When people look at the PEG website and our social media accounts, they see members of our teams on location for a video shoot, in our office creating videos and animations, or running live events. There is one aspect of PEG that every team member actively participates in, but it isn’t visually that interesting, and that is research and development.

As Video Producers, a big part of our job is to stay up-to-date with current video trends and to learn about future video trends so that we can be prepared when a client comes to us. When we research a trend, we make sure to learn as much as possible so that we can speak to a client as an expert on the topic. Now, no one can perfectly predict every trend in video, mostly because there are so many. However, I am predicting a few key video trends that we will see on social media in 2018.  

Silent Videos with Subtitles

Last year was the year of silent video. It seemed like every commercial video on Facebook needed to have text on the screen because viewers are less likely to listen to audio when watching videos on their smartphones. Let me start off by saying that I hate this trend. I believe that audio is equally important as the visuals in a video. If a commercial video has no audio and has visuals covered up with text, then you have negatively impacted the final product. 

That being said, I believe this trend will continue to grow in 2018. We will see more and more silent videos on social media. As video producers, it is our job to find a way to display text on a video in a way that doesn’t detract from the visuals but still provides the viewer with the necessary information without relying on audio. But, I also predict that we will see more videos find ways to convince people to turn up the audio on their smartphones.

360 Videos

Another trend that I foresee growing as we progress further into 2018 is the increasing popularity of 360-degree videos in the commercial space. In 2017, we saw 360 videos used as a high-end option in marketing for movies like The Jungle Book and IT. The entry market price for these videos is incredibly high. These videos utilize film cameras and state-of-the-art special effects, making them very expensive. As these high-end videos become more popular and successful, the demand for this type of video will only increase. Our team has made the investment in learning how to create 360 videos and animations, and we have also invested in the gear required to create this content for a more reasonable budget. I expect that more clients will be interested in 360 videos as they learn that it can be achieved for a more reasonable cost.

Augmented Reality

The last trend I will mention is the one that I am personally most excited about. I remember downloading Snapchat in 2012 during my Junior year at Ohio University. It was so different from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and soon became a crucial app on my phone. Since 2012, numerous improvements and features have made this my most frequently used app on my phone. Snapchat’s key features include face filters and augmented reality. These popular features are exclusive to Snapchat, enabling the creation of unique art and content. These features will be crucial for marketing companies. Advertisements have made their way into Snapchat, but they have not significantly impacted the user experience. These ads are easily skippable and, therefore, aren’t very effective. Companies must realize that traditional ads are ineffective on Snapchat.

That being said, some companies have had success with advertising on Snapchat because they create experiences with Snapchat’s unique features. Before Stranger Things Season 2 was released, Netflix created an augmented reality experience that allowed users to explore Joyce Byers’ house. This is a unique experience that could only happen on Snapchat.

At the end of 2017, Snapchat introduced a program called Lens Studio, which allows companies to utilize 3D objects in augmented reality to create unique advertisements. Seeing how this technology will be used in marketing campaigns with budgets under six figures will be the most interesting trend to follow in 2018. Video trends are fascinating to study. Simple aspects of a video can directly impact whether a video receives 200 or 200,000,000 views. We can’t always predict which video trends will be the most successful, but as content creators, we enjoy testing them all out to see how we can continue to push forward and utilize these trends to create high-end content for all our clients.  

What video trend are you most excited about for 2018?