New technologies are often at the forefront of video trends, after all they drive innovation. But it’s my prediction that 2020 is going deeper, much deeper, it’s all about human connectivity. The trend is to meet a thirst for human to human communication, for social responsibility and transparency.

Consumers are sophisticated, they know when they are being retargeted, they know when a viral video has been engineered, they know about influencer marketing. Smartphones bulldozed flat the business playing field, leaving behind a wake of good, bad and ugly videos, many, many videos, and as predicted they are all over our social feeds. What can we do to keep creating videos that engage and drive business? These are the trends to watch:

1. Storytelling skills increase
What many videos lack, especially videos created by smaller businesses is the storytelling element. Storytelling is what makes us human. Why? Stories make the message relatable and because we relate the story to ourselves they become both memorable and emotional, this is why they work. In 2020 more people will study this as an artform and include it intentionally in their video creation.

2. More stories, more strategy
Can you see the connection to number one? Yup it’s a trend! Stories have become a part of our everyday. Instagram and Facebook as well as larger YouTube channels have a stories function, soon enough we’ll see other platforms introduce stories. Why? It’s our human desire to connect with what is real. We love behind the scenes, bloopers and watching our heros interviewed? There will be more strategy put behind stories in 2020, and increased engagement.

 3. Phone filming in corporate
Oh yes, I predict we are going to see more big brands and corporates introducing self-filmed videos, low production videos into their video ecosystems, raw non professionally shot video. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean bad video, it still needs to be well shot, so we’ll see more industry leaders being taught how to make video and publish them. Media training will start to include how to make your own video.

 4. Personalised video
Staying on this human-to-human thirst, our customers don’t want to be just a number, another retarget, another email automation. Businesses will start to invest in breaking the mould with personalised video messages engaging with customers. From customer care, to market research and sales conversations. Companies will employ staff to fulfil this personal engagement, and the customer loyalty will be in the bag.

As video creators and business owners we are tasked with staying ahead of the curve, not underestimating our customers and seeking our competitive advantage. There has been so much focus on technology and pushing out video after video with less attention on realness, flow, and purpose. Now the tide is turning.

I invite you to get personal with how you use video in your business and how you work with your clients to create a full and broad video strategy.  

Written by Justina Rosu, video producer