Looking to get a better handle on the latest video engagement trends, in order to optimize your video content approach?
This will help.
This week, Wistia has published a new report which looks at overall vide production and performance, based on 100+ million videos and webinars uploaded to its platform.
And there are some interesting notes on the evolution of video content, and engagement rates, and how AI tools will have an impact.
You can download Wistia’s full “2025 State of Video” report here, but in this post, we’ll take a look at some of the key notes.
First off, Wistia looks at how companies are producing video content, and where that effort is primarily focused:
As you can see in these charts, over 40% of companies now produce at least one video a week, with mid-sized companies now creating twice as many videos as they did in 2023.
Around 71% of companies are creating their videos in-house, which reflects the rising accessibility of creation tools, and video engagement trends.
Though the data also shows that the competition for video attention is heating up, with overall video engagement rates declining.
As per the report:
“For all video types, engagement is down 7% from 2023 – the sharpest drop we’ve seen in four years.”
Video remains the most engaging online content format, but again, the competition for eyeballs is now more intense. So if you’re not grabbing attention, people won’t stick around, which is impacting overall engagement rates.
In terms of the overall video effort, creation still takes up the most time.
That’s changing as more AI creation tools come into play, and it’ll be interesting to see how advancing AI text-to-video processes impact this element.
Which is also reflected in Wistia’s data:
As you can see, the number of professionals using AI to make videos doubled in 2024, and you can expect that to keep rising, as more AI video tools come into play.
I mean, this is clearly the major cost focus for video creation, and reducing it is a logical business approach. But the bigger question is: “Can AI-generated video radically impact this element?”
Will AI-generated video ever get good enough to avoid the negative, “Uncanny Valley” type feel, and will these tools be simple enough for most brands to utilize?
I guess, even if they’re not overly simple, paying an experienced AI professional to create video clips will be cheaper than a full recording session.
I maintain that creativity is the key element that drives content success, and as such, the biggest campaigns will require a human element. But smaller promotions and previews can probably be handled by advancing AI tools.
There’s a heap more insight in Wistia’s full report, including the best performing video types, interactive elements, performance benchmarks, and more.
You can download Wistia’s “2025 State of Video” report here (with email sign-up).
