Micro Video Marketing: What Marketers Need to Know About This Next Big Trend

Like we shared in our last blog post, micro video is going to be a big video marketing trend in 2014. Here are four things you need to know about micro video for marketing:

What is micro video content?

Micro videos are short, 6-15 second video clips, often created through a micro video social media platform such as Vine, Instagram, or Snapchat.

Why is micro video becoming popular?

There are many different opinions on how long a marketing video should be to be most effective. Regardless of the length, we know that the video needs to capture the attention of the viewer within the first few seconds or else they lose interest and have already clicked on something else. We also know that the video needs to provide value (whether entertainment value or educational value) to the viewer in order to get them to watch the video all the way through, and to prime them to want to watch other videos you produce in the future.

Now, think of the behavior of internet and social media users. Think of how you initially read this blog post. Did you start reading from the beginning? Or, did you skim down through the bold titles to determine if this post was worth your time before you started reading?

Just like reading a newspaper, your customers are skimming web pages, mobile apps, and social media platforms for information that interests them. They are not stopping to watch or read everything they see.

So what micro video does is combine those two important elements of a successful marketing video into one and then delivers it in a format that can be viewed in the amount of time it takes to skim down a page.

We will talk more about how this is done next week, but the primary reason micro videos are popular is because they can be consumed quickly and easily.

Where is micro video popular?

Micro video hit the big time at the beginning of last year when Twitter launched an app specifically for creating and posting micro videos called Vine. Instagram quickly followed by adding a video feature to their already wildly successful app. Also in 2013, Snapchat became another popular way for people and brands to create & share micro videos.

But, micro videos are not just popular on platforms that were created specifically for them. They have also become popular on Facebook, and they can be shared in other areas such as YouTube, website pages, blogs, Twitter, and Google+.

Who is micro video popular with?

Newer micro video platforms like Vine, Snapchat, and a host of other apps being introduced daily are most popular with the early adopting crowd, which tends to be millenials. However, Instagram use is rapidly growing among baby boomers, and micro videos are becoming popular in more established areas of the web like websites, YouTube and Facebook.

Facebook recently released an update for their mobile app that automatically plays videos in NewsFeeds, which is a great opportunity for marketers to use micro videos.

Next week, we will share some examples of how brands are using micro videos successfully, and share some tips on how your business can take advantage of this trend and beat out your competition.