Vertical Video on Mobile

Do you suffer from Vertical Video Syndrome? According to Glove and Boots, puppets with their own web series, symptoms include holding your phone the wrong way and treating the videos you shoot like pictures. Sound familiar?

If you’re a marketer, the prognosis is good. Brands like Snapchat, Meerkat, and Periscope are changing the negative perception of vertical video. They’re even finding that mobile users respond better to it. Snapchat learned that compared to horizontal mobile video, vertical videos had up to nine times the completion rate.

Big-name platforms like YouTube are expected to implement vertical videos to appeal to mobile users. And vertical-centric platforms like Vervid just might give vertical non-adopters a run for their money (and viewers). Once laughable, vertical video is now becoming a tall, narrow force to be reckoned with.

Wondering what this means for our industry? To understand the impact vertical video will have (and already has had) on higher education, consider mobile usage. Adults spend more time browsing the web on a mobile device than on desktop and other connected devices combined.

And while they spend 71 percent of their time on horizontal screens, they’re connecting with vertical screens 29 percent of the day.

We’re long past the mobile tipping point. Rather than asking if mobile is an important vehicle for connecting with prospects (it is), we should be asking how we can best use mobile so we don’t get left behind.

So what’s so hard about flipping your screen 90 degrees? The short answer is that mobile users prefer screens in their natural, upright position.

Mary Meeker, an American venture capitalist who studies new technologies, says we now spend 30 percent of our screen time with devices that are best held vertically. Vertical videos look better and perform better on smartphones and tablets. Not to mention what brands like Snapchat already know – vertical videos see more engagement and higher completion rates. And 100 million daily users don’t lie.

Users want to have the best possible experience on your website. And since many of your visitors are viewing your site on a mobile device, all of your content, including videos, should be mobile friendly.

Our eyes are horizontal. So are TV screens and movie theatres. But if we want our mobile users to stick around, we might need to retire horizontal video for its taller, skinnier rival.

Join the conversation! What’s your take on vertical videos?

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