Vertical Video: Why now?

Videos have always been shot horizontally, so why change now?

As marketers, we understand the power of video. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is more alive than ever with today’s moving pictures, aka video. To effectively promote messages, businesses must consider that images have the ability to attract more attention than written content, as well as “the shorter, the better.” Short length videos are best to satisfy people’s short attention span, which has been reduced from 12 to 8 seconds in younger generations. The world is full of visual learners, so it only makes sense to translate this into the business world.

Shift to vertical

A business that does not deliver visual content in 2019, is unfortunately destined to fail. Since the arrival of social media and smartphones, the use of video has doubled – or even tripled – its power. Three out of four users now view video on mobile devices, which also accounts for three out of five total video views. Traditionally, video has been shot in landscape format, but this has shifted due to the increase of smartphone users. A pioneer of this video format was Snapchat back in 2013.  It is also important to mention that more than 90% of mobile users hold their devices vertically when consuming content. Vertical video making is not a new concept but has certainly increased popularity as it has been adopted across many fields.

Who has joined the trend?

The music industry is one of many following this new trend. Artists are now launching both versions of their music videos: traditional horizontal and trendy vertical. Spotify is one of the leading competitors in this new trend. Apart from optimizing a music video for watching on a smartphone, vertical video has additional added value.  If we take the example of Halsey’s vertical music video “Without Me,” viewers obtain a more intimate and personal experience versus its wide-format version. Viewers now have deeper video experiences due to the angles permitted by this new way of video delivery. Other examples of vertical videos, besides music videos, include YouTube ads, videos on TikTok, and streaming services such as Netflix.

Should we join?

The number of smartphone users is not expected to decrease any time soon. In order to stay a strong competitor in today’s market, businesses must adapt to trends and technology advancements. Cropped horizontal videos, due to vertical mobile usage, is less effective than vertical videos. Adapting to our consumer’s needs is key to success. Video production – and more specifically, vertical video making – is quickly evolving. Not only does this new way of video delivery make it easier for users to consume content but can also make them feel more engaged as the content is delivered in a more personal way. For these and many other reasons, the use of vertical video should absolutely be integrated into a business’s marketing efforts.

Veronica Scarlett Lopez Martin is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. Scarlett graduated in May 2018 from The University of Tampa with a Degree in International Business and Marketing. She currently works at CenturyLink as a CSM-Customer Support Manager within the strategic enterprise and government markets division. She is a blogger for the AMA Tampa Bay, with a background in marketing and technology.

Connect with her on LinkedIn.