVID pandemic continues, you need to embrace the benefits of virtual video marketing and implement video marketing strategies right away. They are leading with three simple strategies to start your video marketing campaign.

Number one is to use video to speak to each of your audience. And while this may seem like a no brainer, adding video to your video marketing strategy does require some nuance. They note that video is appealing because you can break some traditional marketing rules and create specific videos targeted to different members of your audience. It is suggested that you should watch some video trends to determine what types of videos would stop your customers mid-scroll on various social media platforms. It could be something fun or meaningful, like a full brand story and you need to tailor your video efforts to the platforms and audiences that you are trying to engage with.

Number two is to encourage user generated video content. These could be different things like challenges or contests, where your audiences are going to post videos or photos. This is a great way to keep people engaged digitally and keep your brand top of mind. Before you do this, you want to think about the different goals you have for the campaign. Are you trying to build a community or do you want your participants to take our particular action? The answers to this question will guide the type of user generated content campaign you are going to implement.

The third Suggestion they are talking about for improving your video marketing strategy is to host a virtual event. Just because many conventions or conferences have been canceled this year, that doesn't mean you cannot hold a virtual event. There's a wide ranging benefits to hosting a virtual video event. You can invite as many people as you would like and that goes for guests and audience members alike. Aside from any costs related to video or video streaming, you won't have to worry about renting the location or incur any other costs associated with a traditional in person event. Instead, you should take those that budget and focus your efforts around the production value of the video of your event. Instead of simply scheduling a video meeting, make it feel like a real event with branded video backgrounds and high quality video and audio. You could also use lots of interactive elements, keep your audience engaged. Remember that distractions are all around for audience members at home, so your event needs to be energetic and interactive to keep viewers engaged throughout.

This is another useful video marketing article brought to us from forbes.com. Again, I think the idea of hosting online video events is a great way for us in the Seattle area to continue to build our brand recognition, even with people unable to attend traditional events as they would in the past. Hopefully there are some useful video marketing tips that you have found on our #trending in video blog. I wanted to thank you again for checking out this article of our video marketing blog and be sure to check back next time for more video marketing tips and trends in the world of video production and videography. Thanks again, and stay safe.