Why Is Video Important in 2024? 6 Data-Backed Reasons

In 2024, video cascades into all digital channels.

A whopping 91.8% of internet users worldwide watch, on average, 19 hours a week of digital videos.

And audiences seek more than just music, meme videos, or live streams. Educational explainer videos are in super high demand. 🚀

There’s no denying that video content is important in 2023: With 1 in 3 marketers planning to try leveraging video this year, video is set to grow at crazy rates in 2023 and beyond.

Read on to discover the reasons why video is such a powerful channel and how you can leverage it today and in the future.

Reason #1: Social media videos are replacing search engines

It’s true, social search is becoming more popular than search engines, and guess what? The most popular social media channels are video-driven TikTok and YouTube.

Way back in 2018, 59% of Gen Z’ers on YouTube said it was their highest preferred learning tool. And as they become more prominent economically, that preference for online video content isn’t going anywhere. 

Peter Broad, director of global research for the Pearson education company, explained Gen Z had “a specific brand relationship” with YouTube. When seeking answers, “they’re going to the most straightforward, familiar force.”

By 2022, that familiar force has changed to the almighty TikTok, now Gen Z’s primary source of general information (surpassing Google).

If you need to get your next video marketing project greenlit and into production, take these facts to your next meeting: 

• Users are 3 times more likely to want to learn how to use a product from an online video like a YouTube tutorial than from a bunch of product instructions. 
• Users search YouTube for video content with “beginner” in the title, not just for product guides and how-tos. Since 2020, views for these educational videos for beginners increased by more than 50%. 
• In 2023, 36% of Gen Z, 22% of Millenials, 21% of Gen X, and 6% of Boomers use social media to search for brands instead of text-based search engine results.

Reason #2: The 5 most effective types of content on social media perfectly suit the video format

Most consumers say they go to social media looking for content that amuses them (66%). Other top types of content were:

• Relatable content (this type also delivers the highest ROI) 
• Trendy content (cultural moments, news stories)
• Authentic content (behind-the-scenes) 
• Interactive content experiences

That means you should focus on creating videos that:

• Educate your audience on evergreen topics in a highly relatable way.
• Discuss trendy topics in your industry or find unique angles to tap into trendy topics from tangential industries.
• Showcase your work culture and employees through behind-the-scenes moments and interviews.
• Call for audience interaction (such as completing an interactive test or doing scenario-based training).

Reason #3: Short-form video has the highest ROI and accounts for 80% of mobile data traffic

One-third of video marketers use short-form videos because they have the highest ROI, and 80% of mobile internet users go online specifically to watch short-form videos.

In 2023, 90% of the experienced short-form video creators will continue to use video in their marketing strategy for its proven effectiveness. And 21% of those who’ve never done it will start experimenting with short-form videos for the first time.

This percentage of new marketers stepping into short-form video content creation makes short-form videos the most popular trend of 2023.

If you’re wondering how to leverage this data, consider creating short-form videos for social media and, obviously, optimized for mobile because:

• 40% of all videos on social media are short-form, making it the most popular type of video content on this channel.
• 60% of the 5.18 billion internet users worldwide go online mobile, spending 80% of their traffic primarily engaging with short-form videos.

With such a large audience watching videos on their mobile devices, video content is more important than ever in 2023. 

Reason #5: Video generates shares like no other marketing content can

Social media marketing videos generate 1200% more shares than photo and text content combined, and the effect a viral video could have on its creator is… life-changing.

“Charlie bit my finger — again!”, a one-minute video showing an infant biting his brother’s finger, is one of the most popular videos that went viral on YouTube in 2007.

It gathered 886 million views and 2.7 million engagements, and by 2011, it generated over $126,000 from ads, allowing the family to buy a new house. In 2021, an NFT of the “Charlie bit me” meme was auctioned for $760,999, leading to the removal of the video from YouTube.

Video is more likely to go viral than other types of content because it’s easier to consume and understand. Once audiences understand and like a video, they’ll share it like wildfire. It doesn't even have to be high-quality video content.

Reason #6: Video already dominates the most profitable marketing channel

Marketing trends show social media is the #1 channel most leveraged by marketers (42%), with the highest ROI of all channels, and YouTube is the social media channel most likely to explode in 2023.

All eyes are on YouTube, which last year had the 2nd highest ROI after Facebook, a tie with TikTok. And 91% of marketers using YouTube to promote their brand and products say they plan to increase or maintain their investment in 2023, while 29% more marketers will jump on YouTube for the first time this year.

How could you not leverage video content as the most popular type of content on the most profitable marketing channel when…👇

✔️ Facebook Reels, TikToks, Instagram Reels, and YouTube shorts are on the rise, making video the most popular type of content on social media.

✔️ On Facebook alone, users watch over 8 billion videos per day.

✔️ On YouTube, users watch every day, on average, 5 billion long-form videos and over 50 billion short-form videos.

✔️ YouTube creators upload 500 hours of video every minute.

How can you do what everyone else is doing and still stand out?

So video content is important in 2023, and everybody is doing it.

How can you do it in a way that helps you get noticed?

1. Listen to your audience

Potential customers want an experience-based connection with their favorite brands and pay as much attention to how brands treat them as to the products they sell.

Similarly, employees want small gestures of appreciation like getting rapid, warm, and actionable feedback and the opportunity to reskill or upskill within your company. All these can be easily achieved by bringing video content into your internal communications mix.

2. Humanize your brand

Consumers tend to buy from those they know, like, and trust.

Humanizing your brand makes it easier for your target audience to know, like, and trust you. You’re also differentiating yourself from competitors and creating emotion-rich connections that will drive engagement and make your customers promote you through word of mouth.

To humanize a brand means to infuse it with qualities, characteristics, and behaviors that resonate with human experiences and emotions. In return, you’re making your brand more approachable, authentic, and relatable, fostering trust, loyalty, and deeper connections with your potential customers.

Video content lets you show off in a dynamic and visual way, which appeals most to our visually selective brains. Using visuals, music, storytelling, and effective communication, you create a rich, immersive explainer video, an experience audiences pay attention to and get to learn from, developing that like and trust. 

3. Repurpose or repost content for each channel

There are many reasons why video distribution on most social media platforms is worth the effort. Most importantly, it'll help you stay top of mind while optimizing the ROI of your digital marketing strategy.

Reposting is a simple technique where you share content from one platform to another (eg. upload a YouTube video to LinkedIn). You can also repurpose content for video by taking, say, a blog post and turning it into a quick video for social media platforms.

Want to start creating more videos with minimal resources today?

Learn how to start making short and engaging videos that reflect your brand values using just your web browser and some text. 👇