Dive Brief:

• Seventy-six percent of consumers and 85% of millennials, defined as people age 18-34, say they’ve purchased a product or service after watching a video, according to Brightcove’s “2018 Video Marketing Survey.” The September survey of more than 4,000 adults was done with market research firm YouGov. 
• Video was the most memorable form of content for 21% of consumers and 29% of millennials. Video ranked higher than display ads at 13%, email marketing at 9%, case studies at 4% and text ads at 2%. Forty-five percent of all consumers and 56% of millennials find video more engaging than other formats. Video is the preferred form of brand and marketing communication for 36% of consumers overall and 46% of millennials. 
• Other findings include 53% of consumers and 66% of millennials say they’ve engaged with a brand after watching a video on social media, with 20% saying they visited a brand’s website and 20% conducting more research. Fifty-six percent of consumers enjoy seeing videos for personal electronics, 52% for household appliances, 48% for tools, 47% for software, 35% for clothing and makeup, and 27% for personal care. 

Dive Insight:

Brightcove’s new research offers some insights for marketers looking to engage consumers with video content and sheds some light on how consumers, especially millannials, interact with and are influenced by video. The latest research aligns with other studies affirming that video is the preferred format for engaging with brands. A HubSpot Research study found that 72% of consumers prefer video to text for receiving marketing information, 

Marketers continue to experiment with different video formats and lengths to find the right mix to engage with consumers and drive sales. As many are working on future video strategies, marketers should note the Brightcove findings that 45% of consumers overall and 57% of millennials say it’s helpful when videos have a call to action so that they can engage directly with brands. Also, 35% of consumers and 41% of millennials say they’d like for videos to include links for them to access more brand information. 

Online video viewers are projected to exceed 200 million in 2018, according to Forrester research. Video ad spending is expected to grow from $91 billion in 2018 to $103 billion by 2023, with the total share of video ad spending increasing from 21% this year to 34% in 2023. Younger consumers are spending more time on their smartphones than older generations and consumer more video content. They are also not as ad averse as older age groups and don’t mind watching video ads from their favorite brands.