Thanks to social media and mobile phones, how we film and view videos has changed dramatically. We all consume more video than ever before. Video is so accessible and businesses are capitalising on this everywhere particularly on social media and we often watch without even giving it a second thought.
YouTube changed the way we view video forever and since then every other social media platform has followed their lead in encouraging the creation of video content.
Back when we only watched video on our TV screens it was naturally the case that footage was landscape. Now that we all spend so much time on our mobile phones it shouldn’t come as a surprise that vertical video performs better. Think about it, when was the last time you actually turned your phone the other way? In fact, we hold our mobiles vertically more than 90% of the time.
It should also be obvious that when we are making our own videos, we usually do so in a 9:16 aspect ratio i.e. vertically. Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Stories are all about sharing events and news in a more visual way. They work brilliantly with vertical video and Stories are on track to overtake the traditional newsfeed.
This is something that brands need to start taking more seriously. Those brands that have already embraced vertical video have been rewarded with higher levels of engagement. Generally, we will watch a vertical video for longer and our perception of 9:16 marketing videos is more positive.
We are not suggesting that all video should be vertical but that the format should always be considered. If video content forms part of your content marketing strategy and all your video is still 16:9 then now is the time to think about where your videos appear, who is watching them and whether they would perform better if they were vertical.