2019 Video in Business Benchmark Report: Key findings and latest trends

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By analysing first-party data from more than 324,000 videos published over a 12-month period, the report uncovers insights on how businesses are using online video content to support their marketing, sales and customer experience programs.

Findings from the new report show that the average length of videos is trending shorter and shorter while audiences are opting to engage in videos longer. Organisations in high-tech, professional services and media, entertainment and communications are most prolific with video while businesses with more than 5,000 employees and less than 200 employees lead the way in video publishing.

The most recent year also showed a sizeable increase in the number of companies moving toward using a mix of internal and external video production resources to meet the shifting expectations of buyers, and the number of companies using intermediate or advanced video analytics has significantly increased.

Key takeaways from the 2019 Video in Business Benchmark Report

• Average business video length is trending shorter year-over-year: In 2018, the average length was 4.07 minutes long, 33% shorter than 2017’s 6.07 minutes.

• Business audiences are staying tuned longer: 52% of viewers watched all the way through to the end of the video across all viewing sessions. This is up from 46% who would do the same in 2017. 68% of viewers watch a video to the end if it’s less than 60 seconds.

• Mid-week is the most popular time for business video views, with Thursday seeing the most views overall. Viewing peaks in the morning, regardless of the day of the week, typically between 9 and 11 a.m. PST (12 to 2 p.m. EST).

• Desktop viewing still dominant for business video engagement: The majority of video views still take place on desktop (87%), but mobile views continue to increase. This year, 13% of business video views happened on mobile, a small increase from the previous year’s 11%.

• Smaller companies accelerate video content creation: Businesses with 31-200 employees published a staggering 510 new videos on average in 2018, second only to large businesses with more than 5,000 employees. More small and medium-sized companies reported using both internal and external video production resources to help them scale video creation while also producing higher quality content. 52% are using both vs. 37% in 2017.

• Video analytics see increased adoption in business: In 2018, 85% of companies reported using some form of video analytics. The use of intermediate or advanced video analytics has increased significantly, by 19% over the previous year.

According to The Forrester Tech Tide: Video Technologies For Customer And Employee Experience, Q1 2019, companies use video to engage their employees, serve their customers, and entice their prospects.

Video conveys emotions and information, unlike any other medium. The report goes on to note that financial services companies cut support time with video and that enterprises enable faster and more effective collaboration with video. More than just an entertainment medium, video powers a business' ability to inspire, collaborate and communicate.

Video creation and publishing

Many industries are relying on video content to power marketing, sales, communications, and support. On average, the report found that the high tech, professional services, and media, entertainment and communications industries created more videos than other fields. Types of videos range from promotional content to educational videos to content for sales enablement.

Unsurprisingly, companies with more employees produce more videos on average. The largest enterprises (5,000 employees or greater) created an average of 538 videos throughout the year. However, these organisations are closely followed by the opposite finding: smaller businesses with between 31 and 200 employees who produced an average of 510 videos, suggesting that they’re taking a scrappier approach to their video production strategy, and see video as an important way to compete with larger businesses.

Production of video content

More companies are hiring employees to create video content or helping their existing staff get skilled up in video production. This year, there was an increase in small and medium-sized companies moving towards using a mix of internal and external resources for video production than the previous year (52% using both, versus 37% in 2017).

Meanwhile, enterprise organisations are relying more on their employees to create video content, with 38% of that content being produced internally, and another 38% using a mix of internal resources alongside agencies, contract employees, and freelancers.

When it comes to video length, shorter is better. Or is it?

In 2018, the average video length was 4.07 minutes long, 33% shorter than 2017’s 6.07 minutes. This trend continues back to 2016 when the average length was 13.14 minutes! This may suggest that businesses are recognising that shorter videos help to maximise engagement, or perhaps it’s a reflection of the types of content they are now producing.

When it comes to viewer engagement, unsurprisingly, videos that are less than 60-seconds have the highest completion rate. However, videos that are between 2-4 minutes had a higher completion rate than videos that are between 1-2 minutes in length, suggesting that longer-form videos meant to educate buyers can still command attention!

The most common types of videos are webinars, demos, and social media videos. Explainer videos, product videos, and customer videos are also popular formats. More than ever, businesses are using video throughout the customer journey.

They recognise the power of video to explain to potential customers what they do, what they offer, and how it helps them. The popularity of webinars suggests that there’s also a thirst among brands’ audiences for longer-form educational content.

Video publishing and promotion

Business-created video content is viewed more mid-week, and weekdays continue to be more popular than weekends. Audiences watched more business video content Thursdays than any other day of the week (22%).

In close succession, Wednesday (18%) and Tuesday (17%), with Monday and Friday tied at 15%. Saturday and Sunday trail behind significantly, holding only 7% and 6% of viewers respectively. Video views peak between 9 and 11am PST (12 to 2pm EST) on weekdays.

Video analytics

Video analytics help companies better understand the performance of their video content, beyond just view counts. As companies produce more and more video content, it's important for them to understand who is consuming it and how it is impacting revenue, rather than just how many views each video received.

In 2018, 85% of companies reported that they’re using some form of video analytics. More organisations than ever before (43%) are taking advantage of the insights available through intermediate and advanced video analytics – a 19% increase over the previous year.

To view the full 2019 Video in Business Benchmark Report, click here.