Vidyard, a video platform that helps businesses host, manage and analyze their video content, just released their 2017 Video in Business Benchmarking report. These findings are based on “first-party data collected from the Vidyard video platform from more than 500 businesses and over 600 million video streams within the last twelve months.” For those decision makers and digital marketers looking to move the needle with video in 2017, here are three key takeaways:
1. VIDEO QUANTITY
- On average, businesses on Vidyard have just shy of 300 videos in their library
- The average number of videos published by businesses each month is 18
- The most common videos produced are Explainers, Product Demos, How-Tos, and Testimonials.
For most businesses, 300 videos (or even 18) may seem like a lot. However, not every video is the professionally produced and polished video meant for the masses. Some are employee produced, some are webinars, some are short with a specific call-to-action for social. But the main takeaway is that businesses need to become well-versed in producing and publishing all types of video in 2017.
2. VIDEO LENGTH
- The average video length is 8-minutes, but nearly 56% of all videos published in the last year are less than 2-minutes long
- Videos under 90-seconds see an average retention rate of 53%
- The average video retains 37% of viewers all the way to the end
As a video producer helping businesses make 100s of videos every year, this all looks accurate. When consulting with clients, we say the ideal video length should be 60-90 seconds to equally ensure attention as well as tell an engaging story. The latter being the most important: a video should be long enough to make a point. That, and a video should showcase or explain a pain point or key takeaway as early as possible in the video to ensure everyone receives the message or sentiment – even those that drop-off half-way through viewing.
3. DISTRIBUTION
- 78% of businesses using video use it on their website or product site
- 72% of businesses using video use it on social
Websites and social continue to be the most popular video distribution channels, but what’s most interesting is that 86% of business-related video is watched on a desktop and only 14% on mobile. I’m sure that statistic will change year over year as the demographics and technologies in the workforce evolve, but for now, this might impact decisions as to how a video is created and distributed.
The most popular viewing time is Wednesday between 10AM-2PM EST. That’s right, the hump of the humpday. Additionally, “Wednesday outperforms all other days for almost every single time period throughout the day, and takes 18% of all video views throughout the week.” That said, this is likely a very saturated day of the week for video distribution. Maybe a good way to cut through the noise is to release your business’ videos on the weekend when there’s less competition for attention?
CONCLUSION
Industry research concludes 92% of respondents said that video is becoming more important to their marketing efforts. And more than two-thirds are increasing their budgets for digital and mobile video. Though I may be biased, this seems like a smart decision considering Vidyard notes “mass consumption by consumers is happening to the tune of 20+ billion video views per day across platforms like Facebook and YouTube. Brands are no longer asking if video is a worthwhile investment.”
Sources:
- http://awesome.vidyard.com/rs/273-EQL-130/images/Video-in-Business-Benchmark-Report-2017.pdf
- https://www.newswhip.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/The-NewsWhip-State-of-Content-and-Social-Strategy-2016.pdf?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTW1Oak1qazRPVFJsWldRdyIsInQiOiJNNVhvZGxEbnJtNmNpek4yaWdRMWxVNm5PZk9uV0pwb2lTWlhlVHhGRVwvS1h3aHV4eUxaZmpYVFdEb2g2UENwckd2ZkNRU1wvWkN1THdTSEtHN2sxMXVNOHFnSjdLWm1IRGdGQk1TQWVMRmxvPSJ9
- https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-IAB-Video-Ad-Spend-Study.pdf
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