4 Video Trends to Try in Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

By now, it’s pretty clear that social media LOVES video. From the emergence of Instagram Reels to the dominance of TikTok, the past year has proved to most advertisers on the digital platforms that if your content’s not moving, it’s probably not working. 

But what makes a video sing? And how can you make it as friendly for social media consumption? By analysing some key trends we’ve seen on various platforms, here are our top 4 trends to recommend!

Text Trend

The most persistent video trend amongst every social media platform this past year has been adding text on screen. In fact this year, both Instagram and TikTok introduced Auto-Caption functionality in a move to not only enable greater accessibility but also address users’ preference to watch video on mobile with the sound off. 

It is no coincidence that all of the top-performing video ads on Facebook relied on text to relay its messaging. From close-captioning audio to using attention-grabbing animation, it’s clear that text on screen is an effective way to communicate your brand value. With this in mind, we put the trend to the test with this video we made for our friends at @fancyplants_au during their launch!

Get Lo-Fi

Gone are the days when you needed a huge marketing budget to produce video campaign content. With a smartphone and even smarter AI technology, anyone can shoot and edit videos.

This has seen the proliferation of grassroot content creators earning millions of views (and dollars) through seemingly minimal production effort. In fact, we’ve noticed a trend that lo-fi, underproduced videos often perform significantly better than a polished equivalent. 

Our suspicion is that these low-fi videos can more easily masquerade as organic content, which is more welcome than overt advertising on these platforms. We decided to put our theory to the test with this little video for our friends at @thejollymillercafe. What do you think?

Recipes

Everybody loves food. And with millions of people around the world being stuck at home the past year, home cooking has never been more on the mind.

For fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) food brands, recipes are a fantastic way to build a loyal audience and motivate purchase. But many hospitality brands have also started looking towards recipes as a way to tease a few secrets or enhance their takeaway offers. 

From the traditional Hands And Pans style made popular by the likes of Tasty to the more recent rise in fast-paced (and slightly aggressive) TikTok Food Hacks, we’ve tried it all and seen success. Our advice is to go with what feels right for your brand personality. 

Jump Cuts

It’s a gimmick that sings back to the Vine days, but there’s nothing like a jump cut transition to elicit a double-tap. It’s no wonder the trend has become increasingly popular in most short-form video content online.  

Finding opportunities to add an impressive transition into your videos, or indeed using jump cuts as the very basis for your content, can increase watch time, repeat viewing and advertising recall.

At the end of the day, trends come and go but if there’s one thing we can count on, it’s that video is here to stay. Need some help playing in this space? Check out our 2021 Video Showreel and get in touch to learn more about our Social Media Marketing services.