Video is becoming a core part of social engagement, but how are marketers adapting their strategy in attempts to capture views and users" The 2016 Social Video Forecast from Animoto surveyed 1,000 professional marketers and 1,000 small and midsized business owners to see what changes they plan to implement over the course of the next year.

Video has had an impact on almost all Animoto survey participants, and most have incorporated it into their strategy. Nearly 80 percent of marketers and 74 percent of SMB owners who have used video marketing before say that it has a direct impact on their business. 84 percent of marketers and 55 percent of SMB owners have commissioned a marketing video in the last 12 months. Furthermore, more than 60 percent of both groups plan to increase spending in the next year. Both groups cited similar reasoning for employing video, which provide a checklist for businesses wondering what they will get out of such a marketing effort, including:

Raising brand awareness.
Finding new customers.
Educating current customers.
Driving traffic to websites.
Driving sales.

Both marketers and small-business owners still anticipate significant challenges when it comes to their marketing efforts. Respectively, 22 percent and 29 percent feel behind or way behind their competitors in terms of their strategy, and 34 percent and 27 percent noted that their motivation to use video was competitors already engaging in video creation.

One issue behind slow ado...