61% of businesses currently use video as a marketing tool

Courtney Huckabay

Using questions to establish how many companies currently use video as a marketing tool, how much they spend, and how these trends are developing over time, Wyzowl's "State of Video Marketing" found that 91 percent of businesses say they plan to increase or maintain their spending on video in 2016, and 67 percent of businesses say they plan to spend more on video in 2016.

Urge your advertisers to incorporate video when they place ads with you. AudienceSCAN found that 23.2 percent of U.S. adults viewed a television commercial on YouTube via browser, tablet or mobile phone.

Wyzowl's "State of Video Marketing" survey of unique respondents, consisting of both marketing professionals and online consumers, 61 percent of businesses reported that they currently use video as a marketing tool. Of these, 66 percent were NOT using video just 12 months ago.

Video usage is accelerating at a phenomenal rate, says the report, but 39 percent of businesses are yet to add it to their marketing strategy. Spending is also on a dramatic upward curve, and only 8 percent of businesses are looking to cut their video budget.

According to AudienceSCAN, 9 percent of U.S. adults watched video from a local television website via their website or app from a smartphone or tablet.

Eight-eight percent of businesses say that video is an important part of their marketing strategy, and 76 percent of businesses that use video believe that it provides a good ROI, while 93 percent of businesses who use video believe that it has increased user understanding of their product or service.

Video continues to perform well against a range of key metrics, says the report. Its versatility as a marketing tool is evident from the range of benefits enjoyed by businesses who invest in its use. Sixty-four percent of businesses that use video believe that it has directly led to increased sales.

Show clients and prospects you can increase sales for them with video ads! If they need reassurance, let them know that AudienceSCAN research says 41.7 percent of U.S. adults used smartphones or tablets to watch an online or streamed video in the past six months.

The versatility of video is clear from these results, says the report, with marketers enjoying success across a variety of different channels. Home page explainer videos are surprisingly under-utilized. And, with over half of businesses still admitting that they struggle to promote their video content, the true potential of video marketing is perhaps still to be unlocked, claims Byrom.

Forty-five percent of businesses that use video say they have an explainer video on their home page, and 83 percent of those say their home page explainer video is effective. Eight percent of businesses that use video use it in their email campaigns and believe it to be an effective tactic.

It turns out that Online Video Watchers open their email: 56.3% of Online Video Watchers took action after receiving emailed ads or newsletter ads in the past month, according to AudienceSCAN.

In seeking the primary reason respondents don't use video, the report shows that the potential obstacles are all represented in loosely equal measure, suggesting that rather than one major objection, businesses are struggling with a mix of them all. Forty-two percent of businesses that don't currently use video say they plan to in the future.

• 15 percent say they don't use video now because it's too expensive
• 12 percent say it's because they're unclear on the ROI of video
• 12 percent say they simply don't feel video is needed
• 10 percent say they lack the time to create and promote video content
• 9 percent say they're unable to convince the decision maker in their business that video is a worthwhile investment

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.

Courtney Huckabay is the audience engagement editor for SalesFuel. She analyzes secondary customer research and primary AudienceSCAN research. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University.