Exploring the 2024 video landscape with Wistia

While the economy is more unpredictable than ever, companies still value the power of video as part of their marketing technology.

In 2023, people watched more videos than ever before, with watch counts increasing by 15% and total watch time increasing by 44%. Videos are more than just a popular medium. They are an effective and proven content marketing channel for businesses to generate leads.

Bottom line: Video is a critical tactic in your marketing strategy. And while every company’s starting point is different, the findings of our 2024 State of Video Report can help point you in the right direction. The report compiled Wistia user data from over 90 million videos on our platform, as well as a customer survey of 2,000 professionals, and examines key insights about video marketing, from performance to creation to evolving use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Let’s dive deeper into the results.

Video is a top marketing medium

In 2020, most of us were stuck at home, sitting on the couch and consuming a ton of content. The boom in video consumption was inevitable… and predictable. What marketers didn’t expect, however, was that the increase in video usage during the pandemic would never return to pre-pandemic levels (our data left no doubt about that). Organizations and audiences continue to crave video content, and this year, companies are responding by investing more in it.

Our report found that nearly 78% of companies plan to create more videos in 2024, and 57% plan to put more resources into their video efforts this year. And what types of videos are companies investing in? Just under half (38%) of companies are focused on using videos to generate leads and increase sales. Other creators are using videos to educate viewers about their products and drive product adoption (31%), as well as increase brand awareness and PR (17%). A small 8% want to engage people and gain more followers on social media.

Instructional videos are a hit

Companies are recognizing the value of product videos, educational content, and webinars. But when it comes to video length, shorter isn’t always better. On average, engagement on instructional videos remains higher even as they get longer. This is especially common among Gen Z users thanks to the rise of platforms like TikTok and the popularity of how-to videos.

Despite this, product videos topped the list as the most common type of video content, accounting for 43% of all videos created. Educational and training videos followed closely behind at 38%, while live events and social media content each made up 35% of the video landscape. I expect social media video content to grow in importance over the next few years, especially as platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn increase video time limits to over two minutes. This allows creators to publish longer videos while keeping engagement rates high.

There is also an opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to expand their video production. Our results show that viewers do not place much value on production quality (i.e. fancy equipment and a professional camera crew). Instead, viewers who watch low-budget videos place value on the usefulness of content versus production value. Small video production budgets are no longer an excuse to ignore a video strategy.

The use of AI in videos and its impact on accessibility

As AI gains popularity across industries, it is also making inroads into video production. Although only 18% of companies are integrating AI tools into their video production workflows, a whopping 66% can’t wait to use AI tools for their video projects in 2024. Of those already using AI in video production workflows, 59% are using AI to automatically generate subtitles or transcripts to improve the overall experience.

Although AI holds great promise for video producers, more and more use cases are emerging (e.g. hyper-realistic AI-generated avatars) that are pushing the boundaries of ethical AI in video.