How is your screen time tracking these days? If you’re spending more time on your phone you are not alone.
Whether it’s watching videos, scrolling Instagram, getting lost in TikTok or filming the world around you, whatever content you are absorbing, or creating, there’s a very high chance it’s happening while you’re holding your phone vertically. Explore the top 5 reasons why the vertical video trend is only growing taller into 2021.
5 reasons the vertical video trend is growing into 2021
- We are on our phones more…vertically
- More social media platforms are catering for vertical
- Vertical performs better
- More big names are getting involved
- Easy & affordable to produce
1) We spend more times on our phones… vertically
We are spending dramatic amounts of time staring into our handheld screens gorging on content. In 2019, American adults spent around 3 hours and 30 minutes each day using mobile internet. Before the pandemic, the average person would spend 1 hour and 40 minutes a day on their phones watching video alone. That’s 100 minutes of screen time in between waiting for a train, a coffee or to meet a friend. Or In today’s more relative world, while making your own coffee, lounging on the couch or (we won’t tell anyone) while visiting the loo.
With the increase in demand to communicate digitally coupled with isolation, our smartphones are becoming even more of an extra limb. And one which we can’t be bothered to turn, with 94% of the time people holding their phones vertically. Even when watching a video suited to horizontal viewing, not even 1 third of users will turn their phone.
2) More social media platforms are catering for vertical
Social media has a lot to do with our growing usage of smartphones and consumption of vertical videos. According to Hootsuite, we spend on average 2 hours and 24 minutes on social media. And our favourite social channels are all embracing vertical. Take Snapchat’s 10 billion vertical only video views per day or TikTok’s 800 million active worldwide users who enjoy more than 1 million videos every day in a year, as proof! 90% of TikTok users access the app daily and spend an average of 52 minutes absorbing the vertical videos. It’s no longer 20:20 vision we’re hoping for, it’s 9:16 vision. Along with Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, even LinkedIn supports vertical video and are focusing on expanding their video capabilities. With vertical video fitting perfectly into each channel with Stories, it’s no surprise that the results are telling a good story too.
3) Vertical performs better
Vertical video brings value, especially for advertisers. Magnetic Creative saw their vertical video ads increase user engagement, while Wibbitz experimental vertical video posts reached 13.8% more people on Facebook compared to their square videos. The mobile ad platform MediaBrix also found that vertical videos saw a 90% higher completion rate compared to horizontal videos.
The new playground, TikTok is also seeing new opportunities for brands to jump on whether it’s through advertising or supporting new-found influencers, e.g. the media explosion caused by the Ocean Spray TikTok video. Is it time to reconsider the way you do video on social media and in advertising?
4) More big names are getting involved
As vertical video capabilities grow taller, especially across social media platforms, so does the list of brands and advertisers flexing their 9:16 muscles to leverage the full screen opportunities.
It’s not hard to spot a vertical ad while tapping through Instagram Stories, Facebook, or in your next YouTube spiral. But it’s not just the advertising space that’s seeing growth – it’s the platforms that offer vertical videos too! Take Google’s WebStories announcement, who is coming in hot with this immersive trend and providing another way for brands and websites to showcase themselves on the web. Time to jump on the brand-wagon, and maybe even beat some of the big brands to feature in this new Stories offering.
5) Easy & affordable to produce
The production of vertical videos does not need to be complex or expensive. The relatable look of talking into the camera that is achieved with a handheld device seems to be hitting the mark compared to traditional TV ads, especially when paired with influencers. However if you are camera shy and don’t have the time to film yourself, there are still easy and free ways to create amazing vertical video content.
With that in mind…Where can you find vertical stock footage?
Mixkit of course! Here are our top 5 most downloaded free vertical videos:
With the trend of vertical video content not slowing down any time soon, why not try out creating a free video Story yourself with easy-to-use Premiere Pro Instagram Story templates and free Mixkit Vertical video footage? Raise the bar with your next video project!
