Marketing budgets may have stagnated over the last few years, but that doesn’t mean consumer appetite for video content has followed suit. Still, while 80% of businesses want to create more video content in 2024 to satisfy audience cravings, 40% don't want to invest more $$$ into it. It’s…a bit of a conundrum.
What’s the balanced solution for marketing departments looking to harness the power of video without spending the big bucks? Making more with less by fostering the collective energy of video creators.
Need some direction? Wistia, an industry-leading platform for hosting and creating videos and measuring their impact, analyzed millions of video minutes across thousands of companies for…*drumroll please*…the latest edition of their famed annual State of Video Report.
Here, we’ll dive into some of the top insights Wistia uncovered to help your modern video strategy soar.
Without further ado, let’s rewind some learnings.
What makes a video engaging?
Glad ya asked. Wistia found that while video length does have a significant impact on engagement, shorter videos aren’t necessarily better.
Yep, looks like the difference between a 30-second video and a five-minute one isn’t all that much!
Since Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and even LinkedIn have increased video time limits, audiences are more likely to watch longer content. This means there’s less need to guarantee your video gets it done in two minutes or less. But a video that goes over five minutes? That’s another story.
When it comes to specific content, audiences say instructional content > promotional content. Makes sense. People don’t wanna watch straight ads, but they do wanna learn.
The full State of Video Report explores engagement rates across webinars, instructional videos, how-tos, and promotional content. Here’s a sneak peek: The average engagement for a three- to five-minute instructional video is a whopping 74%. Even as instructional videos grow longer, they tend to maintain higher levels of engagement.
Instructional videos that showcase a product are some of the best performers. For example, TikTok videos that display product usage see a +25% uplift in recall, +23% in ad likability, +65% in brand affinity, and +18% in consideration.1
Simple explainer videos produced by influencers also perform better than those made by brands. Authenticity is key, and showing how a product actually works goes way further than just promo-ing it.
Simple tips for ROI-ready vids
We’ve talked about what makes videos engaging. Now let’s cover how to make ’em. Turns out, big companies are no better at it than SMBs.
Wistia’s insights highlight a few strategic approaches that can help businesses of all sizes increase video output + quality without increasing video budget. These include:
- Streamlined clip-making: What once took two or more hours—aka trimming an hour-long webinar into engaging clips—can now be achieved in minutes, thanks to AI-driven editing tools.
- AI, AI, captain: 59% of businesses leverage AI for tasks like auto-generating captions. AI can enhance accessibility and engagement, as demonstrated by the significant uptick in businesses using closed captions (up 254% in 2023).
- Caption this: According to research from TikTok, the presence of captions leads to +95% affinity, +58% recall, +31% likability, and +25% uniqueness.2
Similar to blogs, content creators need to balance the new with the evergreen. As the volume of video content expands, any improvements to content navigation will increase visibility. This means grouping videos into channels to make them easier to find.
Plus, grouping content into channels doesn’t just deliver a better experience for viewers. It also appeases Google’s latest algorithm, which prioritizes videos that are the primary focus of an individual page.
Channels allow each video to be the main focus of one page, which helps specific videos rank well in search.
Video design figures into clickability, too. Wistia says not to underestimate the power of a snazzy thumbnail with text. Oh, and try not to have videos looping on your page—it slows loading time, which can impact SEO.
Once you’ve got ’em watching, don’t forget to insert your lead capture form. If your video is less than six minutes, Wistia suggests putting the form at the end. If it’s over five minutes, insert it at the start.
Talk about actionable insights. But could we really expect anything less from the video pros themselves?
Win with whatcha got
Video has become one of the simplest and most popular mediums for consuming info. With new technology that makes creating, editing, and promoting video content easier than ever, it’s no surprise that professionals in all industries are finding ways to incorporate video into their workflow.
The opportunity for businesses (like yours) to gain a competitive edge—no matter their size—comes down to developing a cohesive strategy that uses video content effectively throughout all customer touch points.
And don’t forget: Less is more when you’re backed by the right insights and approach to video content creation.
From brainstorming to organization to engagement all the way to ROI, delivering a better experience starts with uncomplicated, unsaturated content that your viewers are excited to click on.
For more handy insights, download Wistia’s 2024 State of Video Report to get rolling.
Sources:
1 TikTok Marketing Science, US SMB Creative Effectiveness Study 2022, conducted by Lumen
2 TikTok Marketing Science, US SMB Creative Effectiveness Study 2021, conducted by Lumen