State of Video 2023

Video Marketing
Written By Chad Stembridge

Video hosting platform Wistia released their 2023 edition State of Video Report this past week. It's 73 pages long. I read it so you don't have to!

It covers four main topics, with data and insights gathered from surveying 1500 companies:

  1. Video strategy

  2. Video creation

  3. Video distribution

  4. Audience engagement & conversion

Here are some key takeaways:

  • The pandemic saw a boom in how video plays a part in both marketing and everyday content consumption. While that's slowed a bit since 2020, the data shows it's still far higher than pre-pandemic — and that it's a trend that's here to stay.

  • It can be difficult to attribute a direct ROI to video content. But some of the best indicators that video is engaging your audience in the right ways are:

    • Increase in website traffic, social engagement.

    • Increase in time spend on a webpage.

    • Improved SEO ranking.

  • 69% of businesses surveyed said they'd be likely to make more videos in 2023 compared to last year. Over 1/3 also said at least 10% of their marketing budget would be going to video. While that's a lot of competition in an ever-more noisy online world, it presents even more of an opportunity to meaningfully connect with your audience when you create content that really stands out.

  • Long-form content (30+ minutes) continues to grow in popularity. Obviously short-form isn't goingn anywhere, but I think this is an indicator that when you've built trust with an audience, they want to spend time diving deeper with you.

  • Okay, shocker time. What do you think was the social media platform companies said performed best for them in 2022? Instagram? TikTok? How about... LinkedIn. Yes, LinkedIn.

My take: video will continue to trend upward as one of the most important forms of both marketing and communication. It's not slowing down. But with all the digital noise in the world, it's more important to stand out — and by that, I'm not talking about being flashy. More than ever, people want connection. Connection with a story, with an emotion, with something that leaves their life a little better than before.

Note: this was originally published in the Hafren Media Newsletter — sign up here!

Chad Stembridge