Research shows that after watching a video, 64% of online shoppers are more likely to buy a product.

Those are numbers you want on your side.

If you haven’t already embraced video marketing as an integral part of your brand strategy, now is the time to act. This year is poised to be a breakthrough one for the industry and getting on board now could set your company up for unprecedented success.

With so much changing within the video sphere, it can be difficult to keep up with what’s in, what’s out, and what’s on the way.

Today, we’re breaking down the top video marketing trends of 2019. Could one or more of these be the star of your next outreach campaign? Keep reading to find out!

1. Ephemeral Stories That Impact

Remember when Snapchat was the only social media platform that allowed users to upload short videos that only existed for a short period of time?

Known as stories, these fueled endless hours of creativity, along with more than a few wacky moments. Moreover, their ephemeral qualities made them that much more impactful and important.

Now, both Instagram and Facebook feature a similar “stories” tool.

Why should marketers listen up? More than 400 million people watch Instagram stories every day. Regardless of your industry, chances are your buyers are included in this number.

The approach is a hit with advertisers and audiences alike. This means savvy marketers can leverage it to appeal to their social media followers in a new and creative way. Create short snippet videos teasing a new product or service and watch your “likes” (and your bottom line) grow.

2. More Options at Your Fingertips

Gone are the days when you’d upload a video, press “post” one time, and walk away. Now, thanks to technological sophistication, users have more editing options than ever before.

This year, expect to see even more customizable video formats. For instance, in addition to setting your video length, you can also adjust the picture quality and aspect ratio, as well.

Why would you want to tweak the latter? It’s becoming apparent that users are no longer viewing your videos horizontally on their laptops. Rather, more than half of them now watch on a mobile device, which may require vertical streaming.

As such, adjusting your display options to accommodate these different scenarios can make all the difference in how many views your content gets.

3. Innovative Video Ad Spots

For years, 15-second and 30-second pre-roll spots dominated the online video marketing space. While those were effective in their own right, this year you can expect to see even more flexibility in how your ads show up.

One example is YouTube’s new TrueView advertising format, which makes ads skippable by users, requiring that advertisers only pay a fee when someone chooses to watch their videos.

In addition, Twitter recently enabled marketers to create targeted in-stream video ads and Facebook is hard at work creating new video options for marketers, as well. This means you’ll have greater control over how and when you play, as well as who sees them.

In turn, marketers should take user control into account when creating new video campaigns. If a viewer can click away from a video they deem uninteresting or irrelevant, there’s an even greater emphasis for content to deliver meaning from the first second onward.

4. An Absence of Sound

It might seem counterproductive to upload a video without audio but consider the facts. Research reveals that we remember 80% of what we see and only 10% of what we hear.

As such, it comes as no surprise that videos optimized for no sound are becoming more mainstream, giving greater emphasis to the visuals at hand.

One benefit of taking this approach? You’re able to reach a wider, more captive audience.

Social media feeds most often have the sound off by default, meaning that your in-feed video may not be heard even if you do include sound. In addition, we’ve mentioned that mobile adoption is increasing. When your video gets its point across without requiring sound, viewers can watch the content in public places without fear of reprimand or glares from onlookers.

By making sure that the message is still clear without the associated noises attached, you set your brand up for increased exposure. Plus, it allows you to flex your creative muscles and make the videos as expressive as possible.

5. SEO Optimization for Video

You’ve optimized your written web content for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and taken strides to place your site as high on Google’s first page as possible. Now, your videos can help you get there.

One of the top new online video trends for 2019 is a strengthened bond between video and search. This comes on the heels of a tighter correlation between voice search and SEO, which rose to prominence in 2018 with the popularity of Alexa, Siri, and related bots.

Toward the end of 2018, Google announced it would utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to support its new “Featured Videos” tool. This enables videos to show up at the top of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), with users able to click “play” right at the moment in the video that corresponds with their search query.

This makes it more important than ever before to ensure yours take SEO strategies into account. Include keyword-driven metadata to make sure Google can find them and ping them correctly.

6. An Emphasis on Social Media

We’ve covered the “stories” phenomenon, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For companies looking to stand out in the video space for years to come, a robust social media presence is key.

In fact, Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the future of Facebook is video. Moving into 2019 and beyond, he claims that this feature will usurp even the platform’s most used and well-known platform, the news feed.

He’s investing in this idea, launching the video-on-demand service Facebook Watch that seeks to compete with YouTube and the greater TV market as a whole. While it remains to be seen how it will fare against its more-established competitors, it’s a step in a hopeful direction.

Advertisers looking to amplify their income potential can’t ignore the powerful force that social media provides. While you don’t have to create your own streaming show, it’s time to take your social media presence seriously and start delivering quality content that your followers crave.

7. Diversification Across Platforms

While social media is poised to become king, it’s important to understand that not all platforms are created equal. The ideal audience for one might not be on the other.

In other words, buyers who flock to Instagram to learn the latest blogger fashions might not be on Facebook as much, and vice versa.

As such, video marketers will need to adjust their offerings across the web, rendering one-size-fits-all approaches obsolete.

Rather than filming a video one time and distributing it across all your social feeds, you’ll need to optimize the content to best reach each intended audience. As you define your target buyer, consider where this person would most likely hang out on the web. Then, use that data to help drive your marketing efforts.

Moreover, you’ll also need to tweak the content to fit the specific delivery format itself. A long-format video sales letter meant for a landing page won’t work in a 15-second Instagram story, for example. Finding ways to keep the message consistent while changing the format and talking points accordingly will be the calling card of successful brands.

8. Increased Access and Affordability

Marketers have long understood the power of video. That said, why haven’t more of them embraced the trend? Put simply, it was too expensive.

Whether you take a DIY approach, which requires costly equipment, or hires a professional to take the reigns, it’s an investment that many small businesses couldn’t afford to make.

Until now.

Today, there are more cost-effective resources than ever, making it possible for companies of all sizes and budgets to cash in on the opportunity of video marketing.

From video communication platforms to iPhone editing apps that turn anyone into a videographer, it’s easier than ever before to create compelling pieces, even if you’ve never tried your hand at it before.

The key to maximizing your viewership and your profits along the way? Keep it authentic. It doesn’t matter if you have the most high-priced camera on the market, viewers can see right through a contrived effort to boost sales.

9. An Acceptance for Educational Pieces

Think your video has to be filled with flashy gimmicks and dazzling displays to catch the eyes of your viewers? Think again.

On the surface, business leaders know it’s more important to deliver helpful and insightful information over visually impressive ones. Yet, marketers tended to steer clear of educational pieces in the past, concerned they would be labeled as “too boring” to excite interest.

Now? An impressive 68% of web users say they’d rather watch a video to learn about a new product rather than read a text-based article, view an infographic, or listen to a pitch.

While you don’t need to stand in front of a white background and mumble about the technical specificities of your new software for 30 minutes, you can more freely embrace an educational slant.

Showcase your new offering via a quick product explanation. Leverage customer testimonials as teaching mechanisms. Use flash only when you need to, but let it take a back seat to the real meaning of your message.

Today, a skillful merger of style and substance is what’s in.

10. B2B Enters the Space

For the most part, the B2C sphere has dominated the video marketing sector. Though there now, B2B is playing catch-up in a major way.

Take LinkedIn, for example. It’s heralded as the number-one platform for B2B connections, with 94% of B2B marketers using it to distribute content and 80% of such leads generating there.

What kind of content is the most popular on LinkedIn? The answer might surprise you.

Studies show that account holders share videos 20 times more than any other form of data. At the same time, video ads generate view rates close to 50%, making them viable advertising options for B2B leaders looking to attract new clients and partners.

This is an example of one place where educational content can shine. Upload yours to showcase your expertise and differentiating features. Even if you aren’t a B2B professional, LinkedIn is becoming a top social media platform for any marketer looking to stand out as a thought leader in their space.

Ace These 2019 Video Marketing Trends

Video marketers have plenty to look forward to as we round out the first quarter of 2019.

Moving into the rest of the year, we can expect to see an even greater emphasis on social media and a shift toward content that is feature and data-rich versus being flashy just for attention.

Future-focused business leaders can research these video marketing trends to make sure they’re as prepared as possible for what the future of the industry holds. While these patterns dominate the space now, the potential is there for next year’s capabilities to be even more wide-ranging.

As you integrate videos into your greater advertising strategy, we’d love to help.

We offer a video communications platform that makes it easy to create, upload, and share your content online. You don’t need fancy equipment and you don’t even need technical skills to get started.

Sign up for a free trial today and start using the features immediately. A shorter sales cycle, increased conversions, and greater profit potential are only a few of the perks you’ll notice.