Expert: 3 key trends for video in 2017

Kristina: What impact will social and live video have on 2017?

Mark Flaharty, Chief Operations Officer of Advertising, SundaySky: These new video formats will allow brands to better tell and differentiate their stories for customer education. Because video is a medium rich for storytelling, adding the live and social component ripens it for deeper consumer engagement. Innovative brands like Neiman Marcus and The Home Depot have already seen the value of using this highly interactive experience to reach and engage customers and prospects.

This is a huge step in the right direction toward brands meeting and engaging empowered consumers on the channels they are on. I expect we'll see more brands take advantage of live video's combination of authenticity and interactivity to connect and engage with their prospects and customers directly this year.

Kristina: What trends are you watching in the video space?

Mark: I'm interested to see where the newer video formats go. We thought we knew what mobile video was, until it shape-shifted to a square lacking audio, and now it is vertical with audio that starts gradually. This transition of the mobile video format is a clear validation of today's empowered consumer who is in control: one who engages with and consumes content the way he wants.

Kristina: What about the new 360 format?

Mark: 360-degree video [is] a completely immersive environment that lets the viewer drive the perspective, putting herself in the center of the experience to consume the relevant content that is most important to her. I expect we will see this format more throughout 2017, especially with the introduction of Snap's Spectacles, allowing consumers to fully experience travel destinations, music festivals, celebrity award shows, and other events and activities they're most interested in, without having to be physically present.

More from Mark and SundaySky later this week, including how brands can better use data in the video space.

Tags: advertising, SundaySky, video ad trends, video advertising, video trends