Historically, video has been shot horizontally.

This is no problem on platforms where the majority of users view the content on their desktops. On a desktop, horizontal video looks best.

On mobile, though, vertical video looks best the vast majority of the time. And social media is viewed on mobile a vast majority of the time.

Quick math tells us that using vertical video in your social media marketing strategy is the best way to go.

So, Why you should be following the vertical video trend ?

1. Three out of five online videos are watched on mobile.

Over half of the videos on the internet are watched on mobile devices.

And mobile devices are designed for vertical videos.

2. People hold their phones vertically 94% of the time.

Even though our field of vision is horizontal, people still hold their phones vertically almost all the time.

So, vertical videos work for how people most often use their phones.

3. People use social media on mobile 70% of the time.

Optimizing for mobile is more important than ever. Mobile apps account for 70 percent of the time spent on social media.

Part of optimizing for mobile is embracing vertical video.

4. Most social media platforms support video.

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and other social networks now support video natively within their mobile app. Even YouTube now supports vertical video on mobile by displaying the creative without side black bars.

And social media platforms are actively expanding their video capabilities.Vertical video looks best on most platforms. So it’s no surprise that vertical video is performing well on social media.

Snapchat ads with vertical videos get nine times more views than those with horizontal videos.93 percent of Twitter videos are viewed on mobile.

Social media companies have embraced vertical video. The vertical video trend is real.

5. New markets are exclusively mobile

This is a big picture thing, but the number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to reach 2.87 billion by 2020.

Not only that, but rapidly expanding markets like Africa and Asia have large swaths of mobile-only internet access.

If you want to know how marketing will look in five years, 10 years or even 20 years, the future looks increasingly mobile, especially in the rapidly globalizing economy.