Consumers enthusiastically watch branded videos—and the funnier or more informative they are, the better. That’s according to new video marketing research from Levels Beyond that found some surprising gaps in attitude between consumers and marketers.

Levels Beyond found that 59 percent of consumers surveyed said they are likely to watch a branded video when they visit a website, and 61 percent have watched a branded video when a friend shared it socially. But on the marketing side, a whopping 75 percent of marketers said that producing and delivering video (outside of commercials) is not a top priority.

“Consumers want more than just text updates—video offers brands an easy opportunity to engage more effectively with consumers across social channels,” the company notes.

The report also found some discrepancies between the types of branded videos consumers want and the types of videos brands are providing. Sixty-seven percent of consumers said they want to watch how-to, instructional, or tutorial videos, and 42 percent want to watch comedy or spoof videos. Micro-documentaries or testimonials, and animation or infographics, pique the interest of about 30 percent of consumers.

However, brands tend not to strongly focus their marketing efforts on how-to or entertainment-based videos. Instead, they tend to focus on event videos, interviews, and testimonials, the study found. The results suggest that brands need to invest time in identifying the types of videos consumers want to watch and focus their resources on creating those types of content.

Like consumers, businesses themselves tend to like learning about services through video.  82 percent of business-to-business marketers who used video were at least somewhat successful in reaching their campaign goals.

The survey also found that, as in the consumer realm, social sharing is key to B2B effectiveness. Although brands typically place videos on the brand website, the report says that those videos are most effective on video sites such as YouTube. Businesses cited budgets, resource constraints, and lack of compelling content as obstacles that impaired their success in video marketing.

Branded video views are increasing dramatically—up to 2.89 billion in the second quarter of 2014, an increase from 1.92 billion a year prior.

As appetites for video grow, brands that embrace video and do it well can reap the benefits of better consumer engagement.

via Content Standard