Trends 17: The Victory of Video

When Nicola Mendelsohn, VP for Facebook in EMEA, proclaimed last June that in five years’ time Facebook ‘will definitely be mobile and probably all be video’, some heads were turned. Is it certain that video will be the future of social? And after that, could it be that video is the future of everything?

Of course, it’s not only Facebook that is looking to jump on the video bandwagon. Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and Snapchat have all been building out their video functionalities. Having a strong video offering, and hosting live-streaming, is quickly becoming a requisite development for all social networks.

But is this a trend that needs to be confined to the world of social? It’s now 93% of internet users who are watching videos online each month and, really, any platform that is ingrained into the daily digital behaviors of its users could benefit from hosting video. For this reason, we’ve seen Spotify being hosting videos and Amazon expand its video commitment even further with Amazon Video Direct.

Video might not be the panacea to all the challenges facing the digital marketing industry, or the solution to every platform’s growth issues, but it’s clear that we’re moving headlong into the video-first landscape.

Download a free copy of our Trends 2017 report here. Chart of the Day will now take a break for Christmas and will return to your inbox on 3 January.