If videography is your bread and butter, or you’re a photographer looking to transition into making money as a videographer, you’re probably having some thoughts about the current state of the industry.

Because in these strange times, it’s not exactly just a matter of getting a hold of more clients anymore.

There’s logistical problems, health restrictions throwing a wrench in your call sheet, clients cancelling altogether out of fear of turning a production set into a superspreader event — how are you exactly supposed to keep your business going when you can’t get nearly enough crew members on set?

We recently looked at the photography industry statistics, so now let’s take a look at some numbers and emerging trends in the video production industry that might help you adapt and brace yourself better for 2022.

The Demand for Vertical Video

With the explosion of short form video content a la TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, the demand for vertical video has increased exponentially. According to Adobe:

• 33% of US marketing professionals deemed that vertical video is “extremely important” to influencer marketing.
• 63% of mobile traffic today comes from video, with social media, ads, and news being the main drivers of growth.
• 57% of UGC videos are shot vertically, it maximizes the real estate as 94% of users hold their phone vertically, less than 30% of people will turn their phone to watch a horizontal video.

The Pandemic Effect: Video Production Year Over Year Growth Dropped by 12% in 2020

Freelance videography marketplace, Storyhunter, saw a massive drop in completed projects from 2019 to 2020. The 12% drop from 2019’s figures is a sharp contrast against Storyhunter’s usual 30-40% recorded year over year growth.

The freelancing marketplace also notes how brand marketing efforts practically came to a complete stop last April of 2020, with editorial video production projects also coming to a crawl. It’s worth mentioning that it was in the second quarter of the year where the marketplace has seen a significant decline, possibly coinciding with the height of the pandemic.

…And Quickly Rebounded by Q3, Q4 2020

These figures saw an almost immediate rebound in completed services as early as Q3, with Q4 pushing the numbers to near pre-COVID figures. The platform has recorded a reassuring 18% jump in projects from Q2 2020 versus Q4 2020.

It’s looking like the demand for video services never really died down; some businesses just couldn’t physically make production happen. However, with the outlook being a little more optimistic in the whole pandemic situation, it won’t be shocking to see Storyhunter getting back on track with their projected growth numbers by next year.

Demand for Full-Service Production has Greatly Increased

Another interesting data Storyhunter shared was the incredible increase in demand for full-service production packages by as much as 235%. This major uptick is attributed by the platform to businesses who now want an almost, “done for you” service from production houses, giving companies a more efficient and streamlined production timeline.

If you’re already offering videography and post production services, you might want to consider hiring animators or getting frequent creative directors, on-camera talent collaborators etc. This will let you offer a “start to finish” production service, with brands now more willing to pay for a complete content package than ever thanks to tighter content calendars. Our guide on How to Start a Video Production Studio (from nothing) can help, and if you’re completely new, checkout our guide on Videography for Beginners.

There are also opportunities to stay small, plenty of videographers can make a pretty good rate with real estate videography, where all you really need to a camera good for real estate, with a wide angle lens and a gimbal. A slider is an option as well. Combine that with the many other types of video production where you can make money (related: how much Youtubers make), and you can earn $100k+ from videography. If you’re starting out, our guide can help you figure out what to charge for videography.

Professional Livestreaming Services are In

Here’s a big one. Market Research Future predicts that the live streaming market will balloon up to $247B by 2027, and brands all over the world are taking notice. Beyond Twitch personalities broadcasting gaming content, public facing business entities are definitely on board with the livestreaming hype.

Meta says Instagram and Facebook live viewership had doubled during the lockdown periods. And with other social media giants having built-in livestreaming features, there’s no way to go but up for this highly interactive space. As a videography professional, this presents an opportunity for you to offer high quality livestreaming services for brands with very little work, sometimes only requiring a bit of software and a capable streaming camera, like the GH6.

Remote Video Production is Here to Stay, Experts Say

Perhaps in the same vein as the livestreaming space, Storyhunter reports a substantial increase in demand for remote video production services on the freelancing platform. The marketplace had interviewed several experts from top production companies, including Kenzie Bruce of Blue Chalk, who says they’re seriously considering if remote video production work could be used in the field, even after the pandemic’s long gone.

So maybe start putting together a streaming kit complete with quality mics, streaming cameras and lighting gear to send to clients, and get yourself up to speed with the best broadcasting software ASAP. Chances are you’ll be getting a lot of calls for professional remote video production work next year.

COVID Compliance Protocols Up Production Costs as much as 15%

Anecdotal evidence from producers in the entertainment industry is saying costs for COVID compliance can ramp up their budget for about 10% to 15% more. For high budget, feature film projects, the study shows at least 5% to 6.5% of the production budget were spent on complying with the common health restrictions.

For smaller productions, the figures average to about 4.25%. That’s still a substantial amount of your budget going to testers, safety officers, sanitation supplies etc. So remember to adjust your budget a little when taking on elaborate video production projects to account for compliance costs.

Influencer Marketing is Expected to Catapult into a $15 Billion Business by 2022

Whether you like it or not, it might be high time to start networking with influencers. Brands are spending more than 20% of their marketing budget to get a hold of influencers. With the social-media generation populating all the biggest platforms, the gap between traditional celebs and internet personalities are getting narrower and narrower by the year, says Megan Savitt of Branded Entertainment Network (BEN).

And for content professionals, this might also mean investing in newer equipment with vertical video and streaming capabilities, on top of getting in touch with micro-influencers that are in wildly varying niches.

Brands are Committing to More Video Output for 2022

Socialive reports that 84% of businesses surveyed had increased their video production the past year, while 88% of the respondents say they’ll be increasing their video marketing efforts in 2022. Finally, 82% of Socialive’s respondents believe they’ll be increasing their budget for content creation efforts as a whole next year.

If you haven’t caught on by now, more and more businesses will consistently be looking for video production companies that can keep up with their packed content schedule. Brace yourself for an equally packed calendar next year, seeing how 40% of the respondents also said they’ll be committing to pumping out weekly video content.

TikTok is Changing the Video Marketing Landscape

In 2020, TikTok exceeded YouTube’s numbers in terms of average monthly watch time per user, at least in the U.S. and U.K. More than half of its users are Gen Z-ers, and for the last 10 months, the platform has been consistently the most downloaded, non-gaming app.

Forbes says the platform owes its popularity to its short-form video format that is almost “snackable,” which does an amazing job keeping its users engaged and entertained. Needless to say, TikTok has already become prime real estate for brands to attack the platform with relatable, informative, and entertaining branded content. And they’re probably in need of professionally executed influencer campaigns.

Keep an Eye Out for Instagram Reels

TikTok may be the current hottest social media platform in town, but I have a funny feeling one of the OG soc-med giants wouldn’t go down without a fight. Last October, Instagram added Reels ad into its marketing API, prepping the floodgates to open for more and more brands to advertise on the platform.

Instagram says Reels is its “fastest growing feature of the app,” and with 87% of the Gen Z population agreeing that Reels and TikTok are the same, it seems Tiktok will be having a worthy challenger in the short-form video marketing space quite soon.

Finally, If you’re a photographer/videographer, check out my guide to Instagram Reels for creatives and my step-by-step tutorial if you’re planning on getting into the platform.

The beauty of this shift to vertical video is that you can create content for YouTube (here are some tips), and then produce it for TikTok and Instagram Reels as well.