After a number of excellent predictions, we are excited to announce our 2015 Tech Predictions Contest winner. The winning entrant believed:
“I predict more video! You Tube will become a bigger player in the social marketing world, and brands will be engaging more people through video.”
There is no denying that 2015 will be the year of video messaging. As video advertising gained impressive grounds in 2014, it will only continue to catch on throughout the year. Tech Crunch shared, “mobile video ad spend in the U.S. more than doubled from 2013 ($720 million) to 2014 ($1.5 billion) and will reach $6 billion in 2018.” Highlighting the fact that video messaging is here to stay.
Currently, video is the highest ranking form of content that users interact with on social media. It is an excellent way for brands to engage with their followers, promote new products, and tease content to convert visitors to their website. Other than YouTube, the biggest online channels that leverage video messaging are social media apps. For example, Vine, Snapchat, and Instagram are some of the big players in this space; pushing brands to get their message out in as little as six seconds.
These social channels understand how their users like to receive information quickly and how a majority of them are coming from a mobile device. As smartphones increase in popularity and screen size, video consumption on these devices will grow as well. Researchers have found that about 1/3 of all web traffic now comes from a handheld device. With statistics like this, marketers must optimized their videos for mobile to get the most out of their online presence.
We are looking forward to watching this trend, and all of our other predictions unfold this year. Let us know if you believe video messaging will “go viral” in 2015, by tweeting us at @iMediainc using the hashtag #iMedia2015Tech.