For the modern audience with a waning attention span, video-based content is often considered to be more entertaining, easier to grasp, and engaging enough to hold our interest for more than a couple of seconds. In other words, it's no wonder that more businesses have begun to leverage video content and video advertising on channels such as YouTube, Instagram, and Vine.

According to statistics, around 74% of the traffic that the internet receives will come from video content, so if you haven't started watching the trends already, now is the perfect time to brush up on your video marketing knowledge. Following, we'll cover just some of the most important video advertising trends to keep in mind as you enter the visual marketing world this year.

Native Advertising

A popular "buzzword" in the digital marketing industry, native advertising is a concept that refers to showing audience members advertisements that fit seamlessly with the experience they would normally have when visiting a website, or using a specific platform. In other words, your video advertisements should be natural, engaging, and designed to fit with whatever medium you're using to address your audience.

In many ways, this is very different to the traditional option of banner advertising, which is usually designed in an attempt to draw the attention of the prospect away from whatever they're currently doing, and convince them to check out your offer, website, or product instead.

Video Advertising Is Interactivity

Today, viewers don't just want to watch an ad, or have a product explained to them in excruciating detail - they want to be able to interact with the advertisement, have some fun, and find entertainment in new and interesting ways. Adding interactivity to your videos, by encouraging people to get in touch through social media, post their own video feedback, or get in touch with snapchat and Instagram posts is a great way to keep your audience engaged, and build brand awareness at the same time.

Video advertising on the internet offers far more options than the traditional ads you might see on a television screen, as many websites and platforms offer plenty of new and interesting ways for customers to engage with brands, and for companies to start building a relationship with their prospective fans. Although interactive video advertising is something that requires a significant amount of out-of-the-box creativity and forethought, studies have shown that interactive ads generally outperform standard ads in various important metrics.

The Prevalence Of The Mobile Video Ad Market

As an advertising medium, the mobile world has gained a lot of attention in the recent years, particularly with the arrival of Google algorithms such as "Mobilegeddon". For the makers of video advertisements, mobile screens can seem too small or limited to deliver a fully immersive experience, and on a mobile platform, advertisers can often struggle to gather data for retargeting schemes. However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that mobile video advertising has huge potential.

Today, a significant amount of online browsing - including watching videos and sharing video content, is done on a mobile platform, and the market is expected to continue expanding for the foreseeable future. The best way to take advantage is to use video advertising wherever mobile allows for it, from within applications, to game sponsorships. Also, make sure that your videos have a high enough quality to allow for unrestricted viewing regardless of where your audience might find them.

The Video Ad World Is Growing

Now that we're in 2016, it's important that advertisers understand that video advertising can expand beyond the initial option of "YouTube" and nothing else. In other words, audiences, advertisers, and creators will soon have endless options through which to consume and create content. While YouTube still largely dominates the video world, it's not the only viable option anymore.

In 2015, Mark Zuckerberg suggested that in "five years" most of Facebook would be made up of video, and Twitter is currently prioritizing video with the launch of a video-based news feed. Undoubtedly, as we move further into the future, new platforms will begin to gain traction and start to carve out their own niches and audiences.