By 2017, Cisco predicts that 69 percent of all consumer internet traffic will come from online video. By that time, nearly a million minutes of video content will cross the inter web every second.

As trend watchers hit the blogosphere to provide predictions for 2014, headline figures like the above are all to common at this time of year.

So I thought I might help trim the pack a little, with a roundup of the predictions and trends for online video in 2014.

The future is video

Chris Timble, of The Guardian, opens with a bang:

“Online video is the future of content marketing. […]When it comes to potential reach, video is peerless.”

EMarketer put 2013 as the first year that saw average time spent with digital media per day surpass TV viewing, with the average adult spending over 5 hours per day online.

Social Media Today concurs, predicting video consumption will increase in 2014, saying “whether it’s an educational video or an ad, consumers will look to video content to learn about businesses.”

mUmBRELLA say that in 2014 “Australian marketers will soon work out what consumers have known for years: video is more engaging than the written word.” They point to the rise of entertaining, engaging and relevant shorter-form video content, and the likelihood that new specialist video suppliers will surface to meet the demand.

And Mashable say that in 2014 we will see content become its own department, with roles like Director of Content and Chief Content Officer becoming more the norm. They highlight that distribution budgets will get consolidated with content budgets:

“The best content in the world won’t generate a positive ROI without real investment in distribution.”

The Guardian concurs, stating that if businesses want to fully realise video’s potential, marketers and content creators must make it easy for users to find and share it.

This means we’re likely to see marketing departments moving from media plans dictated by advertising spend, towards a fully funded content strategy with its own distribution component.

The best TV is the one you have with you

As the number of internet connected devices in the home continues to increase, CMO reports that more than a third of online Australians own connected devices that didn’t exist 10 years ago.

Imagine if the invention of television happened just 10 years ago, how might we have reacted to the change? Would we be rushing to put our newspaper ads up on screen, or re-thinking marketing from the ground up?

With all this device proliferation, Marketing Week UK highlights the importance of a responsive content strategy with an “ongoing push to make all digital assets responsive, so they deliver the optimal experience on the device being used.”

They also highlight video as part of this shift, stating that more than 40 per cent of YouTube views are on mobile devices.

The Guardian agrees, saying that mobile video advertising has the potential to be “incredibly successful as the video ad takes up the entire screen, claiming the user’s full attention, rather than just a small portion of both.”

Millward Brown takes it a step forward:

“Smartphones are the only screen that counts for the connected youth of today.”

The rise of micro video

As mobile consumption increases, Millward Brown suggests social will be the key video channel to watch in 2014.

Micro video communities like Vine and Instagram offer a uniquely compressed challenge for video creators, and between them they’ve amassed more than 200 million users.

Fourth Source points to the rise of micro video as a legitimate platform for brands investing in video, with its high share rate and low entry costs.

“However, there will be more of an emphasis on quality over quantity. It’s important to keep interaction with audiences focussed, valuable and engaging.”

Globe and Mail agree, saying that ‘bite sized storytelling’ is picking up speed and stress that different professional expertise is required for different mediums.

“The creative work, process and intentions behind a display banner and a video ad, for example, are entirely different and need to be treated as such.

“You’ll be putting your business at risk by relying on traditional advertising execs to advise you what to do online — much like going to a doctor when what you really need is a dentist.”

For those looking at this space with excitement, Funbound have a great guide for brands starting out in the micro video space.

Look further than the view

Search Engine Watch suggests that short form video content will go mainstream. “Brevity has made product teases cool again” they say, citing fashion houses like Burberry releasing sneak-peeks of its collections and USA today teasing tomorrow’s headlines.

They also say that reacting to mainstream demand, content marketers will become more agile as they attempt to “create video content on the fly, responding in real time to new data, surging trends, current news events, and consumer feedback.

“Looking forward into 2014, this agile video marketing trend will become ‘the new normal’.”

CMO.com concurs, “brands will need a bigger tool kit which allows them to spot which content is trending (news stories, images and videos) and respond quickly. The rise in short-form content has been a significant help here, as it has whittled down the length in production lead times and enables brands to be relevant and develop longer, deeper relationships.”

They also suggest that brands will move beyond evaluating just a ‘view’ and will instead look to other engagement metrics such as shares and time watched. Marketers should ask, what was the purpose of the video, how successful did each video serve that purpose, and what would I do differently next time?

Smart Company suggest that while video is great, it isn’t a silver bullet, suggesting that if marketers want to tap into the power of video, it’s important to take a step back and think about an overarching content strategy.

“Online video is a different beast. For a start, users usually seek it out, rather than being forced to sit though it. Which means that we can ask them for a little more of their time and attention (about 90 seconds, rather than 30).”

“Online content shouldn’t be campaign-based, like TV spots, but ‘always on’ — a constant presence, reinforcing and enlivening brands, entertaining, informing and providing utility to consumers and stating and restating a point of difference.”

Beyond the embed

Venture Beat suggests in their nine predictions for online video in 2014 that “interactive video will redefine traditional broadcasting” saying that video microsites will become indispensable’ and that we will “see the launch and rise of more online properties that provide interrelated, immersive content on multiple screens linked through characters, themes and events.”

This means less talk of embeds, and more of integrated video websites, where the separation of website and video falls away.

VB also suggests that higher educations and corporate training will see a huge disruption as interactive video adoption will start to personalise online training to 100,000s of users without ever leaving home.

Forrester research agrees, encouraging innovative brands to move on interactive video now to hone skills and “earn kudos and higher engagement with their consumers, and be in a better position to capitalize on the increased usage of this new medium later.”

The roundup

Well, that was a little overwhelming. The key takeouts:

• Video needs to work across all devices, both in their basic function, but also in catering for the next step — whether that be providing an email, or requesting further information.
• Online video isn’t just a format anymore, it’s content strategy in its self. And clever brands will strategise their offerings early to take advantage of surging demand.
• Small but mighty, micro video can’t be ignored. It’s clickable and shareable, and it’s coming to a mobile near you.
• A view isn’t enough, marketers need to know what happens next and why.
• Look beyond just embedding a video into a website, the delivery is just as important as the production.