According to HubSpot’s 2023 State of Marketing Report, video is the most popular and effective media format for the fourth year in a row. People are watching more videos now than ever before, and in response, brands are continuing to increase their investments in video to engage audiences.
Below are statics and insights to keep in mind as you plan your marketing strategies for 2024.
Short-form Video
One of the biggest trends in marketing right now is short-form video. TikTok is the current leader in short-form video with its highly-accurate algorithm and targeting, it keeps viewers watching and watching — making it an excellent advertising platform for companies everywhere. TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are tied for the second-highest ROI, behind Facebook.
Despite data concerns over the app, HubSpot’s surveyed marketers see the platform’s power and are embracing it: 42% of marketers use TikTok already, and more than half of them (56%) plan to increase their investment in TikTok this year, which is the highest of any platform. Additionally, 26% of marketers plan to use TikTok for the first time this year, and 16% of marketers plan to invest more in TikTok than any other social media app.
Since TikTok has dominated the social media scene in recent years, competitors are trying to duplicate its success with short-form video. For instance, Youtube rolled out YouTube Shorts globally in June 2021, and has reached two billion monthly logged-in users as of July 2023.
Instagram also launched Reels in August 2020. However, a report from Performance Marketing World (PMW) revealed that Instagram users are spending 17.6 million hours a day watching Reels on the platform — 10 times less than the 97.8 million hours people spend watching TikTok videos per day. Despite the stark difference, it’s important to note there are other content formats for Instagram users to interact with. Thirty one percent of those surveyed said they utilize both YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.
Out of the 15 million videos uploaded to Wistia in 2022, most of the videos created — 4.7 million — were short-form videos under 60 seconds. Short-form videos and videos between five and 30 minutes remain the most popular to create. Short-form videos also consistently receive the highest average engagement.
The rise of short-form video has also increased the use of influencer marketing.
Influencer Marketing
According to Influencer Marketing Hub’s State of Influencer Marketing 2023: Benchmark Report, influencer marketing has grown into a $21.1 billion industry. This is a significant increase of 29% from $16.4 billion in the previous year.
While many associate influencers with clothing or beauty products, there is a way to partner with influencers in the fitness industry to promote your facility or offerings. Influencers don’t all have millions of followers, and you don’t need to partner with a celebrity to see results. According to HubSpot, 33% of Gen Zers have bought a product based on an influencer’s recommendation in the past three months. More than one in four marketers currently leverage influencer marketing, and it offers the second-highest ROI of any trend.
PMW also revealed Instagram is the most popular platform for influencer marketing, with 72% of marketers saying they use it to work with influencers and creators. TikTok is also growing, climbing to second place with 61% of marketers using it. This is followed by YouTube with 58% and Facebook with 57% of marketers using it.
Of the companies that worked with influencers last year, the influencers they worked with had varying audience sizes:
- 27% nano-influencers, with 1,000-9,999 followers or subscribers.
- 64% micro-influencers, with 10,000-99,999 followers or subscribers.
- 57% macro-influencers, with 100,000-999,999 followers or subscribers.
- 24% mega-influencers, with over 1,000,000 followers or subscribers.
Per HubSpot’s report, companies saw the most success with macro- and micro-influencers.
Long-form Video
While short-form video and influencers have made ways the past two years, long-form video is also gaining traction. According to Wistia’s 2023 State of Video report, videos above 30 minutes saw over 11,000% growth over the past decade compared to 36% growth for videos under 30 minutes. The report also stated, 16% of viewers will stick with you to consume more than an hour of your company’s video.
When it comes to content, most companies are focused on product education and acquiring new customers with video. According to the marketers HubSpot surveyed, videos about products, educational videos and webinars earned businesses the most engagement and return on investment last year.
2022 was also a big year for going live. Of those folks, 60% said they hosted webinars, and 30% said they hosted webinars at least once a month. In 2024, it’s expected companies will continue to create product videos, educational videos and webinars. One in three businesses also said they want to invest more in videos for social media this year, HubSpot included.
“At HubSpot, our investments in YouTube channels focusing on business news, education and expert commentary has led to considerable growth in demand,” said Kyle Denhoff, the director of new media at HubSpot in the report. “We’ve also started co-producing videos with micro and macro YouTubers, enabling us to reach new audiences. We plan to strengthen our presence on YouTube and expand our investment in the current year.”
Overall, it’s clear video is driving business and it’s not slowing down any time soon.
If you don’t know where to start with video marketing, HubSpot recommended repurposing new and existing content into engaging snippets that you can use across your other marketing channels like social media and blog.
For more insights on how to improve your video marketing strategy this year, dive into Wistia’s full 2023 State of Video Report. For overall marketing insights, read HubSpot’s full State of Marketing 2023 Report, here.
