The Rapid Rise of Video Marketing: Key Statistics and Trends for 2023

Video Consumption is Exploding Exponentially

We all know video usage is growing. But the headline figures obscure just how staggering the growth has become in recent years:

• 173% – Increase in daily video viewing between 2018 and 2021
• 59% – Jump in weekly video viewing from 2016 to 2019
• 500 million – Daily visitors to YouTube, up from 30 million in 2010

To put that into context, if video consumption was GDP, it would represent yearly growth figures that emerging economies could only dream of.

Behind the numbers are clear accelerants changing viewer habits and preferences:

Increasing mobile usage – over 60% of videos are now watched on mobile, allowing consumption anytime, anywhere

Faster connections – 5G and improving WiFi speed have made online video smooth and reliable

Platform growth – YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and more offer unlimited niche video content

Cord-cutting – consumers switching from traditional TV to online video alternatives

New formats – from ephemeral vertical video to gamified live streams

For marketers, this presents an unprecedented opportunity: access global audiences hungry for relevant, entertaining video content.

By The Numbers: Quantifying The Video Explosion

||2018|2023 (est)|Growth|
|-|-|-|-|
|Daily Online Videos Viewed|1.1 billion|3 billion |173%|
|Weekly Time Spent Watching Online Video|6 hours 48 minutes|10 hours 12 minutes|59%|
|YouTube Daily Visitors|1.9 billion |2.5 billion|32%

Projections based on data from Limelight, YouTube and Oberlo Digital 2022 reports

Video has graduated from "nice to have" to essential online real estate – one that demands marketers‘ attention.

Consumers Want More Video Content

Rising video volumes aren‘t limited to cute pets and influencer gossip. 91% of consumers want more video content from brands, whether for shopping, research or customer support.

Interest spans generations too. While Gen Z and Millennials drive overall growth, older demographics are among the fastest growing adopters:

• 90% of Baby Boomers watch YouTube
• 63.8% of the 65+ age bracket tunes into online video

And demand keeps increasing. 85% wanted more video content in 2018 versus 91% in 2022 – an 7.5% Compound Annual Growth Rate.

Clearly, video encroaches across contexts from discovery to buying. For businesses, building diversified video libraries is becoming as vital as social media profiles. Piecemeal video efforts risk brands losing relevance and visibility.

Consumers Are Embracing Video En Masse

Age demographic video consumption and projected growth (CAGR). Baby Boomer and 65+ groups grew fastest since 2018 signaling mass adoption

With such universal demand, video is no longer an "if" but "when". Tomorrow‘s leaders will have video prowess; laggards risk losing relevance.

YouTube Dominates Discovery and Views

YouTube‘s dominance as both reference platform and cultural touchpoint makes it a must-use venue for video marketers.

With over 2 billion monthly active viewers, YouTube surpasses giants like Facebook (2.96 billion) and Instagram (2 billion) in actively engaging audience scope.

And viewers are far from passive. Over 1 billion hours of YouTube video is consumed daily – 5 billion videos watched and 500 hours of new footage uploaded every minute.

YouTube‘s Unrivaled Scale

• 92% of video marketers publish on YouTube according to Wyzowl‘s 2022 State of Video Marketing survey
• YouTube surfaced over 130 million hours of how-to content helping people learn new skills, fix things or complete tasks
• 80% of brands using YouTube to host videos versus only 60% using Facebook

Compare that sheer quantitative reach to competing platforms. 85% of marketers posting videos on social media still use YouTube as the starting point.

While networks like TikTok and Instagram offer reach narrower niches, YouTube‘s position mirrors Google itself – the centripetal force anchoring the open web.

No brand can afford to neglect SEO vis-a-vis Google. Equally, video marketers must optimze content for YouTube‘s bots and hungry viewers.

Matching Video Length to Audience Attention Spans

While YouTube accommodates videos of any length, conventional wisdom held shorter content tends to get viewed more on mobile devices. Recent data suggests that‘s only partially accurate:

• 64% prefer videos under 2 minutes
• Over 92% favor videos under 5 minutes
• Just 21% sit through videos over 10 minutes

So shorter is generally better, but minute-long masterpieces aren‘t universally superior. Optimal length depends greatly on audience, venue and intent.

Facebook enjoys the longest average view durations, peaking at 2-5 minutes. YouTube delivered 71% higher impressions for 10-30 minute videos in the arts & design niche.

Testing resonance across lengths and platforms is key. With costs falling, producing multiple cuts to gauge reception is increasingly viable.

Nevertheless 64% consumer majority still prefer sub-2 minute videos. For resource constrained marketers, focusing on very short, punchy cuts for mobile viewers makes strategic sense.

Winning Attention: Optimal Video Lengths

Percentage of viewers preferring video length brackets across survey consumers and actual Facebook and YouTube engagement

Video as High-Velocity Sales Machine

Consider these stats:

• 80% of customers recall a brand or product after watching a video about it
• 80% of viewers have made a purchase based on a brand video
• 64% visit the marketer‘s website after viewing a video
• 39% directly contact the company post-video

As discovery asset, brand vehicle and product demonstration medium, video accelerates sales. demonstrations outperform text for memorability – viewers retain 95% of a video‘s message versus just 10% reading text.

Explainer videos and tutorials work particularly well for sharing tangible information and driving conversions:

• 96% of businesses believe video improves audience understanding
• Product demo videos enjoy conversion rates of up to 74%

Video Compels Audiences To Take Action

||View Video| Take Action | Buy From Brand|
|-|-|-|-|
|Audience Size|100 people|64 people|80 people|
|Action|Watch brand video | Visit website|Make purchase |

Illustrative purchase funnel from branded video. 96 out of 100 viewers will understand products better through video while 80 ultimately buy

While text remains crucial for nurturing relationships, video provides actionable information that gets people closer to conversions.

And this hyper-effectiveness doesn‘t end with end consumers:

• 97% of B2B buyers watch video during consideration process
• 75% of executives watch work-related videos weekly
• 90% of decision makers watch product demo videos

Investing early in video pays dividends across the funnel, engaging prospects to customers.

Measuring Video‘s Benefits

But does video marketing provide commensurate returns versus its higher production and distribution costs?

Subjectively, 92% of video marketers report a positive ROI across campaigns. Yet just 26% quantify success through direct sales impact or revenue gains. Why this apparent contradiction?

Many companies simply lack the analytics resources to correlate video KPIs with actual growth and revenue numbers. Some report sailors "funnel blindness" to overall business outcomes from any single channel.

Nevertheless, useful indicators help gauge video content resonance without complex data science:

Top Video Metrics To Track

63% of marketers rank view counts as No.1 success metric followed by engagement and click-through actions

While no magic bullet metric exists, these provide actionable targets guiding creative development, media buys and repurposing. They broadly help assess audience interest and content quality too.

Combined, such signals overwhelmingly suggest video delivers tangible value – even where directly attributable ROI remains elusive.

What Does Quality Video Content Cost?

Video production is scalable. With just a smartphone, autoshot apps and free editing software, basic video marketing is virtually free. At the other extreme, big brands spend over $100k on high-end commercial shoots.

For small businesses, budget dictates possibilities:

• Under $500 – homemade videos using basic equipment and apps
• $500 – $2,500 – pro editing polish for smartphone/DSLR footage
• $2,500 – $15,000 – dedicated video shoots with production crew
• $15,000+ – high concept branding and commercials

Mid-tier professional productions offer the best return on investment for most companies – balancing quality with budget at approx $2,500 per video.

Nevertheless, thanks to easy cloud editing suites and AI, polished video content is more affordable than ever. The benefits start flowing well before 5-figure video budgets.

Emerging Social Video Platforms

YouTube dominates online video with good reason – its primacy looks set to continue thanks to the network effects of recommendation algorithms surfacing ever more diverse content.

However, rival platforms present unique opportunities:

• TikTok – taps into explosive growth of mobile video, especially for Gen Z reach
• Instagram – vies with YouTube for native mobile video excellence
• Twitch – live streams singularly engaging loyal gaming audiences

Determining best-fit platforms requires matching audience interests with video content types – from ephemeral vertical formats through to long-form live streams.

While YouTube retains its anchor role, testing peripheral networks spotlights niche segments difficult to reach otherwise. Focused video initiatives build awareness and relationships outside crowded mass market platforms.

The Future is Video

If the statistics presented don‘t hammer the point home enough, the trends look adamantly one way:

Video is eating the online world.

Any scenario where communicating with words makes sense, video stands to enhance or replace textual information. Entertainment, shopping, networking, learning – video permeates contexts digitally transforming global consumers en masse.

And adoption is just getting started. Improved networks, cheaper data, better hardware and user comfort will fuel video‘s ascendancy through the 2020s.

For brands and marketers the writing is clearly on the wall: prioritize versatile video capabilities or risk extinction. Creative assets must evolve modes of presentation. Media budgets need to provide for bespoke high-quality video productions.

Other channels remain vitally important to integrated strategies balancing various stakeholders’ needs. But video sits squarely at the heart of modern multimedia customer outreach.

Businesses not actively testing and expanding their video presence will face accelerating obscurity in crowded marketplaces. Video excellence must become strategic priority number one.

The opportunity has never been bigger thanks scalable cloud production tools. For all businesses – B2B or B2C, enterprise or startup – now is the time to allocate budget for strategic video initiatives. Compelling evidence suggests sizable rewards await those recognizing video’s immense disruptive power.