Here in 2022 if you own a business small or large you have probably noticed the shift to video for many social posts, advertising and connecting consumers with the particular values or uses of a brands products and offerings. This trend will continue as social media and other platforms become the norm for brands seeking to engage their audience. Here I offer several trends and insights to help shape your outreach and communications.

Majority of consumers prefer video content to reading.Consumer preference will lead to video explosion in content marketing. Video will be used more for converting and lead generation. A lot of potential buyers don’t want to talk to salespeople. This is where video can influence sales in later stages. The popularity of video also means that more content at the top of the funnel has to be in video format.

Video content is more likely to keep the audience in the engaged zone leading to less friction, and more conversions. Content quality is very important, second only to production quality. Production quality and technical aspects have to be good because better production quality is correlated with more trust, but it can’t make up for the lack of substance. So, Facebook Live videos, webinar recordings, and other video material with good production quality will work as long as the content is engaging first and foremost.

Content needs to be useful and not just pretty. This will lead brands to start thinking strategically about video. How different video formats and channels can support each other. How to create cornerstone video content that can be atomized, expanded, and combined with other content formats. Finding ways to get the most mileage from your video content is key to consumers engaging it.

Storytelling will be more important than ever. People can read through a list of facts or instructions in an article but present that in a video, and you will lose your audience. The flow of the presentation and emotional connection to the viewer are going to make or break a video.

Testing in video marketing – There are no set rules of thumb. When brands are figuring out their approach to video a lot of experimenting needs to take place. Long vs short versions in different channels, animation, talking heads, actors, CGI.

How to present introductions, hooks, and calls-to-action in the video. Videos need to be optimized for specific platforms and different use cases.For example, sometimes we need to look at videos without sound. Subtitles or on-screen text that convey the message when there’s no sound. Research from TV ads shows better message recall when the ad has the same language subtitles.

Live video streams will become an important part of the video content. In its original live format and promoting the recorded material after the event. Bring live events to their audience, hold a live session, interviews with influencers help to engage and build brand awareness.

Video=Youtube.Facebook will try to take video leadership from Youtube. Youtube is a great place for independent content creators and brands to build their following. Monetization has a clear solution on Youtube and not on Facebook. Facebook needs to find a way to bring big Youtube stars to its platform.

Videos will also be used in personal sales and support. This can be done in two ways. First and the more scalable option is to use pre-recorded clips with sales or support people. The second option is to record short messages for specific needs so that (potential) customers can watch them at a convenient time.

The ROI of video marketing of the funnel video content can be hard to measure, but more videos will be used in the sales process closer to the actual conversion. Video will speed up sales cycles as prospects think less and act sooner.

Conclusion Video advertising is becoming more and more affordable and widespread. Video adoption grows partly because advances in technology but also because it’s easy to spread across the globe. Making marketing videos for your business requires creativity and knowledge of human psychology. The cocktail of these components makes it possible to create real miracles of advertising at minimal cost.

Emotionally charged, creative video advertising can be spread on the Internet in matter of days, getting millions of views. And this is the whole point of video marketing: In this new market only the creative survive!