Study Finds Marketers Are Increasing Spend on Original Video Content

Marketers continue to increase the amount of money they spend on digital video content, but how much of it is original?

To find out, IAB recently conducted the “Digital Content NewFronts: Video Ad Spend Study 2018” report. Statistics showed that marketers will spend upwards of $10 million on digital/mobile video advertising this year, and $4.7 million will go toward original content. This is a 68 percent year-over-year increase dating back to 2016.

“Marketers’ commitment to digital video—especially original digital video—has been skyrocketing over the past few years,” said Anna Bager, executive vice president of Industry Initiatives at IAB. “These findings reflect consumers’ enthusiasm for the dynamic storytelling which original video programming delivers in spades, and the power of the medium to deliver strong ROI. There is no question that we will see buyers out in full force throughout this week’s NewFronts presentations, as they look to invest more and more of their budgets in the latest original digital video programming opportunities.”

In 2018, an average of 47 percent of digital video budgets will go toward producing original content. This is an increase from 44 percent in 2017 and 43 percent in 2016.

B2B Marketers and the ROI of Video Content

B2B marketers, in particular, remain dedicated to video content. However, previous research suggests that it has been difficult for them to measure ROI.

A survey conducted by the Web Video Marketing Council, ReelSEO and Flimp Media discovered that 96 percent of B2B marketers are engaged in video content marketing. However, 44 percent claimed that measuring ROI remains a top challenge.

Based on perception alone, 73 percent say that video has positively impacted marketing results, and 56 percent claim sales results have been positively impacted.