Portrait not landscape
Now you probably wondering what vertical videos are. People are beginning to access almost everything through mobile devices, the only times they see work on their desktops and laptops is when they are in the office and in this day and age many people are quite active and don’t sit at their computers very long as life gets busy. It makes things easier to just whip out your mobile device and look at videos. And as you know most devices are portrait and not landscape, if you want landscape you have to turn your device on the side and considering if screen rotation is activated you can then watch the video landscape.
Vertical videos sound exactly the way they are. The video is designed to be portrait to make them mobile compatible as it will display the video in the way you hold a mobile device. So, it just makes sense that the videos are starting to go in this direction.
Videos on the go
In the past few years, there has been a dramatic rise in the consumption of content on our phones versus desktops. As said before phones are 99% held portrait and only turned landscape for videos, but what if we can cut that out completely. While video has always conventionally been horizontal, people are filming and consuming more video on the go, it has modified to mobile behaviour. As marketers, we need to adjust to consumer behaviour and give them content in the way they want or need it, making it more convenient and that means going vertical with your videos.
Social platforms are now vertical-friendly so why shouldn’t videos
With the constant growth of mobile usage over the past few years, the older generation will usually only hold the phone vertically. 90% of videos watched vertically have a higher completion rate versus videos watched horizontally. Your audience is lazy, this is always something to keep in mind. As with almost all apps in recent times they have adjusted to vertical view, almost all social media sites use only vertical designs as it makes it simple to keep a mobile device one direction without the need to turn it landscape. Devices are thick enough in recent times so that landscape view is coming obsolete. There has been a huge rise in video on social media in recent year and since most is accessed via mobile devices, that in turn means they’re accepting and adjusting to being vertical too.
Will the vertical video take over?
It is safe to say that obviously not all viewings are suited for vertical video. But then again, we are not watching a movie in vertical. You can’t be watching a movie in vertical? As it possibly isn’t going to be the most enjoyable experience. However, in terms of marketing, marketing videos are quick and, on the go. Think about every YouTube video you have seen, they are basically all landscape as this is adjusted to the platform. It’s all videos and it’s not all for marketing. Vertical videos are predominately adjusted to be seen on mobiles, we should be adapting to consumer needs and their behaviours.
Why is the vertical video beneficial for marketing?
The Vertical video is more visually attractive to viewers. Branded content issued in a vertical format is thought to be more engaging just for the fact that it is simply using more of the available screen space. Using up more of the screen space means it is a lot less distracting for the viewers and it inevitably has an increased opportunity to capture their attention. If you video takes up the whole screen, then the viewers are more likely to start and finish the video as nothing else could grab your attention.
Video content is slowly shifting to favour mobile devices by simply moving turning to vertical. As users of social media, we all see that video is the most engaging format for virtually everything on social platforms, and yes even including branded content. There is a time and place for all types of content, counting in images as well. But for the brands who want to get the best results on social platforms and making sure you are also thinking about your viewers needs by giving consumers the best possible content experience through marketing, then it is completely logical to take a “mobile” approach first, and go with the vertical video focused approach.
