K atie c ouric

Vertical Videos Are the Future
Carmichael and Choi both believe the future of social media is in vertical
videos. They’re starting to see musicians such as Selena Gomez and
Maroon 5 do music videos in a vertical video format on platforms like
Snapchat. Carmichael thinks that this is where video is heading because it’s
so personal. He says that the vertical video is almost like a window into
another person’s world. It’s like you’re holding their hand or are on a
FaceTime call. It provides a level of intimacy and connection that
horizontal video doesn’t evoke.
Taking it a step further, Instagram Stories now allows you to pin/save
certain stories so they can stay on your feed forever, like a YouTube video.
Because of this, influencers are starting to make and save entertaining
narrative-style video stories. They pin them so that people can watch them
later. Choi believes that vertical video comedy skits and art-piece narrative
stories will dominate in the years to come.
Quick Tips and Recap
• Snapchat was created as a chatting platform. People enjoy the
intimacy of snaps and feel as though they’re chatting directly with
the influencer.

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• Create content that’s interactive with your audience. Use a call to
action. Feature them in your stories. Get fans to send you their
thoughts and input or ask them to respond and answer questions.
Because of Snapchat’s collaborative nature response rates are
usually higher than on most other platforms.
• Be authentic, vulnerable, and real.
• Tell the truth. The app shows your face very close up and people can
tell if you’re lying. (Don’t be a Pinocchio!)
• It’s OK and even encouraged to make mistakes in the content you
create.
• Be consistent and produce content every day.
• Snapchat is good for covering live events.
• The only way to grow on Snapchat is by doing shout-outs and
collaborating with fellow influencers. Be in each other’s stories,
share Snapcodes, and follow each other.
• The only number that matters is how many people see your story per
day, not follower numbers like other platforms.
• Because it’s so hard to grow on Snapchat, many people are
switching over to Instagram Stories.
• Vertical video comedy skits and art-piece narrative stories may be
the future of social media.

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