• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 13, 2023

Here’s a tip for email teams trying to grasp what their larger marketing groups are up to.

It’s video: 34% are putting most of their budget into it, according to SEO Study Reveals The Biggest Investments, a study by digital marketing firm Ignite Visibility. In contrast, only 10% are spending most on blog content. 

Over 74% of marketers now use videos. And 90% expect YouTube to be part of their SEO strategy for 2023 -- the first time this has been seen. 

Moreover, 48.%% say video is the most valuable form of content, followed by photos (32.2), infographics (14.9%) and GIFs (4.1%). 

In general, 59.7% plan to spend more on SEO in 2023.

Email ranks far down the list. The most important channels are social media, organic SEO and direct advertising. Paid media is fourth and email fifth. Affiliate marketing is next. 

Does this mean email is irrelevant to the content discussion? Hardly. Video is often offered by email. And when used in SEO, it is critical in capturing the email address be captured.  

A recent study by Wistia found that 18,519 of calls to action appeared in the front. While this was down from prior years, it still outpaced CTAs placed in the middle. Overall video consumption declined slightly, from 17.1 million uploads in 2020 to 15 million in 2022. 

The new study finds that brands are planning to create these types of emails: 

• How-to’s — 48.8% 
• Customer Testimonials — 37.2%
• Pack an order — 9.9% 
• Tour of a Space — 20.7% 
• A day in the Life of — 23.3% 
• Hacks — 20.7% 
• Product or Service Demo — 53.7%
• Informational Strategy — 39.7% 

As for length, 92.6% say short-form video produces the best ROI for online advertising campaigns.  

The biggest threats to SEO are:

• Zero Click SERPS — 5.9% 
• Lack of experience resulting in driving the wrong strategy — 18.5% 
• Google updates — 19.3%
• Machine learning or AI — 11.8%
• Lack of ability to grow your program — 16%
• Reduction in the effectiveness of external linking — 5% 
• Other marketing channels drive more predictable results — 9.2%
• Government regulations — 14.3% 
• Ignite visibility — 74%   

Ignite Visibility surveyed 121 marketers.