83% of marketers prioritize authenticity... most fail

Hey, Paige here!

Before we get into today’s best marketing research…

In today’s release: 

• Video is no longer an option… unless you want to flop

• Where most marketers go wrong with video

• Why you probably have everything you need for video marketing success

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DEEP DIVE

In marketing, we all know that about 97% of your audience isn’t ready to buy… yet. But nearly all of our marketing budgets are aimed at the 3% already in market to buy. 

We have to focus on connecting with the 97% to build fans before they are ready to buy. This gets you on Day 1 lists and builds relationships with followers, ultimately making their transition to buy much easier. 

But what’s the best way to connect with a wider audience in an engaging, targeted way? 

As online communities continue to grow and evolve (and younger generations hop online and become your buyers), video content becomes more and more important. 

Let’s look at the data: 

• Consumers are spending an average of 17 hours a week watching video content

• A 2024 study revealed that 90% of marketers currently using video saw good ROI

• Videos on social media generate 1200% more shares than text and images combined

• Video content on landing pages can increase conversion rates by up to 80%

• 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands

So it’s clear that video is growing (and offers the highest engagement). But throwing a few clips on YouTube won’t give you the results you want — quality matters. 

87% of consumers said that video quality impacts their overall trust in a brand.

So how are brands currently using video in their marketing strategy? 

A Hubspot report shows these are the current top use cases: 

• Product demonstrations

• Behind-the-scenes content

• Customer testimonials

• Thought leadership pieces

• Live Q&A sessions

But there’s still a problem with this… Each of these types of content is still targeted toward the 3% (or smaller portions of the 97% entering the consideration phase). 

If you want to fully leverage the power of video today, you have to take a more personal touch. 

A study by Nosto revealed that 90% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support and 83% of marketers agree that authenticity is very important to their brands. 

But is the content delivering the authenticity demanded by today’s audience? The same study says, ‘probably not.’ They found that 92% of marketers think their content resonates as ‘authentic’, but 51% of consumers say less than half of all brands create content that resonates.

Why? Most marketers are focusing on the basic 5 buckets of video content previously mentioned. 

Video content has been confirmed as the format that resonates most with widespread audiences. We simply aren’t leveraging it right a vast majority of the time. 

So how can we create ‘authentic’ content to build relationships with the 97%? Grab your camera. Here are some ideas: 

Video doesn’t have to be incredibly complicated… but it does need to be personality-driven. By incorporating video into your strategy, you can tap into the 97% of your audience not ready to buy today.

The takeaway: Video is a non-negotiable for digital marketing today. But marketers need to take content a step further than traditional business video marketing. By building personality-driven video content, you can expand your reach exponentially and begin building relationships with future buyers today. 

That’s it, ya’ll! Happy creating. 

Paige Peterson
Newsletter Aficionado, Sweet Fish