Jan '17 | Bay Area Creative Video Agency’s 5 Video Trends of 2016

We all know video has grown into one of, if not the, biggest frontiers to connect with consumers and spread your message. In this age of continuous social media updates, people are creating their own video content and responding to videos more than ever before. As such, video trends that sprung up in 2016 show that individuals, organizations, and corporations are all leveraging video in new and creative ways to express their values and promote their products. This has thrust video into prominence across all personal and business platforms, a shift of which I, as a Bay Area creative video agency employee, am gratefully in favor. While video production has become a necessary part of any business, here at our humble Bay Area creative video agency, we like to keep on top of the trends that define online video use. Here are our top 5 trends of 2016:

1. Rise of Video on Social Media

While this may seem like a no-brainer trend, 2016 proved that social media channels are not only hosting more video content, but now require it for companies to remain relevant in this social culture. Facebook and Instagram have grown their video platforms by creating more video opportunities and dedicated live video channels to capture an at-the-moment snapshot of your day. Companies, individuals, and news stations are creating videos like these Top 10 Facebook Live Videos of 2016 (including – you guessed it – Chewbacca Mom!) to reach their audiences. Video has become the best creative medium to connect with consumers and tell the stories that promote products on social media.

2. Increase of Landing Page Videos

2016 showed that businesses are finally getting clued-in to the magic of video and, as a result, are putting videos on their website landing pages, not just to supplement their content, but to be the primary portal through which to introduce their brand. I know when I go to a site I’ll always watch a video before reading any info and if it’s something I don’t like I often will not continue to search their site. Companies are starting to rely on creative video content to drive traffic to their website and keep visitors once they get there. More companies made this transition to videos on landing pages this year and I can only assume this trend will continue into 2017.

3. Growth of Mobile Watching

That’s right! For those of you who didn’t yet know, our mobile culture is here to stay. People are viewing content and watching videos on their phones now more than on their computers or connected TVs. The biggest contributing factor in this stat is doubtless the increase in social media videos and the fact they are mostly watched on mobile devices. That means people do not want to watch long videos anymore. Shorter videos that are made to be watched on a mobile device trended upward in 2016, which definitely had an impact on video production. Gone are the days where you’d promote your product with a comfortable 5 minute video. Now you have to communicate your point in 20 seconds, and be creative and entertaining in the process.

4. Repurposing video content

Unless your entire job is making videos for social media, it is impossible to create new content every time you want to post a video. This means you have to repurpose your longer videos into many shorter videos geared toward all your various social media platforms. Companies are cutting the 6 minute videos they have on their websites to 2 minute videos for Facebook and 15 second videos for Instagram. If you’re interested in learning how to make amazing repurposed videos, check back for updates soon! 

5. Higher production values

While you will actually find a lot of information out there that says lower production value is better for certain social media platforms, the base understanding of what that means has changed immensely. The capabilities of phone cameras now leave no excuse for low production value and any professional will put serious consideration into making their social media videos look good. Even drones, which are generally thought of as a military tool are being repurposed for social media use. You can even go to Dronestagram to get the high quality aerial content you need. Like it or not, high production value is now a must when producing social media content.

There you have it. Our top 5 video trends of 2016. Video is not so slowly, but very surely taking over the internet, which makes it a good time to be Bay Area creative video agency. Let us know any of your favorite trends we may have missed on this list. Until next time!