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2023 State of Video Report

Uncover the latest video marketing insights to help your business thrive with video.
80M Videos analyzed

See how businesses are using video and how consumers are watching—all based on data from 80 million videos uploaded to the Wistia platform.

1,500 Marketers surveyed

We spoke to over 1,500 companies to see how video impacted their business last year, and to find out what they’re planning for 2023.

State of Video 2023: Is business video back to business as usual?

The COVID-19 pandemic saw companies upload—and audiences consume—more videos than ever. Like, way more.

But as the world re-opened in 2022, video uploads, plays, and time watched came down from these all-time highs.

We zoomed out to analyze video data from 2013-2022 to see if businesses and consumers are returning to long-term trends, or whether the pandemic fundamentally changed video for business.

Chart of Video Uploads to Wistia 2013 - 2022
Highlighting 17.1M uploads in 2020 and 15M uploads in 2022

Explore the chapters below

Chapter 1

Video strategy

Video strategy

How to use video. Decision making. Live video. Video marketing tech stack.

Only about half of businesses feel as though they have a video strategy

Businesses know that video is important, but 43% of companies we surveyed didn’t have a video-specific strategy. This is about the same as businesses reported in 2021.

Video marketing tip!

Need help getting started with a video strategy? Wistia’s Guide to Video Marketing will teach you practical tips on how to elevate your video marketing efforts!

But companies are using video strategically. Most focus on product education and creating new customers with video.

Goals

We asked Wistia customers to pick their video goals and rank desired outcomes with video. The results were pretty mixed, indicating that brands find success with video across many areas of their business.

52% of companies cited "Product Education" as their top goal with video. 42% of companies ranked "Increased assisted conversions in the sales cycle" as a key indicator of success.
Primary goals with video
Product Education - 52.1%
Brand Awareness - 50.9%
Customer Engagement - 49.1%
Generating Leads - 45.9%
Driving Sales - 43.5%
Highlight Company Culture - 13.5%
Other - 2.8%
Top Indicators of success with video - 1. Increase assisted conversion in the sales cycle, 2. Increase in website traffic, 3. Increase in social engagement, sharing, followers, 4. Increase in time on page, 5. Improved SEO ranking

Priorities

Videos about products, educational videos, and webinars earned the most engagement and return on investment according to businesses, and that’s what they focused on creating in 2022.

Screenshot of Wistia product showing turnstile feature

1. Product videos

Man in studio with various camera equipment

2. Educational videos

Screenshot of Live product showing slidedeck and panelists

3. Webinars

Videos companies prioritized in 2022

What types of videos did you create in 2022?
Product Videos - 63%
Educational Videos - 59.5%
Webinars - 51.9%
Social Media Videos - 48.8%
Sales Videos - 43.2%
Customer Testimonials - 35.7%
Support Videos - 29%
Company Culture Videos - 28%
Live Videos - 17.5%
Original Series - 10.1%
Other - 3.5%
What types of video deliver the most ROI for your business?
Product Videos - 36%
Educational Videos - 33.6%
Webinars + Live Events - 28.4%
Sales Videos - 22.3%
Social Media Videos - 21.3%
Customer Testimonials - 16.2%
It's difficult to measure ROI - 15.2%
Company Culture Videos - 7.6%
Support Videos - 5.9%
Live Videos - 4.3%
Original Series - 3.3%
Other - 1.4%

Video marketing tip!

At Wistia, we think the first three videos your business should make are product explainer videos, webinars, and FAQ videos. Check out our blog post for more inspiration and video production tips!

2022 was a big year for going live

80% of marketers held live events in 2022. That sounds pretty strategic to us…

Webinars were the most popular live events for businesses in 2022.

60% of businesses said they hosted webinars last year, and 30% said they held webinars at least once a month.

Video marketing tech stack

What tools are businesses using in their video marketing?

When it comes to increasing efficiency across marketing channels and tracking analytics between systems, these Wistia integrations are the go-tos for customers:
Wistia logo with YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn logos

Social media platforms

Businesses are sharing their Wistia hosted videos to multiple social channels in a snap.

Wistia logo with Adobe Marketo Engage, Hubspot, Mailchimp and Pardot logos

Marketing automation

Marketing and Sales teams use video data with their CRM or Marketing Automation Platforms for lead gen, lead scoring, and measuring the impact of video in their channels.

Wistia logo with Google Ads and Google Analytics logos

Google Ads and Google Analytics

Companies use video engagement data to retarget viewers and gain a deeper understanding of how folks are interacting with their brand’s website.

2023 Planning: budgets and content strategy

Curious about how Wistia customers are investing in video in 2023?

Download the full report to see video marketing budgets and what types of videos businesses plan to make more of this year.
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Key takeaways

Even though they may not have a video-specific strategy, brands do have a clear focus in using video.

Businesses see video as a tool used best for product education and brand awareness at the top of the funnel, and influencing buyer behavior at the bottom of the funnel.

Learn about video creation next

Chapter 2

Video creation

Video creation

Video uploads. How often companies made videos. Creative barriers. Video teams.

Video uploads

Business video exploded in 2020-2021. Businesses uploaded 44% more videos than we expected during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uploads

In 2022, video uploads slowed but were still above expected levels. +59% since 2019.

2022 trend: 13.8M
2022 actual: 15.0M
YearUploadsProjection
2013724782724782
201417765881776588
201530394973039497
201647165484716548
201755690175569017
201871887597188759
201994698859469885
20201713997410927402
20211638520712384919
20221504173713842437
2013:  Uploads: 724782
2014 Uploads: 1776588
2015 Uploads: 3039497
2016 Uploads: 4716548
2017 Uploads: 5569017	
2018 Uploads: 7188759	
2019 Uploads: 9469885 Projection: 9469885
2020 Uploads: 17139974 Projection: 10927402
2021 Uploads: 16385207 Projection: 12384919
2022 Uploads: 15041737 Projection: 13842437
When did your company make its first video?
Year(s)#
2016-2017484
2018-2019291
2020-2021245
2022222
We haven't made videos...yet71
Other224
When did your company make its first video?
2016-2017: 31.5%
2018-2019: 18.9%
2020-2021: 15.9%
2022: 14.6
We haven't made videos... yet: 4.6%
Other: 14.4%

14% of businesses surveyed made their first video in 2022. Welcome to the club!

And for the 5% of businesses who haven’t made a video yet…it’s time to get those creative wheels turning!

Video marketing tip!

Need inspiration? Our post on 15 Types of Videos That Every Business Can Use can help you get started.

Video production

How frequently did you make videos in 2022?

2022
Frquency#
Monthly461
Weekly459
A few times a year252
Quarterly152
Daily145
2021
Frquency#
Monthly222
Weekly213
A few times a year63
Quarterly50
Daily97
How frequently did you make videos in 2022?		
Monthly: 30.0%
Weekly: 29.9%
A few times a year: 16.4%
Quarterly: 9.9%
Daily: 9.4%

(2021) How often do you make videos?		
Monthly: 34.4%
Weekly: 33.0%
Daily: 15.0%
A few times a year: 9.8%
Quarterly: 7.8%
In general, who is responsible for creating videos for your company?
Response#
In-house video or creative team891
In-house individual contributors527
Freelancers323
Video production company/agency313
Each department or team makes their own230
Other49
Who is responsible for creating videos for your company?		
In-house video or creative team: 58.0%
In-house individual contributors: 34.3%
Freelancers: 21.0%
Video production company/agency: 20.4%
Each department or team makes their own: 15.0%
Other: 3.2%

So many videos to make.
So little time.

With higher demand for video content, what’s stopping businesses from making more videos? It’s not production costs!

Most companies say time (64%) and team size (45%) are bigger barriers than money for scaling video.

What are the biggest barriers preventing you from creating more video content?
2022
Barrier%
Time64.4%
Company size and resources44.9%
Cost38.5%
Technical capabilities23.9%
Lack of ideas or stories17.0%
Buy-in from executives10.8%
We're not creating videos right now4.2%
Other3.1%
2021
Time74.0%
Company size and resources53.8%
Cost37.1%
Technical capabilities16.7%
Lack of ideas or stories10.4%
Buy-in from executives8.8%
We're not creating videos right now1.6%
Other2.8%
2022
Time: 64.4%
Company size and resources: 44.9%
Cost: 38.5%
Technical capabilities: 23.9%
Lack of ideas or stories: 17.0%
Buy-in from executives: 10.8%
We're not creating videos right now: 4.2%
Other: 3.1%

2021
Time: 74.0%
Resources/company size: 53.8%
Cost: 37.1%
Techical capabilities: 16.7%
Lack of stories: 10.4%
Buy-in from executives: 8.8%
We're not creating videos right now: 1.6%
Other: 2.8%

Video marketing tip!

Explore the relationship between money and creativity in Wistia’s four-part original series One, Ten, One Hundred where we made the same video at three very different price points—one for $1,000, one for $10,000, and one for $100,000.

Video length

Most video content created in 2022 was super short-form video under 60 seconds. These short-form videos and those between five and 30 minutes remain the most popular year over year.

Businesses also continued to invest in long-form video. Videos above 30 minutes saw 11,000% growth over the past decade compared to 36% growth for videos under 30 minutes.

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Key takeaways

Long-form video, like webinars and live events, is the fastest growing video segment and are among the highest performing videos according to businesses.

Video marketing tip!

Learn how you can up your company’s webinar game with Wistia Live.

Learn about video distribution next

Chapter 3

Video distribution

Video distribution

The viewing experience. Video accessibility. Channel strategy. How brands got in front of audiences.

When it comes to embedding videos, 73% of marketers customize their video player before sharing videos with the world.

This can add an extra brand touch, increase engagement, and help you collect leads.

Video accessibility

Businesses continued to make their videos more accessible. The number of videos meeting multiple criteria on Wistia’s accessibility checklist were up 5% YoY and up 93% since 2019.

YearAccessibility Score#
20193685830
20194169787
2019518857
201963542
201972922
202031125145
20204191019
2020526459
202068537
202079717
202131319047
20214257035
2021534237
202169362
202173469
202231401541
20224250117
2022533280
2022610579
202272845
2019	3	685830
2019	4	169787
2019	5	18857
2019	6	3542
2019	7	2922
2020	3	1125145
2020	4	191019
2020	5	26459
2020	6	8537
2020	7	9717
2021	3	1319047
2021	4	257035
2021	5	34237
2021	6	9362
2021	7	3469
2022	3	1401541
2022	4	250117
2022	5	33280
2022	6	10579
2022	7	2845

Video marketing tip!

Learn how Wistia helps you make your videos more accessible for everyone.

Video accessibility

RESPONSE#
Closed captions845
None392
Audio descriptions356
Accessible video player (WCAG-friendly)331
Non-English/Global subtitles322
Other17
Closed captions: 55%
None: 25.5%
Audio descriptions: 23.2%
Accessible video player (WCAG-friendly): 21.5%
Non-English/Global subtitles: 20.9%
Other: 1.1%

75% of businesses reported that they prioritize accessibility when sharing videos with their audiences…

…with over half of businesses adding closed captions to their content.

Video marketing tip!

Check out our article about why your videos should have captions!

Distribution channels for business video

There are a lot of places to share videos out there! We asked Wistia customers which marketing channels and social media platforms saw the best video performance for them in 2022.

Download the full report to see what they said.

Learn about audience engagement & conversion next

Chapter 4

Audience engagement & conversion

Audience engagement & conversion

When viewers tuned in. How long they watched. Where they engaged. Leads captured.

Video plays

Video plays were up during the pandemic: 44% more than expected.

2020-2021 trend: 6.4B
2020-2021 actual: 9.2B

In 2022, audiences are still pressing play a bit more than projected. +59% since 2019.

2022 trend: 3.7B
2022 actual: 4.2B
Video Plays
YearActualsTrend
2013383248499383248499
2014612307727612307727
201511656806601165680660
201613146581391314658139
201715331872291533187229
201819799176751979917675
201926442505192644250519
202044728027943001056966
202146868122603357863413
202242045974043714669860
Video Plays - Actuals and Trend in MM
Line chart showing actual peaking in 2020
Chart of Play Count by Day, Year over Year, from 2016 to 2020
Chart of Play Count by Day, Year over Year, from 2016 to 2020

Viewers tend to hit play the most at the start of Q2 and Q4.

They also tend to take it easy during the summer.

Minutes watched

Viewers smashed video consumption projections during the pandemic—they watched 71% more video content than we expected.

2020-2021 trend: 16.3B
2020-2021 actual: 27.8B
Chart of Minutes Watched 2016-2022
Minutes Watched (in millions) Year over Year from 2016 to 2022
2016
3491
2017
4214
2018
5227
2019
6593
2020
13188
2021
14632
2022
12297
Minutes watched in millions
YearActualsTrend
201634913491
201742144214
201852275227
201965936593
2020131887627
2021146328661
2022122979695
Video Plays - Actuals and Trend in MM
Line chart showing actual peaking in 2020

Minutes watched fell 16% from 2021 highs, but viewers continue to spend a ton of time with video content. +87% since 2019.

2022 trend: 9.7B
2022 actual: 12.3B
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Key takeaways

Video is even more of a staple for consumers than in the past.

In 2022, video uploads were slightly up from expected levels, but the way we interact with video content has clearly changed.

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Key takeaways

Average video engagement rates are consistent year after year.

You can feel confident relying on these benchmarks to assess video performance—we do!

Video marketing tip!

Up your video engagement! Download our Video Engagement Benchmarks cheat sheet.

Video conversion

Now we’ll dive into how businesses are using interactive video tools to turn viewers into leads. Wistia’s toolkit has some features that you might recognize, and some that are unique to Wistia, so let’s level set with some lingo:

Calls to Action (CTAs)

Full-video takeover cards that link viewers to other content.

Annotation Links

These links pop up in the corner of videos. They offer pathways to other content without interrupting the viewing experience.

Lead capture forms

Full-video takeover forms for collecting contact information at any point throughout a video.

Conversions by types of tools in 2022
Annotations
63,0000
CTAs (Calls to action)
115,0000
GIT (Get in touch)
23,0000
Wistia player with a Call to ActionChart of most popular CTA types

CTAs: most popular

Calls to action (CTAs) made up more than half of all conversion tools businesses used in 2022.

Annotation Links: fastest growing

Annotation Links represent about a third of conversion tools, up 21% on a percentage basis since 2016.

Usage of Annotation Links Year over Year from 2015 to 2022
2015
11,300
2016
21,900
2017
24,700
2018
58,700
2019
46,900
2020
52,900
2021
65,000
2022
62,500
Wistia Player showing Annotation LinksChart of growth of annotation links from 2015-2022
Usage of Annotation Links Year over Year from 2015 to 2022
2014
11%
2015
7%
2016
8%
2017
10%
2018
9%
2019
8%
2020
13%
2021
15%
2022
18%
Wistia Player with a TurnstileChart of percentage of conversion of lead capture forms from 2014 to 2022

Lead capture forms: highest converting

Conversion rates for lead capture forms have doubled since 2019.

Lead capture forms: To gate or not to gate?

In fact, all email gates are becoming more effective, even if you give your viewers the option to “Skip” the form.

Conversion rates for fully gated videos are way higher than those that allow the viewer to skip, but audiences are more willing than ever to give businesses their emails in return for great video content.

Chart of lead capture forms performance year over year comparing gates with an option to skip from 2019 to 2022
YearOption to skipFully gated
20192%14%
20204%19%
20215%23%
20226%29%
Example of lead capture form with a gateChart of lead capture forms performance year over year comparing gates with an option to skip from 2019 to 2022

Conversion rates and performance

What CTA copy converts best? Where’s the best place in your video to include lead capture forms? What’s the CTR for Annotation Links?

Download our full report for a deeper dive into video conversions.

The future of video

Although we’ve seen decreases in uploads, plays, and minutes watched, we’re still well above the levels we saw in 2019. So has the business video landscape changed after COVID? Only time will tell.

If brands make more video content in 2023 like they said they will, perhaps we’ll see an increase in these levels next year.

About our report

After the dramatic increases in video creation and consumption brought on by the pandemic from 2019 to 2021, our video data in 2022 showed a return to levels that are still well above our expectations. One thing is for sure: the pandemic has clearly changed the way we interact with video content. Enjoy this report and feel free to use the statistics listed here in any commercial or non-commercial capacity. All we ask is that you link back to our 2023 State of Video Report web page as the original source.

Our method

We analyzed user data from over 80M videos uploaded to our platform from 2013-2022. We also surveyed over 1,500 customers to find out how they’re thinking about and planning their video marketing strategy this year.

The majority of respondents who weighed in are marketers at small businesses with 0-50 (44%) and 51-200 (22%) employees. And most of the businesses represented are in the software industry—like us!—followed by marketing/media/entertainment and education. We also saw responses from consulting companies and industries like healthcare, construction, finance, retail, and others.

About Wistia

Wistia is a complete video marketing platform that helps teams create, host, and measure the impact of their videos—all in one place. Wistia's mission is to help every business thrive with video, so the platform is packed with features like video player customization, built-in accessibility options, seamless integrations, industry-leading analytics, lead generation tools, and more. With educational resources and world-class support, Wistia has your back as you level up your video marketing strategy. Today, over 425,000 marketers around the world rely on Wistia to drive business growth with video.

To learn more, visit wistia.com and follow @wistia across all social channels.