28% of marketers struggle with in-app video delivery, study says

Brief:

More than one-fourth (28%) of surveyed marketers said they have trouble delivering video to in-app users, per a survey that mobile video software company Penthera shared with Mobile Marketer. The biggest issues that marketers cited with in-app video are awareness (50%), low engagement (41%) and inadequate metrics (40%).
More than one-third (36%) of marketers send push notifications several times a week to boost awareness and engagement, while 32% send them daily. However, one of five respondents said they have difficulties with push notifications such as opt-outs, operating system issues, low click-through and inability to include video within the push notifications, among other technical difficulties.
Branded video usage has risen to 87% of businesses this year from 81% in 2018 and 63% in 2017, per a separate survey by Wyzowl, a maker of animated explainer videos. The percentage of marketers who said they see good ROI from video rose to 83% this year from 78% in 2018, per its survey.

Insight:

Penthera indicates a minority of marketers continue to face technical hurdles in reaching mobile users with in-app branded video efforts. That's a potentially positive sign for brands that are dedicating larger media spending to mobile platforms amid a global uptick in app usage.

Downloads of mobile apps grew 20% in Q2 to a record 30.3 billion from Apple's App Store and Google Play, researcher App Annie said. Putting more of an emphasis on in-app video delivery is a bid by marketers to reach the types of young users, like Gen Z and millennials, who are helping to drive these trends.

However, Penthera's study highlights struggle areas, including, crucially, the creation of video content that actually encourages users to gain awareness of a brand and engage it more frequently. Penthera in previous research has pinpointed some of the biggest points of frustration among mobile viewers, such videos failing to start, videos rebuffering in the middle of play and general connectivity hiccups.

Common tactics to spur engagement like push notifications also sometimes fail to drive their desired actions, per the latest survey. Figuring out how to sharpen mobile video strategies will become more important for marketers as the channel secures its dominance.

U.S. adults will spend more time using mobile devices than watching TV this year, eMarketer estimated in June. The researcher forecast that the average time spent on mobile devices will grow 3.7% this year to 3 hours and 43 minutes a day, surpassing the 3 hours and 35 minutes spent watching TV.

Studies have also shown that mobile video ads are a key driver of digital media spending. U.S. mobile advertising grew 40% to $69.9 billion last year, making up 65% of total digital ad revenue, per an annual report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC.