The most important video marketing statistics and trends

We cannot deny that video is one of the most effective and engaging types of digital content. That’s why more and more companies have started to include it in their digital marketing strategies.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the most recent video marketing statistics and the most relevant trends companies need to consider when building or improving a content marketing strategy from scratch.

Before we delve into the 2023 trends and how they can help companies optimize their video marketing strategy, we’ll first look at the most significant statistics.

4 video marketing statistics you need to know

The recent statistics speak for themselves: Users aren’t tired of video marketing yet, quite the contrary.

We can look at 2020 as the year of digitization, when video has been one of the protagonists of this digital acceleration, allowing projects to be carried out in a completely virtual way. In 2023, marketers are doing everything they can to reach their target audiences, with demand for innovative, dynamic content at an all-time high.

We also saw webinars and live streaming increase (80% of marketers held live events in 2022 and 60% of them said they hosted webinars).

This is the case of the recently born Linkedin live, Instagram live streams, TikTok and Twitch, which has seen a new audience and new streamers arrive from sectors totally distant from the gaming industry.

The pandemic has certainly impacted how people engage with video content and the choice of this content by companies.

In fact, according to Wyzowl’s report, around 40% of marketers said that the health crisis had an impact on corporate communications, where video proved to be a strategic and almost necessary choice. From a user perspective, around 68% of respondents said the pandemic increased the amount of video content they viewed online.

Another aspect to consider for 2023 concerns user behavior and the choice of what video content to watch.

One relevant finding from Wyzowl’s analysis is that about 96% of users viewed an explainer video to learn more about the features of a particular product or service.

This is a behavior that brands need to consider in order to improve or reshape their video marketing strategies.

Explanatory videos can be influential in informing and deepening the characteristics of a given product by involving the user and encouraging him to purchase. Another reason for their success is that such videos convey information much faster than in other types of content. In fact, about 69% of users say they prefer short explanatory videos over reading an article or infographic, or searching for information via the company’s website.

Moreover, according to Google, some of the main reasons that people consult YouTube is to solve a problem. Here, explanatory videos presenting a product or service can be a very powerful tool capable of attracting the attention of users by providing the answers they’re looking for.

Going back to the video marketing statistics you need to know in 2023, we can’t help but refer to an increasingly popular behavior regarding how content is enjoyed.

According to Backlinko’s report, the number of users watching videos from a mobile or tablet device is constantly growing. Another fact that does not go unnoticed, especially for B2B companies, concerns desktop: About 87% of videos watched from a desktop device are corporate videos.

Based on this data, marketers are pushed to review their video marketing strategies, both in terms of video format and communication channels to be used.

In this regard, Youtube is confirmed as the most used platform by marketers, about 90%, and it’s among platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, where marketers increasingly prefer video content for their ability to increase engagement. According to Hubspot, videos posted on YouTube have been rated effective by 78% of video marketers.

All of these statistics highlight not only the now clear effectiveness and success of video, but also the huge opportunities that video marketing can offer for promoting a brand. For this reason, after presenting the most relevant video marketing statistics for 2023, we will try to identify and delve into the most interesting and useful trends to create or improve your strategy.

4 video marketing trends for 2023

As we just explained, most marketers will continue to use video for their communication strategies, plus, those who hadn’t yet considered this possibility are re-evaluating their content strategies to include video.

Starting from this consideration, let’s take a look at the most relevant video marketing trends.

1. Virtual events and live streaming

We’ve already referenced the success that live streaming video has had over the past year.

According to Dacast, the live streaming industry is forecasted to be worth $247 billion by 2027, and statistics show that live streaming video is a rapidly growing industry.

Why are live videos so popular and will this trend continue in 2023?

First of all, live video events provide the feeling of physically attending the event, thus maintaining that sense of community and togetherness typical of actual in-person events. Moreover, the possibility of intervening and communicating with others is also reflected in an increase in real-time engagement.

Another aspect of live videos is their authenticity. Unlike other types of content, live videos definitely require pre-production, but what users appreciate most is the spontaneity and sometimes unpredictability of the performance.

This does not mean that this type of content should be improvised and without a defined setlist.

2. Short-form videos

While there has been an increase in the enjoyment of live video content, we’ve also seen video platforms like TikTok and Instagram’s Reels, where you can post very short videos.

We are all aware that our attention span is getting shorter and shorter, and perhaps this is one of the reasons why short videos are so effective.

In fact, the TikTok phenomenon doesn’t seem to be slowing down. According to statistics TikTok has over 1.677 billion users as of 2023 out of which 1.06 billion are its monthly active users.

However, a short video requires an ability to combine a strong message with images and audio in a short time, with the aim of attracting users’ attention, entertaining and engaging them.

Thanks to their effectiveness, brands are betting heavily on this type of content to promote their products, which is why we can only include it among the video marketing trends of 2023.

3. The rise of video advertising

As we anticipated, video is increasingly used to promote a brand and its products.

According to statistics, video advertising is a rapidly growing trend. Data from Statista, in fact, shows that in 2022, online video ad spending amounted to almost 75 billion U.S. dollars. This is expected to reach $12.66 billion by 2024, according to Statista.

What factors are influencing this growth? And why should companies invest in video advertising?

One factor is the increased use of mobile devices and other advanced technologies for viewing content. Another relevant factor is the introduction of 5G, which allows faster access to more complex and high-quality content.

4. The rise of shoppable video

Following the thread of video advertising and the use of video content on social networks, we must emphasize the fact that brands are understanding the potential of video as an advertising tool for online shopping.

The success of e-commerce, in fact, is making shopping more and more accessible and faster, opening the way to new customer experiences.

Shoppable videos are short and interactive videos that allow the user to click directly on the product and buy it without having to leave the page of the social network or the website where they are located.

Shoppable videos are proving to be very effective on social networks, which already have dedicated shopping features. Their effectiveness is demonstrated by the fact that they have much higher engagement rates than display advertising.

What brands need to consider is that this type of video totally redefines the online shopping experience, making it faster, more engaging, and interactive.

Interactivity is the real key to this content, because it doesn’t distract the user by interrupting the navigation and opening other pages, but leads him directly to the purchase.

We must not forget one fundamental aspect for any type of content: Storytelling.

Even in shoppable video, storytelling plays a central role in leveraging emotions and encouraging purchase. For this reason, despite the short duration of the video, it is necessary to have a well-defined script.

To conclude, we can say that the use of video as a marketing tool has increased considerably in recent years, from 61% of marketers in 2016, to 91% in 2023.

The communicative power of video for marketing strategies allows us to say that more and more marketers will seize the opportunities offered by video marketing to achieve positive results not only in terms of engagement, but also in terms of ROI.

All that’s left to do is ride these new trends and reshape your content strategy to be closer to people and offer them more innovative and engaging user and customer experiences through video.