You spot something epic; and like millions of others, you stop to pull your phone out to record it. Question: do you hold your phone vertically or horizontally? If you said vertically, you’re like many others accelerating the trend of vertical videos on social media.
YouTube, IGTV, Snapchat, Facebook Watch…social media TV is on the rise, more specifically vertical videos, and it’s not showing signs of stopping. Why does it matter? As we continue to find content our target audience will want to engage with, we have to get them to notice us first. Think about it; we hold our phones vertically the majority of the time. As consumers hold their phones upright and scroll through content quickly, the vertical video offers immediacy. Holding your phone upright gives you the opportunity to interact with the opposite hand. It’s only a matter of time before platforms start to reward vertical videos by putting it in front of more people than the traditional widescreen format.
Vertical social media videos are changing how we consume content and how brands tell their story. It should be a topic in your brand marketing conversations now if it isn’t already. According to data collected by Statista, more than 50% of digital videos are now viewed on mobile in vertical format.
Vertical videos offer more opportunities for you to create content that their audience will want to engage with and watch. While Snapchat certainly paved the way, Instagram quickly took the lead with IGTV. IGTV creates an experience that keeps its content at the top of the feed and top of mind every time users log in.
You have the opportunity to tell their story to every type of consumer tailoring the content based on their intentions. Stories are for quick, short-form content and longer-form content can turn to IGTV or Facebook Watch. And the Newsfeed is for the scrollers and shoppers. Don’t let your competitors beat you to the punch of capturing your audience. The only way to stay top of mind as your audience mindlessly scrolls and taps through content is to be brave enough to know when to use a trend of your advantage. You will start to see more businesses adopting vertical videos simply because of how we hold our phones. Videos are the king of content, so hop on board before you are left behind.
Companies using video enjoy 41% more web traffic from search than non-users.
KWSM has an in-house video team that will help give your brand a human face and generate the results you’ve been looking for.
CONTACT US to learn more about adding video to your digital marketing strategy.
