More and more businesses are seeing the value of video. In 2023, 92% of marketers reported that video had given them a good return on investment (ROI)—the highest number since 2016. As video continues to heat up, many marketers embrace the video-first trend, prioritizing video content in their strategy and choosing video-first platforms like YouTube and TikTok.
But video marketing is easier said than done, and video marketers may find themselves working as jacks-of-all-trades while creating video content. Trying to keep up can mean shooting both short-form and long-form videos, switching between vertical videos and horizontal ones, and optimizing for each social media platform—all while also making sure you’re creating engaging content.
Whether your goal is to improve lead generation or increase mobile traffic to your site, there are plenty of ways to make video work harder for your business. Here’s a look at some notable marketing trends for 2024.
Top video marketing trends
Video marketers consistently follow popular marketing trends to make their digital content resonate with audiences and convert customers. Here are the top video marketing trends currently dominating the video marketing space—take a look to see which you can use for your own video marketing strategy:
Videos are for sharing
As a marketing tool, social videos are some of the most shareable content when compared to static images or text. In fact, 51% of users report sharing videos with others, compared to just 26% for social media posts and 13% for blog posts. Shared video increases brand awareness, and online video content watched from a friend’s recommendation is word-of-mouth marketing at its best.
So whether it’s short videos or longer videos, creating video content that resonates with your target audience is a great way to help give your brand exposure with internet users.
AI tools are on the rise
Creating videos to spread your brand message isn’t easy—especially if you’re creating video content for many platforms. That’s why video marketing experts are turning to AI tools to help create high-performing long-form video content and bite-sized videos faster.
AI video tools can help with idea generation, script writing, caption generation, smart editing, and video and voice filters that can quickly turn pre-recorded videos and video snippets into high-production marketing videos to save you time and money.
Short-form videos are still a focus
Less of a trend and more of a movement, short-form video is still on fire for its ability to engage users quickly. Since TikTok’s rise to fame in 2019, short-form has been all the rage with users and marketers alike. Longer-form social media sites have released their own short-form options—including Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts—to keep up with the hype.
While attention is turning toward long-form video content (see below), there are no signs that short-form video consumption will wear out any time soon.
Long-form content is up
While short-form content has dominated the past few years, conversations are turning toward longer-form video creation. TikTok reportedly told creators that 50% of its users’ time is on videos one minute or longer—and the platform has recently rolled out 10-, 30-, and 60-minute videos to coax users into producing deep-dive content.
Don’t be surprised if you start seeing even more video marketers turning to longer explainer videos, how-tos, and vlog-style content to capture online video viewers.
Soundless viewing remains popular
It’s estimated that around three-quarters of users scroll their social media feeds with the sound turned off. So, if your videos don’t make sense without sound, you may be missing out on a huge audience. Don’t ignore users who want to watch silent videos while on the train or in a coffee shop. Instead, consider adding subtitles, visual titles, and detailed captions so your online video content doesn’t get skipped.
Customers trust user-generated content over ads
Potential buyers trust the recommendations of other users—friends, family, and even influencers—more than they trust information coming from the brand itself. That’s social proof in a nutshell. Besides, starting a conversation is always a good marketing strategy, so let your audience tell their own stories through your content. Use a video strategy that brings in your audiences’ voices—partnering with influencers, unboxing fan mail, reading customer reviews, or promoting customers who do tutorials of your product.
Early hooks boost performance
The results are in: 63% of top-performing TikToks have a hook in the first three seconds. An attention-getting opener isn’t just a trend among top videos, it’s also a best practice for video marketing strategies. It keeps mobile users from scrolling away and makes sure your valuable insights come first.
Casual content is in
More brands are embracing casual content with quick behind-the-scenes clips and low-production shorts that disappear after 24 hours. The Stories feature, first pioneered by Snapchat, is now a staple on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, allowing brands to post low-production, everyday content more regularly. In addition to the casual topics, many brands are ditching expensive production crews and studios in favor of filming a short with their mobile devices.
Livestreaming proliferates
Live videos are now an option on many platforms, such as the TikTok LIVE feature, YouTube Live, and Twitch. The livestreaming market is on the rise and brands are using live videos to capture new audiences and promote products in real time—another way to offer casual, unscripted content for your viewers. Plus, live video content can be repurposed into short- or long-form videos after the livestream.
Search engines prioritize the main content
Search engines are ranking webpages based on the core content of your page. If your video content isn’t the star of the show, then it won’t appear as a thumbnail in web searches and search engine results page (SERP).
If your priority is video SEO and your audience is mostly seeking out video-first web searches for their information, then put your video front and center. Search engines that are ranking videos will be more likely to display your video when ranking webpages, so you have a chance to be at the top of the SERP.
Authenticity affects sales
Sixty-four percent of consumers say that they are more likely to purchase from authentic brands over inauthentic brands. What does this mean? Marketers are creating video content featuring real people and their opinions, as well as ditching high production in favor of more honest media about the company and customers.
For instance, Allbirds’ TikTok channel features this video about a farm visit with Marshawn Lynch, and this one featuring actual employees at the Allbirds office.
Video marketing trends FAQ
How important is video marketing in 2024?
Video marketing remains a vital component of many brand strategies to capture global internet traffic, and 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. While important, brands should pair their video content with other mediums like traditional media marketing and social media content to create a well-rounded marketing strategy.
What is the most popular video marketing trend?
While difficult to quantify, the most popular video marketing trend may be using AI tools like filters and smart editing software. This allows small businesses and ecommerce sellers to streamline the content creation process. Other popular trends include focusing on short-form content and including subtitles for soundless viewing.
Why is video marketing important for ecommerce?
Video marketing is important for ecommerce because it is highly shareable content that can improve brand awareness. Video content is also a necessary tool to capture audiences on many video-first social platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
