Video "Trends" That Aren't Going Anywhere
A new year is underway, and that means articles are popping up all over talking about the newest trends in video and design for 2020. I’m always a fan of doing things a little different, so today, I wanted to share a few thoughts on concepts and ideas that were on trend in 2019 and aren’t going anywhere in 2020 (as well as some examples of each).
1. Creative Storytelling
First and foremost is creative storytelling. More brands are sharing more video content now than every before, and that’s a trend that’s also not going away any time soon. Given that and the amount of video now out there, great storytelling stands out now more than ever before as a way to keep eyeballs glued to your pieces, get them to make an impact and also generate additional traction (and shares) online. We were lucky to help tell a lot of really good stories in 2019, including this example that we worked on with Akron Civic Commons, telling the story of their revitalization efforts in Akron’s Summit Lake neighborhood. This video has performed really well for them and I thought did a really great job of telling the story of months and years of work in a just a matter of a few minutes.
2. Quality
While the demand for quantity continues to increase for most brands when it comes to video, quality still is important to be at the forefront of your industry. Not only do you have to tell a good story, but it’s important that the way you present it represents your organization in the best possible light. If you’re a larger brand, there’s an inherent expectation of quality, but even if you’re an up and coming or smaller brand or organization, the old adage of “dress for the job you want” applies to the way you present yourself in your marketing, too. Putting out a poorly put together or low quality video can hurt your brand image much more than not putting out a video at all. If you’re going to do it, you need to do it right and think about how you’re positioning yourself to the target audience you’re looking to attract. Sometimes to achieve that you have to get resourceful, but with the proper planning and creativity, you don’t always need a massive budget or time commitment to do so. A neat example of this are the intro videos that we did this season for the Akron Zips men’s and women’s basketball teams. These were each shot in just a matter of just a couple hours and didn’t require expensive props or sets. They relied mostly on the what was already on site in their arena (the video board, which we dropped down from the rafters, lights, etc.). These videos were able to be created in a really time and cost-effective manner, while giving both the Zips men’s and women’s teams intro videos that could be put up against some of the biggest schools in the country.
3. Multi-Purpose Video
In the last note I talked about how the demand for quantity continues to increase – which leads me to my last trend that still is important to consider in 2020. And that’s multi-purposing videos to get the most usage possible out of them and get them in front of as many different audiences on as many different platforms as possible. After all, if you’re going to invest in doing video the right way, you want everyone to have a chance to experience it! A good example of this that we got to work on in 2019 was this video for the United Way of Summit County’s annual meeting. This was a really nice piece, shot in a really cool style. Rather than just utilizing it at their annual meeting in it’s long-form, we also worked with the United Way to create six shorter breakout videos, one for each of the speakers talking about their specific area of expertise. Those videos were then able to be repurposed for many other uses and were great for social media platforms where shorter videos are easier to consume for an audience. These also could be spaced out and released over an extended period of time, so instead of just having one video to play at the meeting and then share on social, they were able to instead have seven different deliverables to maximize the reach and impact of the project and help fill out their content calendar on social. We’re excited to see what other new trends develop over the year to come, but if you keep these three things in mind when you’re thinking about starting your next video project, you’ll be setting yourself up for success and making the most of your investment in video no matter what the current trends are out there.
