2020’s Reach on Video Advertisement – How Does It Affect You

Video emerged as a crucial tool of communication in 2020. Videos were used by brands to keep the customers and stakeholders updated and by the consumers to make buying decisions and kill time at home.

The advertisement industry was aware of the importance of video but it became all the more important when all other Face-To-Face communication opportunities got halted due to the pandemic. They started using video to reach the prospective customers who were already spending time watching videos.

It won’t be wrong to say that video garnered so much popularity in 2020 that it is not expected to see a decline anytime soon. Below mentioned are some changes and how they’ll affect you as a marketer for a long time to come:

1. Reduced barriers to entry

The first and foremost change that came was for the video content to be accessible to all the small businesses, late learners, and everybody who ignore video marketing before 2020.

The major reason behind this is the major shift in the Covid-19 situations that even the best video marketers had to adjust to creating low-quality video remotely. The viewers also didn’t mind small glitches, compromised audio and video quality, or a less beautiful background.

This allows you to include video content for your advantage even if it is your first time. Pre-2020, brands who were just starting with the video content promotion struggled for perfectionism, reluctant to start because of the fear of the audience pointing at their mistakes. Gladly, this isn’t the case in 2021, viewers have become more understanding than ever and if you’re still waiting for the right time, it is now!

Because of the lower entry barriers, video usage is rapidly increasing. According to Hubspot’s “State of Marketing” report, video has become the most-used type of video content beating all others including emailers, blogs, infographics, etc.

2. Importance of video-first social media platforms

Video-first social media platforms were already seeing a rise but 2020 make the way for it.

In 2020, TikTok shows an explosion in its usage. With more and more people looking to pass time in the early stay-indoors days, content creators had time to try something new, without spending anything. And the short video creation gave them an opportunity to create videos without much mental effort or focus. It doesn’t come as a surprise that TikTop received an estimated 850 million+ downloads and revenue of $1 billion in 2020 alone.

Apart from TikTok, other platforms also leaned towards video in 2020. Instagram reels were launched as a competitor to TikTok and Facebook and LinkedIn also became more focused on video content. Many sites involved algorithms that prioritized video content, encouraging video content creation.

In 2017, Mark Zuckerberg put forth his vision for Facebook to become a “video-first platform”, with many other platforms following in. It is expected to experience a rapid increase in video content creation for months to come.

3. Increased value perception

It doesn’t come as a surprise that consumers truly enjoy video content. Also, 2020 made it visible that video is more important to the consumers than we anticipated. Due to the lack of in-person communication, in-office work, and brick-and-mortar shops, video has picked up momentum. Apart from a few exceptions, it has done it exceptionally well.

Many of us might be exhausted from webinars and Zoom meetings but video rendered 2020 more functional and bearable, beyond the scope of any doubt. Consumers have the option of shopping virtually using AR to try on things, enjoy virtual meetings with friends, live stream dance or workout classes and do a lot of other things we usually took for granted. It is a fact that video has started easing all these tasks and people are realizing the value of video content.

4. Concentration on edutainment content

Edutainment content refers to the content that is part educational and partially entertainment. A number of today’s teachers already follow this concept. They look for ways to introduce engaging content in the class that naturally grabs the students’ attention. This makes the educational content stick in the memory for the long term.

2020 has seen an increase in branded edutainment video content. Now, brands don’t hesitate to share content that is purely educational and doesn’t have a clear call to action. There’s a rapid increase in content that is not sales-driven but purely educational.

Also, talented content creators get to share their knowledge on a variety of topics with the viewers. One example is TikTok where creators can use their expertise to create short videos for viewers. This way, content creators can reach millions of people worldwide and share the niche information they’re passionate about.

Businesses are expected to continue experimenting with edutainment content and if you haven’t started yet, now is the time to do it!

5. Growth in time spent on watching video content

The way events unfolded in 2020, more and more people started engaging with video content. According to Nielsen’s studies, video content watching received more than 60 percent increased by the home-bound consumers. Wyzowl observed that consumers nowadays are indulged in an additional average of 7.5 hours of watching videos as compared to the last 3 years.

This hints at the fact that consumers are becoming more learned and video-literate and identifying the opportunities involved in video content like shoppable video content, AR video content, and other types of video content. They have also developed expectations like captioned video content to make it understandable even without audio.

These statistics also indicate the presence of a captive audience in the digital content sphere that’s constantly looking out for fresh content. The demand for video content has become higher than ever and all the businesses using video content are sure to leave a lasting impression.

6. Dynamic video demographic

The demographics of viewers indulged in video content are also changing. A Nielson research has found that consumers aged 55 and above are 26 percent more indulged in video content consumption in 2020 than the 19 percent in 2019, rendering it “no longer a young person’s game”.

Despite the above-mentioned fact, the older consumers are often overlooked by the content creators, focusing majorly on the millennials of Gen-Z consumers. Brands that include the other age groups also in their video content are sure to receive more reach and success.

7. Increased streaming rivalry

Ultimately, with the streaming competition increasing continuously, every brand or network is creating its subscription service to present its video content.

It is too quick to judge what this will result in but most consumers who have quit their cable network for these subscriptions might encounter huge bills for stacking up several subscriptions. In support of this, many argue that they are just creating a decentralized cable model with these subscriptions and the people will more or less end up from where they started.

This shift also hints that the advertising industry needs to be intentional about its content choices. Over-the-top (OTT) advertising is gaining popularity among brands but this will require ads that are more thoughtfully created for the platform-specific audience and creative to make a lasting impact.

The above-mentioned changes show how far the video content has come with time, especially considering the events of 2020. We’re yet to see what 2021 brings to the video contents but it sure is to gain importance and experience positive trends for a long time to come.