Digital Video Trends Shape the Future: Monetization and Growing Opportunities

It takes a lot less brain power to watch a short video than to read a written post on the same subject, and internet users around the world can attest. By 2019, it’s projected that digital video viewing will be responsible for approximately 80% of the global internet traffic (Cisco). This represents every category from short-form content (such as quick videos on YouTube or Facebook), long-form content (such as HBO GO or Hulu), to online purchases and rentals, and live-streaming.

This rising trend represents a huge opportunity for retailers and marketers, and the monetization of digital video has been growing accordingly in terms of advertising and subscriptions. Ad dollars are being invested in social and live videos (largely short-form and live-streaming content) to capture the steadily expanding audience.

In the U.S. alone, consumer spending on video streaming services is expected to surpass $6 billion this year, as many are switching from watching traditional pay TV to internet-based, digital streaming (think Apple TV and online subscriptions such as Netflix). Not surprisingly, digital video viewing levels are the highest among young adults, though the fastest growing group adopting the technology is seniors. By 2020, nearly 56% of the U.S. population is expected to become digital TV viewers due to cord-cutting.

What’s next?

Research professionals expect a growing focus on monetizing video-based live-streaming platforms, messaging apps, and various emerging video channels. Marketers and agencies will likely target social media applications like Facebook, Periscope, and Snapchat to capture the growing audience.

Globally, viewers spend an average of 58 minutes watching digital videos online, a figure expected to rise to 67 minutes by next year. There are currently 695 million monthly digital video viewers worldwide, a pool expected to surpass 732 million by the end of 2017.

YouTube will likely continue to dominate the vast majority of markets, with over 75% of internet users in every region worldwide regularly watching digital video on the site.

Mobile will be a key driver in the growth of the digital video market as the technology is becoming more and more widely available around the world.

Consumption of digital video, whether it be long-form, short-form, live-streaming, or online purchases and rentals, is expected to take off in the coming years. With the growing popularity of mobile video viewing and traditional TV watchers switching to digital streaming, social media platforms, messaging apps, and other miscellaneous video channels will become essential to the monetization of such trends.