Video Trends to Watch Out for in 2022

Like it or not, filmmaking and visual narrative have nothing to do today than what it was 10 years ago. The arrival of the smartphone, the growth of social media channels, the fact that everyone can make their videos and the pandemic boosting it all have made each new year a challenge for brands and filmmakers to keep up with the trends to reach a constantly changing audience. Because the video trends are changing, music and stock footage demands are changing too. Here are the video trends we should expect in 2022.

Short-form videos

People don’t have time, and attention span has been reduced to a minimum. Social media video platforms know that, and that’s why the standard in TikTok or Instagram stories, for example, is 15 seconds. Although you can make 60 seconds videos or even longer on some platforms, brands and creators know that the message has to be clear, fast and straight to the point. The extreme of this short video trend is the 2-3 seconds loop video that keeps us hypnotized.

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Where you want to show your video will depend mainly on your audience. TikTok is still winning the battle, and it’s no more only the platform where teenagers film themselves dancing. Brands and companies know this, and the result is that you can see each day more polished and well-thought videos, branding content stuff, social media challenges, showcase ads, etc. Of course, the vast majority of TikTok’s audience is still young people, but as the platform grows, more and more adults are curious about what is happening there.

YouTube shorts is another option to create your content. It is basically TikTok on YouTube, in an attempt not to lose the battle of the audience and the new formats. You have all the tools and possibilities there, like in TikTok.

The problem with this YouTube trying to be something else is that the usual Youtube watcher is used to horizontal long content videos and a more standard narrative. We don’t know if they will succeed in this battle, but TikTok has always been what it is, so it has the advantage of being more time out there and has a more significant number of viewers for now.

Instagram is still an open question since the platform (and Facebook) has been trying to adapt to the short video trend initiated by Snapchat and popularized by TikTok. In the last years, the platform has been adapting, changing, adding and removing things to the point that it’s not a photo platform anymore. If you scroll down the feed, you will see more videos than pictures, which also happens with the creators’ profiles. Creators and companies use Instagram Stories and Reels to communicate with their audience. 2022 could be the year for Instagram to become a video-first platform like their main competitors.

Mobile filmmaking

While the filmmaking industry has gone crazy these years with professional cameras, lenses and infinite gadgets, the reality has gone the opposite way. Almost every video you watch online – especially social media videos – has been created with a smartphone. The crazy thing is that those smartphones have been evolving to the point that the video you shoot with a smartphone has almost the same quality as one made with a professional camera -at least from a practical point of view-. If everybody is watching content on a small screen… do you really need a high-budget camera to produce high-quality TikTok videos? Or is it more related to the image you give in front of a client? New creators have grown up without this dilemma, and they are creating mind-blowing stuff with their smartphones. Clients have embraced this and are creating content with smartphones also. 2022 will be no different, especially if models like the iPhone 13 Pro, Sony Xperia Pro or Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra keep popping up. They have some of the best smartphone cameras, and with some phone camera accessories, they can become absolute portable filmmaking machines.

Because smartphones are the primary tools for creating and viewing videos, vertical has come to stay. Vertical videos will become the new standard because the new generations will grow with them. They even might perceive horizontal videos as ‘the weird thing.’ With that said, it would help improve your videos if you learned some basics of vertical filmmaking.

Editing on mobile

The good thing about filmmaking with smartphones is that you can start and finish your videos without other tools. Once you download the right apps, you will be able to film, plan, create storyboards, edit, color grade and add effects. Whatever you need is out there in the form of an app. Here’s a partial list of apps that will make your life easier if you produce content with your phone: Studiobinder, for everything related to planning, Shot Lister, FiLMiC Pro for professional filming, LumaFusion, Splice or Adobe Premiere Rush for editing. You also have editing tools inside your smartphone now. For example, the Google Pixel 6 Magic Eraser feature allows you to remove undesired background elements, and the iPhone 13 Pro’s Cinematic Mode lets you select the desired depth of field even after shooting.

Corporate video trends in 2022

Every year, new video trends emerge, and some disappear. It happened with tilt-shift miniature-like videos, timelapse videos, mannequin challenge videos, hyper-lapse travel videos, in-camera transition videos, etc. They all have their moment; everybody gets crazy about them and then disappear. What will be the trends for 2022?

It’s hard to foresee which new trend will appear this year, but we can get an idea if we analyze what is trending now. If you are looking to engage more viewers, these are the videos dominating right now:

Live video streaming

Live videos offer immediacy. Because many people are connected to their smartphones, they only need to join the video and watch. These videos usually show who is behind a company or a product, establishing a sense of trust with the viewer.

3D videos

3d videos have been trendy in 2021, and they will keep going for some time. It consists in animating pictures to create a cool 3D video effect. They are catchier than static pictures, so companies use them to showcase their products attractively. It will pass. They are perfect for fashion, artists, etc.

Shoppable videos

The same that we have seen with pictures for some years, but with video. You watch a video, usually in a commercial form, and you can click on the elements shown to buy them directly. All these kinds of interactive videos, where you do something actively, could be the direction we will be moving on in the next few years.

Review and testimonial videos

Each video platform is like a big mall with shops, entertainment, things to do, watch, etc. Having feedback and real testimonies about a product we are interested in will connect with the viewer right away.

Tutorials

Adding real value is always an excellent way to attract new clients or generate loyalty with existing ones. Because these videos aim at a specific niche, people will watch them.

Health, fitness, food videos

As we said, the pandemic changed everything. One of these changes is that people are more concerned about these topics, so they will keep working well in the following years.

Video marketing trends in 2022

No matter if you are a creator, a filmmaker, a brand or all of them. At this point, you should know that in 2022, videos are the best option for promoting a product, service, etc. But before you film, it’s good to have a plan. When planning your video marketing strategy, there is some work you should do.

One of the best approaches is to define your goal and your audience first. What do you want to achieve? Are you attracting new customers, or are you talking to existing ones? Are you building a community of viewers? Are you selling a product or creating steady content for a channel? These decisions will determine your campaign, the timing, the budget needed, which form of video is the best, the actions to follow, the style, etc.

Some stylistic trends work better these days. In general, A good tip is to rely on visuals and music whenever you can. Text and visual effects will perform better than a voice-over. Enhance it with the right music track, in case they are listening. Remember that narrative comes first, and sometimes, a non-produced video will work better than a highly stylized one.

Finally, use tags and other tools wisely. Each platform has its own rules and algorithms, and some things work better than others. Do your job and select your actions carefully. This way, you will make your video more visible.

Nothing new here, right? Needs, plans, ideas and execution. The only clear thing is that in 2022, with all the filmmaking resources in your smartphone and tighter budgets, you will become the agency and the production company many times. So research, watch many videos, take notes of what is trendy and incorporate this into your ideas.