Video continues to benefit a wide variety of different business functions, according to Wyzowl's The State of Video Marketing 2018. Its most common benefit is increasing user understanding, but increased dwell time, sales, traffic, and reduced support queries are all attributed to video by sizeable chunks of marketers.

Emerging Trends

Webinar
44% of marketers have hosted or participated in a webinar.
Out of those, 87% found it to be an effective strategy.
49% say they plan to host or participate in a webinar in 2018.

Webinars are niche, but important to B2B categories. The new AudienceSCAN study reported 6.1% of U.S. adults participated in an online meeting or webinar in the past six months.

Analysis:
Despite relatively low adoption (less than 1 in 2) webinars are highly valuable to marketers, with 87% reporting to have found it an effective strategy.

Increasing adoption could increase views! Get the word out there about webinars clients are hosting. Talk about upcoming webinars on blogs. The latest AudienceSCAN survey showed Online Meeting/​Webinar Participants are 109% more likely than average Americans to read blogs every day.

YouTube remains the most popular (and most effective) sharing platform for video content, and there are no signs of that trend being reversed in the next year. LinkedIn video looks set to grow significantly in the next year, with a 17% discrepancy between those currently using it, and those planning to in 2018.

Many trends that are perennially touted as the future of video marketing continue to stutter – adoption remains low for 360 Video and Virtual Reality, and companies are also struggling to demonstrate the effectiveness of these technologies. Both tactics look set to rise in adoption during 2018, but only by a single percentage point each.

It's been a particularly disappointing year for Snapchat video. Its adoption remains around the 1 in 10 mark among marketers, only a quarter of those found it to be effective – and it's the only tactic which looks set to drop in usage in 2018, with less than 10% planning to try it in 2018.

Businesses targeting webinar watchers could provide informative presentations and videos on finance. The most recent AudienceSCAN study found Online Meeting/​Webinar Participants are 109% more likely than average to set personal goals to invest more this year.

Video Effectiveness

As a business
97% of marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service.

76% say it helped them increase sales.

47% say it helped them reduce support queries.

76% say it helped them increase traffic.

80% of marketers say video has increased dwell time on their website.

Having watched a branded video that they enjoyed, 83% of consumers would consider sharing it with their friends.

85% of people say they'd like to see more video from brands in 2018.

Where both video and text are available on the same page, 72% of people would rather use video to learn about a product or service.

Businesses can take those stats and run with new video campaigns! Not to mention, those in the business community who are running for local offices. The AudienceSCAN survey revealed 41% of Webinar Participants got online to research a political candidate's views in the past six months. Videos and webinars about candidates could get the views needed for votes.