• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, July 13, 2022

First, some good news for email boosters: Email is the leading channel for distributing videos.  

The bad news is that brands are relying too much on traditional video production models. Whatever the delivery method, this prevents them from at creating and updating video quickly and at scale, according to The Pulse Of Professional Video, a new study from video platform SundaySky, conducted by CITE Research.  

Of the marketers polled, 95% face barriers to using more video. These include: 

• Cost of updates — 35% 
• Testing, learning, measuring, optimizing and tracking video effectiveness — 31%
• Quality of video assets is limited — 28% 
• Quantity of video assets is limited — 27%

In addition, 88% face barriers to personalizing video content, including:

• Time and costs of working with personalization data — 50% 
• Quality of data sources — 45%
• Limitations with updating data — 38% 

• Creative cost required for each unique channel — 44%
• Effort and time maintaining the distribution channel — 43%
• Understanding which distribution channels are right for video — 42% 
• Time and availability of technical support for distribution — 42%

Marketers also face barriers to updating video:

• Too costly to update multiple videos — 28% 
• Too costly due to dependency on a third party — 26% 
• Too slow due to dependency on a third party — 26%
• Lacking insights into what needs to be updated — 26% 

One more problem is that 55% of companies do not personalize. Of the remaining 45%, 16% personalize in multiple ways.  

Still another issue is that brands are investing in people over technology, at a margin of 59%-41%. 

It’s not all bad news: 82% of firms have increased video use over time, and 89% plan to maintain or increase usage in the future. And among users, 31% of annual group budgets are going to video.

The most common uses for video are:

• Customer service — 65%
• Employee communications — 61% 
• Customer loyalty and retention — 58% 

As for channels, here are the ones being used to distribute video:

• Email — 76% 
• Social Media — 74%
• Website — 69% 
• Video Hosting Sites — 64%
• Mobile App — 59% 
• SMS  —56% 

On behalf of SundaySky, CITE Research surveyed 570 professionals at the manager or executive level.