Vertical Videos: The new common sense in video advertising

Amitt Sharma, Founder & CEO, VDO.AI, writes about why vertical videos are more suitable for video advertising and how brands are pioneering this trend. 

The world and its cousin are glued to their smartphones – no new insight here. What is more pertinent for the advertisers is the statistic, which, according to a media report, says that most smartphone users hold their phones vertically about 94 per cent of the time – and are not particularly inclined towards rotating their phones horizontally for watching videos and definitely not for advertisements. 

Most people consume videos on the go and usually hold smartphones in a vertical position, hence, vertical videos make it easier for viewers to watch videos. With this insight, content creators are experimenting with the vertical way, eliminating the need to change the direction of the phone. Vertical videos are created for viewing in portrait mode. These videos are taller with lesser width optimised to fit the smartphone screen in vertical mode. Advertisers and marketers, too, are now leveraging the idea of vertical videos. Vertical video campaigns are consistently measuring a high achievement rate and a higher consumer attention. Vertical videos are hitting the right notes with the viewers because they give a smoother, more seamless viewing experience. This makes vertical videos a more effective tool for carrying the brand messaging. As compared to square videos, vertical videos are known to be cost effective too, as they lower the CPV and CPC. 

Content and social media platforms like YouTube, Facebookand Twitter and other OTT platforms like Netflix are already showing advertising and previews in the vertical format as a large chunk of their content is being consumed on mobile phones. As per Facebook 2016 data, Vertical Videos are more memorable. People have better ad recall when shown vertical, as opposed to horizontal, ads. Revealing similar insights, YuMe 2017 data reported that 65 per cent people thought that brands using vertical videos were more innovative. 

This new format personifies what mobile was always meant to be. Mobile has turned out to be the supreme platform for social media. Trending social media applications are designed to be well suited for vertical format fully meeting the convenience. With social media now allowing advertisers to market the products, sneaking the advertisementswithout a glitch and vertical video formats ensure a better engagement from the targeted users. Moreover, mobile advertising platforms have seen that 90 per cent of videos watched vertically have a higher completion rate versus videos watched horizontally. Vertical advertising creates a viewing experience that’s intimate, immersive, and distraction-free. Brands like Spotify, National Geographic, Mercedes Benz have all pioneered vertical advertising. 

There was a time not long back when vertical videos were being waved off as a syndrome. However, this syndrome not only developed into a trend, but it is the new common sense in video advertising, and it is all set to redefine it.