Wistia’s Brendan Schwartz discusses the importance of video in 2017 — and how to succeed with it. (Credit: Wistia brand assets)

Video, video, video — everyone is talking about video.

Whether it’s live streaming, VR/AR, or “traditional” clips put on brand sites and social media, video marketers are working hard to make sure they’re up-to-date with the latest trends in the digital marketing industry.

This year will be no exception. In fact, 2017 might be one of the most pivotal times ever for businesses to start paying attention to their video-related marketing strategies, especially as the aforementioned formats of live and VR continue to break ground.

Brendan Schwartz, Co-Founder and CTO of video hosting brand Wistia, confirmed via email my prediction about the importance of video marketing in 2017. Here’s what he had to say about how brands should be paying attention to and using video this year, and how to deal with the seeming lack of measurement benchmarks:

Bree Brouwer: How important will it be for businesses to create video content for their brands this year?

Brendan Schwartz: It’s more important than ever for businesses to take advantage of video! With Facebook Live, Snapchat, musical.ly, and the like, video has arguably seen more change in the last year than it has since the launch of YouTube.

Video is everywhere now, and it’s gone from a novelty to an expectation. The good news is there are tons of tools cropping up that can help you create video and get the most out of video you have or are already making.

• Our friends at Animoto just launched a new tool to help businesses create video
• Promo from Slide.ly let’s you easily make professional video ads for Facebook
• Do-it-yourself animation tools like like Powtoon and GoAnimate are a great way to make explainer videos for your product or company
• We (Wistia) can help you get the most out of video on your website with better video marketing tools and analytics

The change we’re seeing in video, and what will be new in 2017, is that video will become a tool that’s used across the business, not just in marketing. Two areas we’re seeing heavy adoption in are sales and support.

Savvy sales teams are using one-to-one video communication to drive better engagement and close rates. Reps are making individual prospecting and follow-up videos. They’re standing out by putting themselves on camera and recording helpful, highly tailored product demos.