short-form video and the evolution of customer engagement · short-form video and the evolution of...

SHORT-FORM VIDEO AND THE EVOLUTION OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENTHow consumer brands add value to cross-channel marketing using dynamic video contentFeaturing quotes from industry leaders who participated in the study

*All photos used in this report are user-generated and are curated by Olapic.

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THE ART AND SCIENCE OF VIDEO MARKETINGDigital marketing is ubiquitous, but the most common digital content isn’t compelling, isn’t personalized, and doesn’t provide convenient options for viewers. Companies that provide interactive live video are engaging target markets more effectively. With some added value, they’ve developed a competitive edge over companies that simply float content with no perceivable value.

Digital marketers can amplify their brand engagement and perform across channels using high-converting videos. Brands can find cost-effective solutions for video assets, even for ephemeral videos published on social media that “disappear” over time. First, they must overcome obstacles to creating high-quality videos that will succeed on social, email, websites, and other digital channels.

Short-Form Video and the Evolution of Customer Engagement explores how brands are using short-form videos, what challenges they face in producing and distributing them, and what results they receive from their video campaigns. The report also discusses next-generation technologies and companies’ ambitions for short-from video in the long-term.

Now, compelling short-form video is an inseparable part of successful digital marketing. Brands are turning to video assets to add to their content marketing mix and to drive more dynamic experiences for customers. As we will find, video offers near limitless options in terms of how brands can engage them.

Insights from the study include:

· Brand engagement is the top KPI for measuring short-form video effectiveness and its top driver for growth.

· Most companies find that social channels are both the best-performing and the top growth channels for short-form video content.

· Loyalty and advocacy are essential to long-term video performance, but they are currently the least common contributors to growth.

· Companies’ lack of quality in their production processes is the most widely acknowledged obstacle to activating or expanding short-form video.

Making videos is an art form and cannot be curtailed. We want to accomplish an intended crossover between intensity and glamour. It’s the freedom with which we operate that has to be

shown in our videos so that the intended viewers know what’s in store with us.

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ABOUT THE RESEARCHWBR Insights and Olapic conducted a survey of 100 brands across applicable consumer-driven industries, including travel, retail, beauty, luxury, and others. Respondents were professionals associated with measuring the impact of short-form videos, websites, and email marketing, as well as social media and brand marketing.

Almost one-quarter of respondents (22%) are social media strategists. 21% of respondents are creative directors. Another 19% are customer experience professionals, and 18% are merchandising professionals.

Far fewer respondents identify themselves as marketing (10%), ecommerce (8%), or digital media professionals (2%).

Almost one half of respondents (46%) represent either the retail or travel industry. These verticals are most often driven by online sales versus other verticals in the study. Though the data was not exclusive to ecommerce, researchers endeavored to measure the impact videos have on engagement and conversions via digital channels.

Specifically, about one quarter of respondents (24%) represent the retail industry. Another 22% of respondents represent the travel industry.

13% of respondents represent grocery, food, and beverage verticals.

In each case, fewer respondents represent the luxury (9%), fashion (8%), and financial services (8%) industries. Very few respondents represent the consumer packaged goods (6%), automotive (5%), healthcare (3%), and beauty (2%) industries.

Despite their differences, all companies in the study face consumer markets that demand engaging, personalized content to drive sales. The video methods with which these companies engage target customers—or aspire to do so—reveal substantial differences in both level of adoption and approach.

Slide 1

What is your role?

Retail

Travel

Grocery, Food & Beverage

Luxury

Fashion

Financial Services

CPG

Automotive

Healthcare

Beauty

Social Media Specialist

Creative Director

Customer Experience

Merchandising

Marketing

Ecommerce

Digital Media

Slide 2

Slide 8: Whether you are using it or not, which of these channels do you think are best suited for short-form video?

What is your industry?

24%

22%

21%

19%

18%

10%

8%

2%

22%

13%

9%

8%

8%

6%

5%

3%

2%

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THE MECHANICS OF SHORT-FORM VIDEO ADOPTION

The shorter the video, the more interesting it gets. Even a video that is only about a second long has a lot of impact. We want to create a string of these one-second videos that will show

how customers react and respond to our brand.

Respondents claim that video marketing and short-form videos are now at the base of their marketing strategies. High-quality video improves opportunities to drive interest for brands in key markets.

For example, customers can understand what it is like visiting a store by simply watching a short-form video. Customers can visualize the store experience in a way that is unachievable with other forms of content. Companies without recognizable brands need short-form videos to generate first-time consumer interest as well.

As we will find, short-form video is valued by every company in the study. Every respondent claims their company is either currently using or interested in using short-form video for marketing purposes.

Slide 3: Are you currently using short-form video for marketing purposes?

Slide 8: Where are you currently using short-form video, and how is it performing across these channels?

Are you currently using short-form video for marketing purposes?

Yes

No, but we are interested in doing so

90%

10%

The vast majority of companies in the study (90%) are currently using short-form video for marketing purposes. The remaining 10% claim they are not currently using short-form video for marketing purposes but are interested in doing so.

They acknowledge that widening video resources and adopting new technologies could expand opportunities for them. Industry trends indicate the means to create successful short-form videos are becoming more approachable as well.

But companies are working with limited internal resources for developing short-form video. They partner with agencies to build out their video projects. This poses advantages in terms of capabilities, but with greater cost and limited creative control.

Among those currently using short-form video for marketing purposes, over three-quarters (76%) are managing them using an advertising agency. The remaining 24% currently use an in-house team to manage short-form video.

Many of companies’ cost barriers originate from their lack of in-house resources, which drives a need for third-party resources. Maintaining these relationships is difficult given the margins agencies take, even for one-off production.

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Companies emphasize a highly customer-centric approach to short-form video targeting. They value their customers in presenting video content to them. Their emphasis on Millennial and Gen-X generations indicates a certain type of content and appeal in their videos. It suggests every company in the study competes for digital-driven consumer markets as well.

Companies indicate they target a broad mix of audiences with their short-form videos, suggesting a wide appeal to consumers. However, they favor young-adult audiences

Slide 13: What are the obstacles preventing you from activating short-form video or expanding the use of it across channels?

Slide 4: Since you are currently using short-form video, how are you managing it right now?* Slide 5: What audiences do you target with short-form video?

Since you are currently using short-form video, how are you managing it right now?*

What audiences do you target with short-form video?

* Percentages are shares of only those who are currently using short-form video for marketing purposes.

Advertising agency

In-house team

Gen-Z

Millennials

Gen-X

Baby Boomers

24%

76% 66%

100%

99%

54%

much more than others. Of the companies surveyed, 100% target Millennials, and 99% of them target Gen-X consumers.

Fewer companies (66%) target Gen-Z, the youngest generation of consumers, and even fewer companies (54%) target Baby Boomers, the oldest generation.

We want people from all age groups to view our videos. The internet is one source of displaying these videos, but senior people have limited usage of the internet. We would like

to reach out to the senior age group through alternative sources.

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Short-form video offers greater engagement opportunities for companies that don’t want to restrict their viewer base to only Millennials, but to different age groups through different forms of content as well. Respondents also claim they would like to create their own range of videos that would help atypical customers understand their products and their applications. This applies to multiple age groups, multilingual audiences, and deaf audiences with the help of subtitles.

Companies also want to add more collaborative and engaging methods to target audiences. One company intends to run campaigns that collect ideas from customers and create videos that they will prefer based on those ideas. Another company plans to add flexibility to engagement by allowing audiences on social channels to select from several videos for more personalized experiences.

Brands want their viewers to consist only of highly interested consumers by providing easy access to several video options. But this places strain on the production capabilities of content teams. Brands must also determine on which channels to launch videos as part of their marketing strategies. This adds to the complexities of content distribution as well.

As a result, marketers are looking for greater channel and technology integrations. They need cost-effective ways to engage consumers across channels and in a targeted way. That requires more specialized video content—problematic for the majority of companies restrained by production quality, resources, and time.

We want to create a platform where customers can mention their issues and there are videos that would assist them in trying to resolve their issues. We have been in consultation

of developing this platform with the help of robotics and machine learning.

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EMPOWERING CONSUMERS WITH CROSS-CHANNEL VIDEO STRATEGIES

We want an interface where new camera and video developments assist customers to do a lot more without actually visiting a store. It’s these developments that will help people see how a certain outfit or ornament would look on them by ‘trying it on’ virtually then buying it online.

Ephemeral content is transforming how marketers approach digital channels. This content—including videos—exists online or on display for only a short period of time. Its fleeting nature adds appeal and a sense of experience for those who engage the content.

Live streaming videos on Facebook, as another example, have the appeal of an event in which viewers share and communicate throughout the experience.

The vast majority of companies (93%) believe Facebook is the best-suited channel for short-form video far more than any other channel.

Instagram is the next most-popular choice as the best-suited channel for short-form video identified by 65% of companies.

Marketers deploy ephemeral videos across mostly social channels. But findings from the study indicate there are applications for more permanent video fixtures as companies improve the effectiveness of their video assets.

Just over half of companies believe websites (55%) and displays (51%) are best-suited for short form video. Very few companies (9%) chose email as the best-suited channel.

Companies want to increase their brand recognition by employing fresh, modern techniques across mobile, web, and display channels. They want span channels with unique video content to engage target audiences based on their preferences. Some companies want to integrate video with digital sales initiatives.

Slide 8: Whether you are using it or not, which of these channels do you think are best suited for short-form video?

Slide 10: Whether you are using it or not, what opportunities do you believe exist in using short-form video to engage with your customers?

Whether you are using it or not, which of these channels do you think are best suited for short-form video?

Facebook

Instagram

Website

Display

Email

93%

65%

55%

51%

9%

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Where are you currently using short-form video, and how is it performing across these channels?

Exceptionally Well

Very Well

Adequately

38%


Facebook

36%

16%

1% 0%

9%


Instagram

26%

31%

17%

7%

0%

19%


Display

23%

31%

14%

4%0%

28%


Website

10%

58%

23%

0% 0%

9%


Email

3%

10%

55%

21%

0%

11%

Inadequately

Poorly

N/A

Through most channels, short-form video is performing very well or exceptionally well.

The vast majority of companies claim their short-form video performs very well (38%) or exceptionally well (36%) on Facebook.

Fifty-seven percent of companies using Instagram claim short-form video is performing very well (31%) or exceptionally well (26%). Most companies claim short-

form video performs very well (31%) or exceptionally well (23%) through display channels as well.

Fewer companies (10%) report exceptional performance on their websites, though 58% claim their short-form video on websites performs very well. Emails have less impressive results, where most companies rank their short-form video performance as only adequate (55%) or inadequate (21%).

Engaging Customers with Augmented Reality

Several companies see opportunities in Augmented Reality (AR) for highly interactive and descriptive videos. Customers can us AR videos to interact with products and visualize experiences that drive them to conversions. For example, travel companies could implement short AR videos that give customers a taste of their travel destinations. Other companies can provide virtual tours to show how products are quality made.

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However, most companies face obstacles to cross-channel implementation of short-form video. These include a shortage of in-house resources, inadequate performance measurement capabilities, and an inability to scale.

Respondents were asked to identify the obstacles preventing their companies from activating short-form video or expanding the use of it across channels. The top issues are related to the inability to scale effectively and determine performance.

For example, 62% of companies claim their inability to measure the effectiveness of their assets is preventing them from activating short-form video or expanding its use across channels.

Sixty-six percent of companies lack quality in their production process, the most widely-selected obstacle in the study. Over half of companies face time constraints (54%) as an obstacle to activating or expanding short-form video across channels.

Slide 13: What are the obstacles preventing you from activating short-form video or expanding the use of it across channels?

Slide 11: To what degree do you plan to increase your budget for short-form video over the next 3 years?

What are the obstacles preventing you from activating short-form video or expanding the use of it across channels?

Lack of quality in our production process

Unable to measure effectiveness of assets

Time constraints

Not aligned with our objectives

Lack of technology to scale production

Cost

66%

62%

54%

53%

48%

37%

Including smarter statistics where we can determine which types of viewers have watched our videos would help us better determine our customer base.

Fewer companies cite a lack of alignment with their objectives (53%) and a lack of technology to scale production of their short-form videos (48%) as obstacles to activation or expansion. Thirty-seven percent claim cost is an obstacle.

Respondents also claim the competition for video space prevents them from making their videos available to more viewers across their sales regions. Some consider partnering with a group of advertisers to use a single platform looping their videos as a cost-effective alternative.

One respondent observes that the channels themselves and how consumers use them add to the struggle to produce effective videos. Videos must become equally shorter and more precise, which requires greater production value and variety when scaling across channels.

Companies must measure the true business value of their video initiatives to proceed. By determining business value and ROI on existing channels, marketing teams can justify scaling to others or growing engagement on those channels that have already proven successful.

62% of companies claim their inability to measure the effectiveness of their assets is preventing them from activating short-form video or expanding its use across channels.

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MEASURING ENGAGEMENT AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

Short-form video is important for distributors like us, where advisory messages for our clients are key. The only way we find it comfortable to display these messages now is with the help

of videos… They are more descriptive and informative, and they can be played again and again for easy understanding.

Video has become a revolutionary method to delight customers and distinguish one’s brand. Companies have endless options in terms of their video strategy, where driving engagement—even potentially “going viral”—is the greatest priority for most companies when measured against all other short-form video KPIs.

Almost half of companies (42%) exclusively selected engagement as the top KPI for measuring the effectiveness of short-form video—the most popular selection among companies.

Almost one-third of companies (31%) chose conversions as their exclusive top KPI for measuring the effectiveness of short-form videos. Respondents claim that video marketing has been a valuable resource for sales and lead generation. One respondent predicts that customers will soon make most video-driven purchases on the same platforms as the videos they watch.

Twenty-one percent consider ad performance to be their exclusive top KPI, and 6% of companies claim this does not apply to them.

Still, companies struggle with engaging customers and differentiating themselves from competitors. Video is now essential to that engagement—companies that fail to gain visibility in a dynamic market could be forced to retract investments in key channels. They may become restricted to publishing video content only on websites, which do not perform as well as other channels.

Slide 9: What is your *TOP* KPI for measuring the e�ectiveness of short-form video?

What is your *TOP* KPI for measuring the effectiveness of short-form video?

Engagement

Conversions

Ad performance

N/A

42%

31%

21%

6%

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Increasing Appeal with Customer Reviews

Increasing loyalty and advocacy using short-form videos are two of companies’ biggest growth challenges. Short-form videos that support reviews open doors for a more positive impact on target audiences. Companies can leverage those reviews—whether they are about products or the videos themselves—to improve their video content and strategies as well.

With the development of statistical data analysis, it’s easier to identify target customers and reach out to them in a compelling way. Companies can measure their successes in each channel, improve the way they engage with existing audiences, or expand into new ones. They can discover what distinguishes them on social media and create high-quality, targeted videos that engage and delight their audiences.Slide 10: Whether you are using it or not, what opportunities do you believe exist in

using short-form video to engage with your customers?

Whether you are using it or not, what opportunities do you believe exist in using short-form video to engage with your customers?

Convey product or brand messaging more effectively

Engage with wider audiences

Connect with younger audiences on

ephemeral channels

Cut through the noise on social channels

Tell more compelling brand stories

78%

74%

69%

66%

58%

In each case, a majority of companies believes all of these engagement opportunities and more exist when using short-form video to engage with customers.

Seventy-eight percent of companies believe they can use short-form video to convey product or brand messaging more effectively. Seventy-four percent believe they can engage wider audiences using short-form video.

Sixty-six percent of companies believe short-form video will help them cut through the noise on social channels. Sixty-nine percent of companies believe they can connect with younger audiences on ephemeral channels using short-form video as well.

Finally, 58% of companies believe they can tell more compelling brand stories using short-form video.

We want to share our vision of the future with our audience so they know what we have planned and how we will execute it. Our video is like a movie trailer that raises interest in

the movie, so that people cannot wait to see the movie once it has launched.

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It’s how creative we get with our marketing videos that matters the most. If we can generate interest for a particular or new product we can generate leads that can be converted eventually.

It’s about accomplishing our sales goals that we have laid, and marketing videos help us generate leads from our audiences.

Just as brand engagement and conversions are top KPIs for most companies, they are the top drivers for growth from short-form video. High performing social channels are driving growth for a majority of companies as well.

Specifically, brand engagement is the most-cited growth contributor with 89% of responses. Seventy-one percent of respondents selected conversions. Just over half of companies claim social activity (57%) is a growth area driven by short-form video.

But while companies emphasize social and viral sharing, fewer than half of them identify brand advocacy or loyalty (45%) and website traffic (42%) as growth contributors driven by short-form video.

Slide 12: In what areas is short-form video contributing to your growth?

In what areas is short-form video contributing to your growth? Select all that apply.

Brand Engagement

Conversions

Social Activity

Brand Advocacy/Loyalty

Website Traffic

89%

71%

57%

45%

42%

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CONCLUSION: DRIVING LOYALTY WITH NEXT-GEN TECHNOLOGIES

Our video marketing initiatives will keep on changing as technology changes. How we include these new technologies is what we have to think about from a marketing point of view.

As we found, measuring KPIs, time, and poor production value were the top obstacles to activating or scaling short-form videos. But with the introduction of smart analytics and machine learning, creating and succeeding short-form video initiatives will become increasingly accessible. Companies will drive reliable business value from these initiatives as well.

Companies show an even curve in terms of how much they intend to increase their budgets for short-form video over the next three years—and every company has plans to do so.

The largest group of companies (41%) plans to increase their budgets by 20% – 30%, the median of responses.

The second largest groups plan to increase their budgets by 10% – 20% (31% of respondents) and 30% – 40% (20% of respondents) on either side of the median.

Fewer companies plan to increase their budgets by over 0% – 10% (5% of respondents) or 40% – 50% (3% of respondents).

But while technology opportunities and short-form video budgets grow, so will competition. Competition predicates the need for customer loyalty and advocacy—two things a minority of companies have secured as drivers of growth using short-form videos.

“Making videos is an art form and cannot be curtailed.” Short-form video is more than targeting, channel growth, and optimization. It’s an opportunity to show customers there is a spirit behind one’s brand, and a desire to connect with customers in a meaningful, long-lasting way.

Slide 11: To what degree do you plan to increase your budget for short-form video over the next 3 years?

To what degree do you plan to increase your budget for short-form video over the next 3 years?

We have no plans to do so

> 0% – 10%

10% – 20%

20% – 30%

30% – 40%

40% – 50%

More than 50%

0%

0%

5%

3%

31%

41%

20%

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Olapic Earned Content Platform amplifies brands’ engagement and performance across

every channel using moderated, rights approved, high-converting images and videos taken by real people.

We pioneered the earned content industry in 2010 and are proud to work with nearly 400 of the world’s leading brands to supercharge every marketing touchpoint with consumer content that is proven to perform. With more than 50 million data points being analyzed on a daily basis, Olapic has influenced more than three million transactions and nearly $600 million in e-Commerce revenue in 2016.

Learn more at www.olapic.com

We are a team of writers, researchers, and marketers who are passionate about creating exceptional custom content. WBR Insights connects solution providers to their targeted communities through custom research reports, engaged webinars, and other marketing solutions.

Learn more at www.wbrinsights.com

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