• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, September 3, 2014

Brand marketers using video report that it outperforms other types of content marketing, according to a new research study conducted by video marketing platform VidYard on the effectiveness of video marketing. More than 70% of the B2B companies that use video in their marketing said it exceeds plain text and images at driving conversions, and many said the ROI from video is on the rise.

In fact, ROI improves the most when marketers use advanced tools to measure the engagement of their video content. Perhaps that sounds obvious, but it’s a point that emphasizes the value of measurement — brands that know how their content is performing can generate better conversions. The study also found that many video marketers were seeing “very positive engagement rates” with video. In addition, nearly 70% said it had been helping to drive lead generation, while more than half said they’ve found value in having video viewing data about customer leads in the “sales funnel.”

Video content drives the greatest return on investment when marketers place the content on their site and on YouTube as well. Customers often often visit a brand’s site in the research phase, and providing video about the product or service can help usher the customer along the all-important purchase funnel. Recently, video software company Levels Beyond found that consumers seek out video to help make purchase decisions, and 59% of consumers specifically say they’re “likely to watch video when visiting a brand web site.”

About one-third of large brands are making more than 100 videos a year. Smaller and medium-size companies have a smaller output. “The content marketing arena in general, and the

video marketing category specifically, is a place where SMBs can share the same stage as their larger competitors,” Vidyard said in its report.