Video is proving to be one of the most effective types of content marketers are using to achieve their objectives. However, according to research released by Ascend2, challenging obstacles continue to hinder video marketing performance. To examine these challenges, Ascend2 fielded the Video Marketing Strategy Survey and completed interviews with 280 marketing, sales and business professionals from around the world.

Increased brand awareness (47%) and online engagement (45%) top the list of objectives for a video marketing strategy followed closely by improving consumer education (43%) and increased lead generation (41%).

Video marketing is rated very successful at achieving important objectives by 25% of companies and another 60% rate it somewhat successful. A total of only 15% say that they are struggling to achieve success with video marketing.

Lack of an effective strategy is the most challenging obstacle to video marketing success according to nearly half (48%) of companies surveyed. A strategy with sufficient resources and budget to produce compelling content are critical to successful outcomes.

Lack of compelling content is a top challenge for video marketers due in many cases to the degree of difficulty required to create some types of content. The most difficult types of video content to create are customer testimonials, project reviews or case studies.

The report found that more than half of respondents say their video content marketing budgets are increasing marginally (51%) while only 18% predict a significant increase.