3 Ways to Improve Video Marketing in 2016

2015 is now long gone and was another banner year in the world of online marketing. The new, more proactive customer has very rightly forced marketers to explore innumerable innovative ideas in terms of how they promote themselves and communicate with their audience.

Mobile and social took off into the stratosphere and the science of big data moved even further towards replacing the more experience and instinct driven marketing methods of the past. One size no longer fits all and content marketers are constantly needing to evolve in order to make sure that they are delivering the right targeting messages to their customers.

One aspect of digital marketing that has really taken off recently is video-based advertising. Facebook reported that video views on their flagship platform alone had risen from an impressive 4 billion in April of 2015, to a staggering 8 billion by September. That's 8 billion views per day!

80% of Traffic

On top of this, tech giants Cisco have predicted that, by 2019, video streaming will account for 80% of all internet traffic. If this comes to fruition, then it will mark a leap of 16% in just five short years. On top of this, researchers at Demand Metric, alongside Vidyard, have discovered that video marketing converts better than all other types of content.

In fact, a whopping 74% of B2B marketing managers agree that this is the case.

So as a marketer, you really can’t afford to ignore video any longer at all – 2016 really is the time to get with the video program.

#1: Interactive Video

Storytelling is a big part of content marketing and with good reason. Coke had massive success with their ‘Share a Coke’ campaign because it made the product personal and invited their customers to create stories with the brand at centre stage.

Video marketing enables content providers to tell stories in vivid and engaging ways. However, one concept that you may not have come across that is very exciting is the one that deals with interactivity in videos. Of course, video has not traditionally been associated with interactivity, but that’s all set to change in 2016.

At the risk of showing my age, do you remember those ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books from the 80s? For the uninitiated, authors such as Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone used to write books that chucked aside the traditional linear narrative that most books employed and instead opted for a system where the reader decided what to do at certain points. They would then be instructed to turn to a certain page dependent on their choice.

This even crept into early examples of video gaming and as we know, continues to be the case.

Now videos are starting to employ technology that allows the viewer to make choices about the direction that the story takes. By changing the audience from a passive viewer to an active participant, marketers can help their customers to engage even more intimately with their brand.

#2: Virtual Reality

When Facebook purchased fledgling VR company Oculus Rift, it made the world sit up and start considering virtual reality as more than just a fancy gimmick. And with Google releasing their slightly tongue in cheek Cardboard ‘device’ for $10, VR can be achievable for everyone.

Facebook is leading the way in VR content by allowing users to post 360 degree videos, and there’s even talk of them releasing their own headset this year.

VR opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for marketers when it comes to immersing their customers in their brand. Instead of simply watching a video of a product in use, users can now step inside the head of the one using it and experience the product first hand.

Now just imagine combining VR technology with the interactive tech we talked about before?

#3: Social Video

We have already touched on some of the ways that social networks are beginning to evolve the ways in which we absorb video content, but it’s worth elaborating on just how key social platforms are going to be to video marketing in 2016.

With so many platforms out there to share your video content on, you really need to be investing in social video in a big way. Facebook, YouTube, Vine, Instagram and more are all out there for you to leverage and you want to be using them all to their fullest.

Thankfully we now see unprecedented levels of interaction and compatibility between platforms and it is possible now to sync up your social network to essentially turn them into one big force for marketing.

There are three ways that you can use the power of video marketing in new and exciting ways in 2016. A lot of the technology we’ve discussed is still in its infancy, so now is a good time to get in on the ground level so your business can evolve alongside the technology.

There’s little doubt that 2016 will continue to see more movement in marketing, especially when it comes to social media. This year saw Facebook overtake YouTube for desktop video views, so it’s likely that we’ll see the competition heat up – and who knows where Twitter’s recently acquired Periscope will take us.

One thing is for sure, YouTube is no longer dominant when it comes to the outlet for video marketing, although it shouldn’t be ignored.

Do you already participate in video marketing through multiple channels? Which do you find to be the best for B2B? Facebook has long been lamented as the least effective B2B channel but is this really the case?

Let’s have a chat about it in the comments below!