How AI Is Helping Marketers Embrace Top Video Trends
Video has reshaped the way consumers view content, making it arguably the most important marketing medium for brands. This has put modern marketing teams under enormous pressure to deliver ever-increasing amounts of branded video content to meet the expectations of audiences in a rapidly changing media landscape. This pressure is understandable: research shows that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch a video and only 10% when reading text.
However, videos offer only a few seconds to catch someone’s interest. That makes the first few milliseconds after the content loads crucial. Keeping visitors engaged requires brands to create relevant visual experiences capable of breaking through the noise of crowded digital spaces.
The need to solve those challenges is precisely why marketers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to embrace some of the biggest video trends today, including the growth of personalized, shoppable and B2B videos.
Make all users feel special: personalize or perish
First of all, it’s important to recognize why personalization even matters. Personalization is an effective way to make visual experiences stand out among the noise and ensure a brand’s message isn’t lost to “content overload.” In essence, it’s a shortcut to establishing a direct connection with the (potential) customer that might otherwise take much longer or never happen at all.
Most marketers recognize that AI is helpful for evaluating the massive data sets that can reveal users’ preferences, such as the times they engage with content the most, what products are more likely to pique their curiosity and which platforms will generate the most click-throughs.
But there are also AI-based solutions that can help create and deliver personalized video experiences - meaning marketers, creatives and developers aren’t responsible for creating, managing and delivering all the possible variations of a piece of content. These typically offer direct integrations into dynamic formats on paid and owned media and make testing and learning with personalization truly accessible.
These AI tools dramatically reduce the friction of editing and rendering videos, opening up far more opportunities to personalize video content at scale - and ultimately help brands deliver more, and more relevant, content to their target audiences.
Watch and shop: how shoppable videos are changing e-commerce
One of the most valuable use cases for this sort of capability comes in the form of shoppable videos, which have started entering mainstream use in the last couple of years. These videos allow brands to produce clickable videos that allow audiences to interact with them directly, and as the name suggests, reduce the friction between browsing and sales.
What makes shoppable videos attractive is that marketers can personalize them by inserting various pieces of information about products into the video. When a user hovers their mouse or taps over a specified area, it can display information such as price or availability in what is called a hotspot. One way AI assists with hotspots is by defining the area within the video frame where the product is and ensuring other technical aspects are addressed, so viewers are enticed by the product without compromising the viewing experience.
We expect more brands will experiment with and implement shoppable videos to compete, connect and convert using AI. With social media platforms implementing shoppable videos, users will be able to browse product details, make purchases and otherwise engage with the visual media experience on social.
Build deeper business connections: the case for B2B video
In the midst of all this, B2B video usage is also steadily increasing. More than half (59%) of executives say they would prefer to interact with video rather than static images. As well, just as personalized ads, user-generated content (UGC) and augmented reality have become focus areas in the consumer space, we expect B2B marketers to also leverage these tactics.
AI and personalization allow brands to use B2B videos more effectively by introducing the ability to create rich content, such as clickable videos and 360-degree spin images. This type of interactivity can help establish a deeper relationship between user and content to increase the odds of conversion. One example of this is SAP’s “SAP Experience Economy”. The video showcases how various customers use the company’s systems by offering viewers a chance to click on different case studies throughout the video.
As a result of a newfound ability to personalize so much content in the buyer journey, brands can meet businesses where they are online and create increasingly more meaningful interactions that increase conversions.
Ready, set, action!
The technology available today makes personalization, shoppable videos and B2B videos simpler to execute than ever before, but their power is only as good as unlocking the promise of the technology behind the opportunity.
The power of AI opens the door to a new era of relevant visual media experiences that will define the near future of how brands connect with audiences. However, without the right AI tools, it’ll be impossible for brands to create these visual stories at scale, deliver the personalized experiences audiences expect and achieve expected ROI.
The brands who will come out ahead will understand they not only need world-class media science technology but also end-to-end automation capabilities for creatives and marketers. That combination will empower modern marketing teams to create and deliver personalized visual media experiences, wherever their audiences are.
[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from Cloudinary. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]