There has been a noticeable uptick in video usage over the past three years. A few stats evidencing this include that video consumption on mobile devices rises a whopping 100% each year.

In addition, 78% of people report watching videos online each week while 55% of those watch daily. More than half (54%) demand more video content on top of what they already consume.

We have with us a video marketer who needs no introduction. Aashish Chopra leads the content segment at Ixigo and has recently featured in Forbes along with winning the prestigious “Content Marketer of the Year” Award in 2016.

Aashish Chopra, an award-winning viral video marketer, talks about the future of video marketing in this exclusive interview with CoFoundersTown!

What has been the primary reason behind this sky-rocketing rise in the video industry in the last few years?

Low-cost phones and cheaper data, has raised the tide for video consumption.

Which trends dominated the video marketing industry last decade?

The last decade (which is a big time frame considering how things move so fast), all social platforms have become video platforms. What YouTube started back in the day, is mainstream now, and short-form content videos on social are the biggest trend.

Because YouTube was a destination video platform (you go there to watch), whereas all social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin etc) are destination hang-out platforms, where users spend most of their time and videos become added bonus.

So, the biggest trend was short-form videos made for social platforms, ‘snackable’ content.

Which new trends would help brands to get an edge over their videos through video content?

Regional language content is the biggest trend in India, combined with short-form content, this would the game-changer for video marketing, from India to Bharat.

With the rise of ephemeral videos, how can the B2C brands use it to boost their marketing strategy?

Videos which are short-lived, or are topical are essential to staying relevant in the news-feeds.

Imagine there’s a space ship, and its fuel is your ongoing marketing. There’s everyday fuel which takes the spaceship forward (that’s your topical content daily), then there’s nitro/nuclear fuel, which takes it light years ahead, that’s your big campaign or content/video which requires more effort and investment of time and resources.

The strategy IMO must be to take the ship forward, by creating content in the users’ interest and not peddling your brand all the time.

How would you convince an organization in generating video content and how an organization go about deciding the budget for their video campaigns?

Video is the biggest trend in marketing year after year, that’s where user attention is. And marketing for any organization is about staying relevant where user attention is.

If everyone was watching TV back in the day, it was all about TV ads. When millions are joining the video bandwagon, it is important to be relevant there.

About the budget, start with creating /curating ideas in-house and hire filmmakers, who eventually join your in-house team. Giving videos to agencies is expensive to continue regularly, that’s the reason many big brands have started investing in in-house video teams.

With the rise of so many platforms to effectively run a video marketing campaign, how should an organization go about deciding the best platform for creating and marketing its content?

Choose the platform where your users are. If you’re B2B, you may find relevant audience on LinkedIn for example. Stick to one or two platforms, in the beginning, to build your capacity to keep churning out content.

With the focus on User Generated Content more than ever, what should go behind planning a successful campaign of such kind?

UGC content IMO needs templatized content creation tools for the users. Like Tiktok keeps providing little tools in their app, so users can become creators easily.

It’s predicted that the number of videos crossing the internet in 2022 would be 1 million/second. Which industry has the best chance to grow and evolve if this prediction gets true?

If everyone is watching videos, then every Industry has a chance to ride this.

What would be your advice to anyone who’s planning to succeed as a video marketer in 2020?

Read ‘Fast, Cheap & Viral’ and learn about how you can create game-changing content on a shoestring budget. Here:https://www.amazon.in/dp/9351952754