Top Video Marketing Trends to Jump On in 2023 [from 37 Industry Experts]

You need a vertical video-first approach in 2023.

Video & social media platforms leave clues… And when every platform is leaving the same clue, video marketers should really take note. What’s the one clue they are all leaving us? Make vertical videos!

Instagram makes every video you post on the platform display as a Reel (vertical video). YouTube is heavily pushing YouTube Shorts (vertical video). TikTok (one of the fastest-growing social platforms right now) is a platform solely built for vertical video. LinkedIn is even suggesting advertisers create vertical videos to get better results from their paid ads & we have heard whispers from within LinkedIn that they are going to be pushing vertical video even more. Twitter has hinted at developing an immersive vertical TikTok-style video feed (but who knows what’s happening with Elon in the driving seat now). The list goes on…

We’re now operating a ‘vertical video first’ approach & the data shows that it’s the right one. In the last 30 days, switching to a vertical-video-first approach has increased views by 507% & watch time by 319%.

Video is a game changer. The amount of false news and pretend experts out there makes video an important tool to show who you are and how you can help. The amount of people doing video is still relatively small and all the social media platforms are giving video preference.

Your audience wants the real you, telling your story and letting them know how you can help them solve their problems. Overproduced videos are a thing of the past; real and authentic will be hot for 2023.

Captions are still king as most people will watch the video with the sound off, at least in the first instance. When they do listen to the sound it needs to be clear and concise; they will put up with bad visuals before bad audio if viewing with the sound on.

Short videos that get straight to the point are a must. Reels are much hotter than lives. Funny rules and if you can tie it back to a marketing point you will be a winner.

Video marketing will revert back to the late 1900s in terms of visual structure, pacing, and branding tactics. Except, in 2023, the message lengths will be shorter than in previous generations. Direct response will bubble to the top as it always does, and those who leverage omnichannel strategies will reap the best rewards. Remarketing budgets will bolster top-of-funnel campaigns and those who engage across all their target’s preferred channels will be seated upon thrones of revenue.

Short-form video will continue to be on the rise in 2023 as Gen Z continues to flock to TikTok. Marketers can win in this space through consistency in message and content, and through relatable and relationship marketing. The way to stand out in any video format is to be unapologetically authentic and to provide value, while telling your true story.

One trend that is beginning to gain traction as we close out 2022 – and we’ll really see skyrocket next year – is building communities on niche platforms.

Yes, Facebook Groups are still very powerful. However, I’m seeing more and more leaders seek to migrate their community members onto one of several different platforms such as Mighty Networks, Circle, possibly a Slack channel, Discord, or Telegram, etc. Also, popular online course platform Thinkific recently added a new community feature, and Kajabi just acquired a community solutions company.

Using a third-party platform, such as Mighty Networks, allows you to do Live streaming, publish video content in the feed, create and lead classes, courses, webinars, etc. And it’s a very different experience than mainstream social networks because this is your own private tribe! Then you can pull out valuable excerpts from all your longer form video content and use the clips on your social channels to drive back to your community that you own.

I’ve said for well over a decade that no amount of sophisticated technology can ever replace real, live (IRL!) connecting. BUT video is next best thing!! Especially live video! (And I love that Wave.video offers this as a solution now, too).

The 2023 headline continues to be inflation. Rising costs are causing worries & heartache for many individuals, families and wallets. During tough times, it’s the smallest things that make the biggest impact. Simple acts like a smile, a laugh, a ‘hello’, have the power to provide a sense of happiness & normalcy.

Today, opportunities for escape & community building are in the creator’s hands. Consider LIVE shows, short videos and series’ where hearts smile because community gathers. A content strategy that creates chances to support, uplift, share life with one another and feel less alone.

In years to come, providing opportunities for happiness, moments of forgetting your worries and enjoying a sense of belonging, whether through LIVE shows or videos, will be the key to voicing your vibe and showing up in a way that brings positivity where it may not otherwise be felt.

While the economy is being challenged, as humans with a heartbeat, creators & entrepreneurs, we can provide a break from reality. Gifting them much needed time feeling joy, smiling & escaping – ways we all thrive through during tough times. While making a greater impact you will see the fruits of your labor like never before.

In 2023, a video marketing trend is even major TV networks will integrate live video to sell directly to the consumer. It will be more commonplace to sell products in real-time much like the Instagram Influencers currently are. Livestream will elevate much like podcasts have over the last couple of years. Big brands will see the value of livestream and jump on the bandwagon.

Marketing is an ever-evolving field. And video marketing is not an exception to that rule. As we venture into 2023, I see some continuous trends:

• Live streaming and virtual events: Live streaming and virtual events will remain popular as they offer a cost-effective and interactive way for businesses to engage with their audience. Expect more businesses to leverage live streaming for product launches, webinars, Q&A sessions, and behind-the-scenes glimpses.
• AI-generated videos will become increasingly popular as they offer cost-effective content creation. AI-generated videos can help businesses create high-quality video content without expensive equipment, actors, or large production teams. This can lower the barriers to entry for smaller businesses and allow them to compete with larger companies in video marketing.
• Video SEO: As video becomes an increasingly important part of marketing strategies, optimizing video content for search engines will become a crucial aspect of video marketing. This includes creating engaging thumbnails, crafting compelling titles and descriptions, and incorporating relevant keywords to ensure maximum visibility.
• Shoppable videos: E-commerce will continue integrating with video content, making it easier for viewers to shop directly from videos. This seamless shopping experience will increase conversions and drive more sales for businesses.

During 2023, video will continue to increase as a way for personal brands and businesses to connect with their audience. Whether a livestream or recorded, scene based software will become the most commonly used programs. The ability to easily switch views seamlessly will raise the level of production and improve the quality of the content. Companies like Wave.video, ECamm, and Evmux have taken the lead in this space and it will continue to be a highly competitive space with a demand for livestream producers that can manage the programs for those who do not have the time or the ability to create scenes and the run of shows and scripts to get the message across.

Vertical video live streaming will also continue to grow along with the use of YouTube Shorts, Reels, and TikTok. Users will ultimately want products that are easy to use, but allow for full customization. These products will also be important for virtual presentations and creating engagement with the live audience to keep their attention.

TikTok is rapidly replacing Google as Gen-Z’s preferred visual search engine.

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has already added powerful search features to the Chinese-TikTok app Douyin. Douyin is already a popular search tool for a generation of social media users in Asia. And brands are already leveraging Douyin’s search features by optimising their videos for search discovery.

Google’s own internal studies revealed 40% of young people, when looking for a place for lunch, go first to TikTok or Instagram over Google Maps or Search.

Social media apps like TikTok need to figure out search in order to be successful at social commerce. If TikTok (and other social apps) can develop a powerful visual search engine, its algorithms will quickly deliver perfect search results (and quickly learn its users’ shopping habits). TikTok will then be able to match buyers with sellers in search results. Add an in-app payment feature and you have a potent social commerce platform.

To bring this to life, TikTok is already adding new features to enhance TikTok Search. Longer search-friendly captions. More prominent search box. Location tagging. A ‘local’ feed for nearby search results. Brands and creators should expect to see more search engine related features and platform updates in 2023. As well as shopping and payment tools layered on top.

TikTok SEO is going to be a big deal in 2023. Instagram, Snap, and others will likely follow a similar path.

Since Google owns YouTube, it prioritizes video in search engine results, often putting YouTube results at the top or near the top. Integrating video can give you a significant boost in your reach compared to competitors who aren’t prioritizing video. Forrester recently found that videos are 53 times more likely to generate first-page rankings than other traditional SEO techniques.

Here’s the thing: Adding a new video to your page makes it look much much better. But, it actually adds so much more than that. Behind the scenes, your video is adding quality to your website that will help bring in bigger, better crowds and help take you to the top. This is one of the reasons that its popularity as a marketing strategy has skyrocketed in recent years, and doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

As we plan for 2023, you should consider choosing a video-first approach to content creation. Google is now making video a key indicator for SEO going forward: pages with video content are 50x more likely to rank than posts with only static content and have a 41% higher click through rate. But its effect on search is not the main reason why you should be using a video-first approach on your website. The main reason is that video helps to boost sales. In fact, research from Hubspot has shown that 84% of people have been convinced to purchase a product or service because of a video. 84%! That staggering fact alone should be enough to convince anyone to add video to your marketing strategy.

Everyone is familiar with SEO for web pages and written content. But video is just as important. Google now includes video results in its universal search results, not just on the video tab. And to get there, you’ll need to be intentional about the title, keywords, video transcript, description, and more.

Adding video to a webpage is also a huge boost for getting the page ranked higher in search results. Even a simple video that walks through an article’s content, for instance, can be very effective for SEO. After all, it’s giving your audience multiple ways to consume your content, so they can choose what’s best for them. These days, people are more likely to hit that play button than read through the full article.

While the jury is still out on the future of Twitter and many continue to be enamored with TikTok and other platform’s short video content, LinkedIn continues to hum along to profitability. Most notably, LinkedIn has been flourishing as a creator community for several years now, and has been doubling down on its efforts, even having several cohorts of paid LinkedIn creator accelerator programs.

LinkedIn creator mode has rolled out for all users that choose to have it activated, and thus everyone now has access to live video. Standing out on LinkedIn (where many more people consume vs contribute) has never been easier. Just start recording and get in front of your audience!

As we head into 2023, video marketing trends that will increase are repurposing short-form video content like TikToks and Reels and posting them on LinkedIn.

We realize that we can’t put all our video content onto one platform and more creators are seeing the value in leveraging LinkedIn video creator tools. In addition, uploading short-form video content onto LinkedIn Company Pages will be even more successful as LinkedIn is currently surveying pages and running beta groups for new products (hint: I am in one of the beta groups).

The best news is that LinkedIn is very clear they want to be a place of business opportunity and success and that means they support your content that includes external links in posts, profiles, and company pages they see it as a business advantage to support websites and news articles.

My video marketing prediction for 2023 is that LinkedIn will finally become more video focussed, allowing users to post videos and images in the same post. We will start seeing more video ads on LinkedIn.

Also, the average age of the video creator will shoot up as older users embrace the use of video to connect.

I am a big believer in the power of user-generated content (UGC) where customers create brand-specific content about a product or brand they love. It’s more authentic, less polished visual content and we are starting to see a lot more of these types of videos on sites like TikTok where visuals don’t have to be perfect and polished. I believe all brands should leverage UGC as part of their overall marketing strategy. After all, our customers are our best advocates (and marketers!).

Coupled with that, I believe we will continue to see brands and teams create in-house video content and become more skilled at creating and editing videos. More than ever we need to be able to create video content quickly and easily. Tools that allow teams to create professional videos from scratch or using templates (edited using their brand assets) will be very important moving forward – for teams to be nimble and responsive when creating social video.

Get real in 2023! It’s already happening. We’ve seen individuals, business owners & employees emerge from behind the logo, making brand marketing & daily content more personal – and it works! Leaders have embraced empathy as an important component of employee happiness and, as such, their success & retention. As individuals, we recognize the power of personal content in building community. The shift toward making people feel seen, heard, loved & valued is here to stay.

Some things are shifting back to the way they were pre-pandemic, however, our appreciation of, and need for, real connection & genuine content is doing the opposite and so is video marketing and personal content.

We still want to show up ‘looking good’, but that has been redefined as ‘looking human’. The best foot forward is honest and vulnerable. Professional isn’t limited to a suit and tie, behind a desk or boardroom. The pandemic brought us into one another’s homes. It tossed titles and revealed us as humans.

It’s time to recognize YOU are your brand. People want to do business, gather & gravitate toward people who are relatable — people they know, like & trust. Video marketing is thriving in this human-to-human environment. Anyone can grab their phone, shoot a video and deliver the real by sharing what is on their mind, how their day has been, and shine the light on others.

We no longer strive for work-life ‘balance’; we now pursue work-life ‘harmony’. You don’t give 8 hours to work and 8 hours to home and the things you love. Let your video marketing and content work FOR you. Working smarter and transmuting energy into revenue more quickly, efficiently & effectively is more important than ever!

Want to stand out in 2023? Show up, on video, Radiating Real!

The trend of video marketing is growing, and it is not going anywhere. With the rise of social media, the need for video content has increased significantly.
In 2023, if you are looking to improve your video marketing strategies, here are some trends to follow:

• Utilize user-generated content: User-generated content is great for building a sense of connection with your audience.
• Shorter videos: In a world where people are busy and have less time to watch videos, shorter videos will be more popular than ever.
• Mobile optimized: As mobile usage continues to grow in the coming years, ensure that all your videos are mobile optimized to work well on all devices.

Video remains king. Formats will vary depending on audience type and platforms. We do see a trend of shorter videos, often more creative in style when it comes to shopping or entertaining content.

People are trusting their peers more and more before making any purchase decisions, so referral marketing that is based on user-generated content is going to keep increasing as it is seen as the most trustworthy. Micro-influencers wanting to stand out, will be getting more and more creative.

On Expert Channel TV we will go even bigger on high quality content on OTT, VOD, VOD platforms to help clients build their Brand awareness and authority and combining this content distribution service with social media strategies emphasising Reels and Shorts that lead to longer format content.

Vlogs and personalized videos will become more popular, and brands may even need them. Why? Because they let you put a face to your brand. You can connect with the people you want to reach on a more personal level. Many people don’t trust brands, so it’s important to personalize.

YouTube is the place to be in 2023 if you want to grow and up-level your business with video. With the introduction of separate tabs for pre-recorded videos, live streams and 60 sec shorts, YouTube is making video creation easier for business owners to show up and reach a wider audience.

Introducing YouTube handles, in line with other social media platforms, collaborating with other YouTube creators just got a whole lot easier, tagging in descriptions and in the community tab make cross posting and cross promotion much more advantageous for small business owners and entrepreneurs on and off the platform.

YouTube is now accessible on mobile, desktop & TV, making your video reach far superior to other social media platforms, opening sales opportunities, audience growth and entertainment across all devices that you really don’t get with other social media platforms.

YES, at first glance, YouTube can seem like more work, however with the introduction of Shorts, YouTube is now competing with the likes of TikTok and Reels and if you’re a savvy creator and business owner, creating videos and repurposing videos you’ve already created to YouTube just got a whole lot easier.

2023 truly is the year to create video on YouTube, YouTube can make connecting and selling to your audience easier. If your channel meets YouTube partner program, you can attach a store, create memberships, and get paid through super chats and stickers, however, you can make money on YouTube even with a few subscribers if you have your account optimised for success.

Apps such as Wave.video can help you create and optimise videos for all the platforms and in any format with their easily to adapt templates, Live streaming studio and newly updated video editing suite. If you have a gift to share, YouTube makes it easy to do so.

YouTube Shorts will continue to gain market share ground on TikTok. This is thanks to YouTube’s new feature to convert any video into a YouTube Short.

The words “content” and “commerce” are the keys! We are starting to see the emergence of content that drives commerce in social media in new ways. Influencers are going to be key to this and so companies will want to pay attention. Influencers have a dedicated following and when brands connect with them the commerce that can flow out of their content is powerful and increasing!

Another different example is Amazon. They added Thursday night football (content) to their mix and that gives them control to influence commerce to their viewers!

From Reels to TikTok and live video, we are seeing video content from trusted influencers drive more and more commerce and this is only beginning! Shopping patterns are changing, more will be done via social platforms increasingly so smart influencers will continue to grow their community with great content and offer products they love to drive commerce.

Content + Commerce = Future of E-commerce.

It’s a simple matter of logic to predict that video marketing and live streaming will be increasingly popular methods of shopping in 2023.

Today, almost everyone has a social media account. With the ascent of TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, people are becoming more accustomed to short videos of their favorite products or services.

Video marketing and streaming is shaping and evolving eCommerce globally. It will continue to create a smooth customer shopping experience across multiple platforms and provide a more personal touch with each purchase.

Over 50% of consumers will watch a product video before they buy. Brands on Amazon have increased sales by 3.6x with a product video.

Brands are experiencing conversion rates of up to 30% and more through Livestream selling and lower product return rates on their webstores.

AI technology will become more and more prominent in video marketing. Videos can be made easily at a much large scale with AI. You can have your own virtual avatar appearing in videos with your own voice and people won’t tell. You can make hundreds of video variants within minutes and have much more complicated A/B testing during the video marketing.

Video editing will also become much easier with technology like stable diffusion: you can easily replace any objects in videos. There will be lots of controversy but that is how new technology advances.

In 2023, personalized videos using AI will be a game changer. Companies will be able to call out their customers by name without any manual recording. We’re talking automatic personalized video messages delivered over personalized emails and branded video pages that really drive engagement and customer loyalty. Video is already the most effective marketing and engagement content, so adding personalization to that mix is a surefire way to increase customer lifetime value.

In 2023, I think that AI tools will probably continue to improve and develop and be used by more content creators to easily repurpose their video content.

It should be interesting also to see how Instagram live videos change since their tentative allowing of third-party tools to schedule and go live on that platform. This, hopefully, will cause the Instagram live function to grow and develop in exciting ways, as it has been very limited and rather glitchy up till now. It should also enable live shopping on Instagram to get much more professional and exciting to watch, as it is becoming on Amazon Live.