Why Brands Need to Consider Vertical Video
I work in a social content agency and there is a dividing sentiment about the necessity and value of vertical video. Content producers and creators hate it but personal preference aside, there has definitely been a rise in the format over the past year and this article will explore some of the reasons why by looking into the ways in which people are consuming video including, popular devices, platforms and environments and address the potential advantages vertical video has over the traditional 4:3 or 16:9 horizontal aspect ratios.
Firstly, we have to admit and acknowledge that people are consuming video content on their smartphones a lot more than they used to be, according to analyst Mary Meeker, we use vertically oriented devices nearly 30 percent of the time, up from just 5 percent in 2010. The large majority of these vertical screens are of course smart phones and as mobile consumption continues to grow, content providers need to optimise their content for viewing on phones.
So why vertical video? It’s obvious that vertical video delivers better results than standard video in environments where people tend to hold their devices upright, in addition, the Unruly Mobile Video Survey reported;
· 53% of consumers and 57% of Millennials find turning their phone horizontally to watch their video in full screen annoying.
· A further 34% of consumers and 43% of Millennials always or often use rotation lock to lock their phones to vertical mode.
Popular social media apps have also tapped into this insight with Facebook turning photos taken in panoramic view into 360 degree photos , Twitter with its intuitive auto-play video player which only plays when at least 80% of the frame is in view, even YouTube updated its mobile apps to allow for vertical playback that takes up the whole screen.
For the focus of the rest of the article, I’ll focus on Snapchat — the one platform every brand wants to get in on. With more than 7 billion videos viewed each and every day on Snapchat, it’s not hard to see why. The platform itself is specifically designed for vertical consumption and news and entertainment brands, including the Mashable and Vox media networks, are creating custom vertical video, to post on the platform. National Geographic was one of the original publishers on Snapchat Discover, and has recently committed to presenting all of its Snapchat videos vertically — when they’re viewed on desktop, those videos are embedded in the left-hand column of a story.
Snapchat’s seamless handling of vertical video is one reason publishers are focusing their efforts on that platform. But it’s the mobile environment in general that makes vertical video make so much sense. Daily Mail North America CEO Jon Steinberg has said, when you encounter a video ad in Snapchat or any other mobile app, it’s “totally stupid” to have to rotate your device in order to see it in full screen. A lot of viewers will just navigate away when they encounter a horizontal video ad on mobile. “But if a video is vertical and a little bit compelling, you’re going to keep watching. It intuitively makes sense.” That “sense” also equates to engagement with Snapchat reporting that vertical video ads have up to nine times more completed views than horizontal video ads.
By no means am I saying that all video needs to be vertical — and I doubt we’ll be seeing vertical movies in the cinema, all I’m saying is that as content creators and providers we need to consider the way our content is being consumed and if mobile is you high on your media agenda maybe it’s time to consider vertical video as a format option.
Sources:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/unruly-news-corp-moat-partner-133900060.html
http://digiday.com/platforms/time-take-vertical-video-seriously/
http://fortune.com/2016/01/12/snapchat-facebook-video-views/
https://recodetech.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/screen-shot-2015-05-27-at-7-48-59-am.png
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/canvas-organic-page-posts/641192
https://blog.twitter.com/2016/new-ways-to-tap-into-video-on-twitter
