A shocking 80 percent of the world’s Internet traffic will be video by 2019. Think for a moment about the sheer magnitude.

This has been a landmark year for video, with 2015 being the first year in which U.S. adults spent more time digesting video content than they spent on social networks, according to eMarketer.

In 2011, the average adult spent about 21 minutes per day engaged with video content. In 2016, that number has risen to well in excess of an hour per day.

In fact, millennials are so connected to their digital video content that they watched more shows on digital devices than on traditional screens this year. And that trend is expected to grow even more in the New Year.

In this commoditized world in which we live, creating a competitive advantage is the holy grail. Moving more quickly than your competitors in fully integrating video into your marketing plan for the new year could create that advantage.

Not convinced yet? Google has long offered top- and side-bar advertising opportunities but has been vehemently opposed to advertising actually embedded into the search results delivered.

The reason was a desire to keep the search experience pure and focused on just what the user asked for, and nothing more – something that Facebook and Bing gave into long ago.

The fact that Google is privately testing native video ads, embedded in search results, is momentous and a clear sign that users are becoming more accepting of video advertising.

The trend goes beyond video, however, into a broader desire by the market for visual storytelling.

Even national newspapers, which have been highly content-focused, are following suit with the New York Times home page now largely imagery centric. Anyone who spends time on social media recognizes that content photos and video, either on your personal or company page, drive significantly more engagement than text only.

The mounting case being made for visual storytelling is no doubt why roughly 30 percent of advertising budgets in the U.S. were spent on visual content development and publishing in 2015 – a number that is expected to rise notably in 2016.

The brands that will dominate online consumer engagement in 2016 will be the brands that master a true multimedia storytelling experience – combining photography, video, infographics and content to convey key messages.

Lori Turner-Wilson is an award-winning columnist and managing partner of RedRover Sales & Marketing, www.redrovercompany.com, with offices in Memphis and Nashville. You can follow RedRover on Twitter (@redrovercompany and @loriturner) and Facebook (facebook.com/redrovercompany).