Video is everywhere. Social media, product presentations, recruiting, e-learning – the list goes on. It is impossible to imagine today’s corporate communications without video. And the pace of development is so fast that it’s easy to lose track. That’s why we’ve put together this article to give you an overview of the current technology and content trends for 2024.
1. Media Production with AI
Artificial Intelligence was certainly THE buzzword of 2023. The various tools of generative AI are now firmly established in media production and will continue to fuel discussions. But what exactly are the new possibilities? Let’s look at a few examples.
- The past year has seen the emergence of a number of platforms for the creation of video content. Despite an impressive increase in possibilities, the quality of longer, text-generated film sequences still leaves much to be desired in 2023. However, there are areas of application that are already being used successfully. For example, video messages can be generated by having an AI avatar read out a piece of text. A wide variety of faces, voices and languages can be utilized, greatly expanding the range of potential applications.
- There are also a growing number of AI tools that can be used to automate or simplify processes. This begins with the creation of texts as well as the retouching of motifs and covers music research all the way through to the insertion of subtitles. Or you can use AI tools to analyse and streamline your own processes.
- There are also AI tools for analysing your own target group. This allows you to better understand their needs and offer customised content accordingly.
All of these possibilities will be with us in 2024, and they will continue to improve. And, of course, new ones will be added that we have no idea about today.
2. Short Videos
Short (or even very short) videos have been popular for some time now. This ‘easily digestible’ or ‘snackable’ content can now be found on all social media platforms. There is no set standard for video length, but generally ‘short form’ refers to video content that is less than two minutes long. However, most short form videos are much shorter – in the five to ten second range, which suits our ever-shrinking attention spans (which currently average just over eight seconds).
In these circumstances, it is important to grab the viewer’s attention quickly and highlight the most important information. This means having a strong hook and a memorable call for action. It also means posting regularly, taking advantage of trends and reusing or repurposing existing longer videos to maximise content output.
Short, entertaining videos – a trend that isn’t going away any time soon.
3. Mobile Filmmaking
Just a few years ago, creating video was an intensive investment of time and money. Many companies had to outsource their video content to large production companies that had access to scriptwriters, expensive equipment and advanced post-production facilities. In recent years, however, the picture has changed and even large companies are diversifying their media mix. Not only are they favouring smartphones over expensive cameras, but also more authentic and unscripted content (see also trend #5) over big productions.
Smartphones are accessible and easy to use, but most importantly, the video quality of smartphones in 2024 is impressive. Apple has launched its own campaign under the hashtag #ShotOniPhone, which also addresses the fact that major brands are now increasingly focusing on content produced on smartphones. The reason for this is that inspiration and creativity are more popular than expensive equipment, despite the (partial) loss of professionalism and quality that goes with it.
The topic of smartphones leads us directly to the next trend for 2024…
4. Vertical Video
An unsurprising statistic: smartphone use continues to grow worldwide. Statista predicts that there will be nearly 5 billion smartphone users worldwide by 2028. Mobile users account for the majority of general web traffic, social media usage and video viewing. However, not only social media apps, but also more and more traditional websites are being designed to be responsive and therefore specifically for the mobile experience.
The same is true for video. Take YouTube, the world’s largest video hosting site. The vast majority of YouTube’s billions of views come from mobile devices, and in response, the trend towards vertical videos has intensified. Vertical videos make more and more sense in today’s world, which is why we will see even more 9:16 videos in 2024.
5. User-generated content
In the US, “authentic” was the word of the year for 2023, and that’s the keyword for our final topic, because authenticity is also very important in video production, including employer branding or internal corporate communications. Content needs to feel honest, genuine and human – that’s the key to connecting with and inspiring audiences.
This is not always easy, and the larger a company becomes, the harder it is to convey authenticity in corporate communications. So-called user-generated content (UGC) can help and is becoming one of the most important methods of adding authenticity to content.
UGC refers to content that is created by one or more employees and then used in internal and/or external channels. Some popular examples of UGC are testimonials, tutorials, sneak peaks from offsites, unboxings or even a look behind the scenes of a company, for example as part of employer branding. We have already produced this type of UGC in 2019, for example in the form of a selfie video with our client Kuraray. At that time, employees prepared their own texts and also filmed themselves (using a smartphone with a holder and directional microphone provided by us). The resulting recordings.
We simply edited the resulting footage and mixed the sound cleanly. A worthwhile example that has lost none of its relevance.
But beware: UGC should not be confused with content from influencer partnerships (which are still very popular in 2024). The purpose of UGC is authenticity, social proof, modern word of mouth – savvy followers can tell the difference between genuine user-generated content and advertising designed to look like user-generated content.
