When the COVID-19 pandemic hit us in early 2020, it confined us to our homes, stripped us of human contact, and gave us free time on our hands.
One could debate whether the free time coupled with uncertainty and isolation proved to be a luxury or a curse.
In a recent survey by Motioncue, 42% of people reported that they were more active on social media during the pandemic.
Clearly, a lot of us didn’t know what to do with ourselves.
That’s when we turned to digital media, more specifically video, to keep ourselves sane. It was the closest thing we had to human interaction and we held it tight.
This blog post talks in numbers about the impact of video during the COVID-19 pandemic, the shifting digital paradigms, and the burgeoning trends due to video’s increasing popularity.
Videos spread joy in 2020
Pandemics are generally a time of fear and misery. When people were scared for their safety and battling anxieties due to unprecedented circumstances, videos brought smiles to their faces.
72% of people reported that video reduced their stress level during the pandemic and made them happy.
Remember the viral videos featuring PPE-clad doctors dancing to cheer patients up? Such wholesome content!
People were starved for entertainment for sure. They grabbed at videos for leisure and recreation with a hunger.
59% of consumers chose to watch entertaining videos during the pandemic.
Who can forget the heart-warming videos of Italian’s dancing and singing from their balconies?
Someone even turned Cardi B’s rant about coronavirus into a bop we couldn’t stop laughing to.
But let’s save you from starting another endless loop in your head.
Information became a commodity
Uncertainties have a way of making the human mind paranoid. So it tries to find an anchor and calm itself by preparing for danger.
That’s why the need for information is strong during the times of corona. So much so, that it worried the WHO about dealing with an infodemic in addition to the pandemic.
In the early days of Covid-19, people wanted to learn more about the virus. News about its native and global impact was highly sought after.
Raise your hand if you’ve kept a close eye on Covid statistics at some point. I sure have.
The Motioncue survey confirmed that 26% of people preferred informational and educational content during the pandemic.
However, the audiences weren’t only consuming corona-related video content.
YouTube reported a surge in viewership numbers for videos related to “cooking,” “yoga,” “home workouts,” “how to cut hair,” etc.
Marketers grabbed this opportunity as 38% of them focused on creating video content to inform and educate their audiences.
Let’s admit it, with all that free time, we all turned to YouTube to learn a new skill. Remember when everyone was trying to bake bread from scratch?
Also, who else can relate to saving a bunch of workout videos to ‘Watch Later’ hoping to get ripped during the lockdown?
Speaking of relatability, 9% of people said they watched relatable videos during the pandemic. At the same time, 16% of marketers used relatability appeal to tell stories.
Moreover, with changing work modes, layoffs, and business closures, crisis communication became an important tool for marketers. 18% of marketers used video to offer emotional and technical support.
Live videos became the norm
Nothing kept us more connected during the pandemic like live streaming. Artists and musicians took to their Instagram and Facebook Live to connect with their fans.
We saw a rise in virtual concerts and events as they became more sophisticated than ever.
For marketers, YouTube remained a favorite. 60% of them used the platform to go live and keep in touch with their audience.
Live video communication proved to be a life-saver for the education industry as well. Be it college students or kindergarteners, e-learning became the norm.
56% of people said the pandemic pushed them toward online learning.
E-learning videos became a remote education essential as teachers experimented with content to increase student engagement. Shout out to the teachers who gave it their all during online classes.
The rapid shift to a remote learning model without proper training, bandwidth, and connectivity issues was not without its hiccups.
Nevertheless, more and more education institutions are leaning towards adding online modules to their offerings.
Remote work took over
It won’t be a stretch to say that video is the foundation that the remote work model is built on.
The pandemic re-emphasized this fact and made it clear that remote work is here to stay even in a post-pandemic world.
From brief meetings to virtual collaborations and conferences, the corporate world shifted to a video-heavy diet.
64% of respondents said they used videos (asynchronous and synchronous) to communicate with their team while working remotely during the pandemic.
Holding virtual happy hours proved that with a little imagination and creativity, video would take over our work lives.
73% of people thought that video conferencing was a decent substitute for in-office face-to-face communication.
We’re not surprised. Who’d want to suit up and commute to attend often mundane meetings when you could just do it from your couch. That too in PJs!
Platforms like Zoom, Skype Google Hangouts have been integral in this dynamic shift.
However, Zoom proved to be the most innovative and became a household name quickly during the pandemic. Whether you’re a student, an employee, or a boss, it’s hard to imagine a life without it now.
In the survey, 63% of people picked Zoom as their favorite video conferencing platform.
Wrapping up
A lot of things changed during the pandemic, but video held its ground as the king of content.
It was mostly used for entertainment and information purposes. Due to the rising popularity of video content during the pandemic, marketers plan to experiment with training and educational videos, mobile videos, live streaming, interactive videos, and more.
All in all, both as marketers and consumers, video is set to be ingrained in our lives more than ever before!
Now is the time to empower your business with videos. Hit us up!