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Editorial

What Are Marketers' Biggest Video Content Hurdles?

3 minute read
Sanjay Sarathy avatar
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Some of the most commonly reported challenges brands face when managing video content.

The Gist

  • Team efficiency. Overcoming post-production inefficiencies is crucial for improving video team collaboration and speeding up time-to-market.
  • Automated tasks. Implementing automation in video content production reduces repetitive tasks, freeing up teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
  • AI tools. Utilizing AI-powered tools enhances video optimization for different platforms, ensuring high-quality delivery and better performance across all channels.

The results of the recent Cloudinary Global Video Survey are in and the sentiment is clear: Video content must be central to any effective customer experience strategy but maximizing return on investment (ROI) requires overcoming some common video content challenges.

For some this won’t come as a surprise. It’s well documented that video content “moves the needle.”

  • 82% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video.
  • 37% of consumers say viewing user-generated videos showing the product in use is a top priority before making a purchase.
  • 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands in 2024.

So, yes, all the online world loves a video, but most professions still think getting video content in front of this insatiable audience is too difficult, expensive and overly complex.

In fact, 58% of respondents reported that producing video variants for different channels and devices is even more challenging than creating original videos (46%). This highlights a significant pain point in video production workflows.

Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly reported video content challenges brands face when managing video, and then offer some targeted advice for overcoming those challenges.

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The results of the recent Cloudinary Global Video Survey are in and the sentiment is clear: video content must be central to any effective customer experience strategy but maximizing return on investment (ROI) requires overcoming some common challenges.Serjio on Adobe Stock Photos

Video Content Challenges:

1. Teamwork? What Teamwork?

Collaboration between creative and development teams has always been essential, especially for speeding time-to-market and ensuring seamless video delivery. However, most brands remarked that major inefficiencies in their post-production processes are negatively impacting their ability to collaborate effectively.

Top creative process video content challenges are:

  • Managing requests and feedback (46%).
  • Lack of knowledge of technical best practices (33%).
  • Visibility into developer timelines (31%).

Related Article: Using the Gemini YouTube Extension to Improve Your Content Strategy

2. Bottlenecks Within Bottlenecks

Video post-production process is notoriously complex. Edits, cropping, resizing, reformatting, etc. Every step is extensive and involves numerous handoffs and approvals. Compounding the complexity, creative and development; two different teams with distinct skills, objectives and mindsets. Generally, creatives are fixated on quality, style, brand, and all things aesthetic while devs are focused on speed, efficiency, performance. 

This creates a bottleneck “perfect storm.”

The survey backs this up. “Managing requests and feedback” was cited by creatives as the top challenge (46%) when working with development teams to get videos online. This was followed by “lack of knowledge of technical best practices” (33%) and “lack of visibility into developer timelines” (31%) indicating that more work still needs to be done to improve collaboration between these teams.

Related Article: How to Make Sure You're Getting the Most From Your Video Content

Learning Opportunities

3. Development Difficulties

According to the survey, when receiving video assets from creative partners, 45% of respondents grapple with multiple file formats, 41% face a lack of web/mobile-optimized files, and 38% experience late delivery of assets. These obstacles can hinder production and ultimately the effectiveness of video campaigns.

Practical Steps to Improve Video Content Collaboration

  1. Centralize Video Assets: Create a single source of truth for all video assets.
  2. Automate Repetitive Tasks: Automation is essential for delivering high-quality video content at scale. By automating repetitive tasks such as formatting, optimizing, and delivering video content, organizations can significantly reduce the time and effort required. This not only speeds up the production process but also frees up creative and technical teams to focus on more strategic initiatives.
  3. Leverage AI: Use AI-powered tools to optimize video content for various platforms and devices automatically. This ensures high-quality delivery and better performance across all channels.
  4. Standardize Processes: Establish standardized processes and best practices for video production and management. This includes defining clear roles and responsibilities and ensuring all teams are trained on technical best practices.
  5. Enhance Communication: Foster better communication between development and marketing teams. Regular meetings, collaborative tools, and shared goals can help bridge the gap and ensure everyone is aligned.

Take Advantage of Video With Confidence

As video content continues to play a crucial role in customer experience strategies, the need for effective collaboration between developers and marketers becomes even more critical. By leveraging the right technology, organizations can overcome the practical challenges that hinder video production and maximize the ROI from their video initiatives. 

By addressing these video content challenges head-on and implementing the solutions outlined above, brands can ensure they are well-positioned to meet the growing demands of digital consumers and deliver exceptional video-driven experiences.

A Word on Methodology

The Cloudinary Global Video Survey was conducted by independent research firm, Researchscape International, and polled 303 web developers, marketers, and other business leaders in 15 different countries surveyed online between Feb. 27 and March 12. To qualify for the survey, respondents’ organizations had to host at least 10 videos; IT roles had to be in business analytics, ecommerce, or web/app development; software developers had to focus primarily on the web.

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About the Author
Sanjay Sarathy

Sanjay Sarathy is VP developer experience at Cloudinary, a provider of end-to-end digital media management solutions. With more than twenty years experience in leading global marketing programs, his work spans tech startups and established market leaders in SaaS, Big Data, analytics and e-commerce. Connect with Sanjay Sarathy:

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