41 new video marketing statistics to fuel your strategy through 2021

I don’t know about you, but 2020 gave me video fatigue. 

Coming from a professional world that already relied heavily on Zoom meetings and video chats, it was difficult to add even more of it to my personal life. But I wasn’t doing this alone. 

Last year, video went from a fun pastime to a necessity for many, making appearances in business meetings, birthday celebrations, and even weddings. 

Furthermore, Google found that during the pandemic lockdown, when 65% of people said they were taking a moment to reevaluate their lives and their goals, online video was a particularly useful resource, with more than half of respondents — 58% — reporting that they are using digital video to learn new skills. 

So it should come as no surprise that marketing and sales can and already are benefiting from this.

🔎 Related: 14 Reasons Why You Need to Use Video Content Marketing 

Cisco predicts that “by 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017” and if done right, your business can capitalize on it to build awareness, drive traffic, generate leads, and grow sales. 

But what does the video marketing landscape look like right now? Here are 41 new video marketing statistics, broken out into four categories, to give you insight into the playing field and help guide your strategy for the rest of 2021.

Related: Video marketing: What your 2021 business video strategy must include

The pandemic effect on video marketing

1. About 91% of marketers believe video is more important for brands in light of the coronavirus pandemic. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

🔎 Related: What is virtual selling? (definition, examples, and tips)

2. With this in mind, roughly 60% of marketers expected the pandemic to affect their video marketing budget for 2021. Of these, seven out of 10 said their budget would increase, while the other three out of 10 believed their budget was likely to shrink. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

3. Seventy-two percent of people reported that video reduced their stress level during the pandemic and made them happy.  (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

However, 59% of consumers chose to watch entertaining videos during the pandemic. Only 26% preferred informational/educational content, 5% watched content that offered support, and 1% said they watched ads. 

4. Around 40% of marketers say their plans around video marketing have been, or are being affected by the coronavirus pandemic. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

Video marketing ROI and strategy

5. Since 2016, the amount of videos uploaded to Wistia has increased by 263%. (2021 State of Video Report by Wistia)

6. Seventy percent of marketers said videos showed a positive ROI in 2020. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

7. Seventy-four percent of marketers say video has a better return on investment than static imagery. (Biteable) 

8. Sixty-eight percent of marketers say video has a better return on investment than Google Ads. (Biteable) 

9. Most marketers spend an average of between $100 and $1,000 per video. (Biteable)

The majority spent $300 or less on video, followed by $301 to $1,000, and $1,001 to $5,000.

10. A whopping 93% of marketers who use video say it’s an important part of their marketing strategy. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

11. Eighty-four percent say video has helped them generate leads. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

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12. In fact, Wistia has found the average video conversion rate has increased over time, from 8.6% in 2016 to 12.7% in 2020. (2021 State of Video Report by Wistia)

13. Forty-three percent of video marketers say video has reduced the number of support calls they’ve received — the same number as last year. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

14. Ninety-four percent say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

15. Adding videos to your email can increase click rates by 300%. (Martech Advisor)

16. Seventy-eight percent of video marketers say video has directly helped increase sales, and 87% of video marketers say video gives them a good return on their investment. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

Statistics 15 and 16, while impressive, are slightly down from last year. This could be due to the fact that …

17. An overwhelming 92% of video marketers feel the level of noise and competition has increased in the last year.  (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

Why so much competition? Well, though the pandemic enforced social distancing …

18. Seventy-nine percent of people say they’ve been convinced to buy or download a piece of software or app by watching a video. That number jumps to 84% when asked if a video convinced them to buy a product or service. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

19. Forty-four percent of marketers report that video marketing has become more affordable, and 39% said it is quicker and less time-consuming to create compared to other kinds of marketing content. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl) 

🎓 IMPACT+ Lesson: How To Make Your Sales Videos Look and Sound Great Without Breaking The Bank

Video marketing platforms and tactics

20. About 91% of webinar marketers say their webinars have been a success, making it the most effective video marketing channel, according to State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl.

21. YouTube remains the most widely used platform for video marketers, with 87% of video marketers having used it in 2020. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

Almost 90% plan on using it in 2021, with only 70% planning to use Facebook Video (down 6% from the year prior), 63% using LinkedIn video (down 3%), and 58% using Instagram (down 7%).

22. The number of marketers using TikTok as a marketing tool, while still low, doubled from 10% in 2019 to 20% in 2020 — 67% of these marketers reported that it is effective. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

23. Facebook Live viewership increased by 50% in the spring of 2020. (Facebook)

24. The largest percentage of marketing content videos (34%) is posted to social platforms in the afternoon. Evening is the next most popular (25%) time to post, followed by morning (22%). The least popular time to post is at night (2%).

🔎 Related: 8 top video marketing examples from companies doing it right

25. In 2020, 78% of marketers reported planning to incorporate more videos into their marketing strategy in 2021. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

26. Marketers made 37% fewer videos in the 9:16 (vertical) aspect ratio in 2020 than in 2019. (Wochit)

This is likely due to the lack of opportunities currently to monetize these types of videos. However, enterprise brands and nonprofits, often driven by reach and engagement, produced far more vertical videos in 2020 than in 2019. 

Furthermore …

27. According to MediaBrix, vertical videos have a 90% higher completion rate than horizontal videos.

28. Wochit found videos using stock resources increased 119% from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020. (Wochit)

🔎 Related: 21 free and paid stock video and audio resources to bookmark

User video behaviors and preferences

29. Consumers rate video as the No. 1 way to best keep brands top of mind. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

30. Despite the rise of TikTok, YouTube remains the favorite platform for watching videos among most consumers, with 71% reporting it as their preferred channel. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

31. Among U.S./U.K. consumers, 51% use YouTube to research or find products to buy. (Global Web Index) 

32. When using social media, 80% of people reported that they spend more than a quarter of their time watching videos. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

33. Sixty-six percent of consumers said they watch video content on their mobile phones. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

34. Ninety-two percent of U.S. consumers view videos with the sound off on mobile. (Verizon Media and Publicis Media)

So caption your videos!

35. In fact, 80% of consumers are more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available. (Verizon Media and Publicis Media)

36. Fifty-nine percent of consumers said they prefer watching a short video compared to reading text descriptions to understand a product or service. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue) 

37. Eighty-three percent of people said that a product/service-explainer video helped them make a buying decision. (Navigating Through Change by MotionCue)

38. About 74% of B2B consumers are willing to spend only 10 minutes or less watching video content, while 44% won’t spend more than 5 minutes. (Demand Gen Report 2020 Content Preferences Survey Report)

39. About 35% are willing to watch 30-60 minutes if it is a webinar. (Demand Gen Report 2020 Content Preferences Survey Report)

Fifty-one percent of buyers also said webinars are the content medium they’re most willing to share information about themselves in exchange for. 

40. When asked how they’d most like to learn about a product or service, 69% of respondents said they’d prefer to watch a short video than read an article, view an infographic, or watch a webinar, among other things. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl) 

🔎 Related: The Selling 7: 7 world-class product and service page video examples

41. People are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content, including social media posts, blog posts/articles, and product pages. (State of Video Marketing 2021 by Wyzowl)

Get ready for your close-up!

If your business isn’t already investing in video marketing, consider this your call to the set. Video marketing is more in demand than ever before, and luckily for marketers, it’s also more affordable and easier to get started than it’s ever been. Check out these resources in IMPACT+ to see how to get started, and get ready for your close-up:

• 🎓 IMPACT+ Course: Video Sales and Marketing Strategy

• 🎓 IMPACT+ Course: Fundamentals of Creating Sales & Marketing Videos

• 🎓 IMPACT+ Course: Mastering On-Camera Performance  
• 🎓 IMPACT+ Lesson: How To Make Your Sales Videos Look and Sound Great Without Breaking The Bank