Vertical Videos: The Next Step For Mobile Advertising

As video production has become a standard medium for advertising and entertainment on mobile devices over the past decade, a handful of trends have come into play. Among these trends, horizontal videos have remained the standard format for companies and filmmakers in Utah and nationwide. This notion of clicking “play” and turning your smartphone sideways for a full screen viewing experience is undoubtedly the most effective way of utilizing the entire screen for entertainment purposes. 

 Advertisements, however, are intended to make the consumer do the least amount of work possible in order to retain the information. Even the simple act of turning a phone sideways is not expected of a viewer during an ad. 

Prominent social media platforms like Snapchat, Meerkat and Periscope have recently pioneered the idea of vertical video production for mobile devices. Many specialists in Utah and across the globe have written vertical videos off as unprofessional and tacky for years, but these services have proven to be successful with the innovative format. 

Snapchat suggests that vertical video ads have up to nine times more completed views than horizontal video ads. This is due to the fact that the entire service is based around a vertical viewing experience, and it would seem completely unnatural to have to rotate the phone just to view a wide-format advertisement. 

Vertical video production advertisements have caught the attention of large corporations like Spike, Macy’s and Burger King who now all have running ads on Snapchat, Audi, Periscope, Meerkat and other prominent mobile outlets. 

Veteran video makers in Utah and nationwide need to swallow their pride and come to terms with the fact that this is the new mobile format. This does not mean movies and TV shows should be viewed this way, but social media, news and advertisements just make sense from a consumer’s perspective to be viewed vertically. 

“It is easier and more comfortable to move the eyes horizontally than vertically, especially up,” said Dr. Eli Peli, an ophthalmology professor at Harvard Medical and co-founder of Google Glass for DigiDay. “However, neither of these facts will have an impact on comfort or safety of using a vertical presentation on a smartphone. The visual field extent of a smartphone held at arm length is very small. The vertical extent of the field is much wider than this, as is the ability to move the eyes and scan vertically.” 

For more information on video production or personal help with your company’s online video content, contact a specialist in Utah or a location near you. 

Broc Waring writes for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. He writes for many other clients as well.