Enterprise video experienced a massive increase in usage during the first quarter as many people shifted to remote work during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Brightcove’s newest Global Video Index, which the company said analyzes hundreds of millions of recent data points from its customers globally, enterprise videos across marketing, sales, and corporate communications overall saw a 91% increase. The month of March, which was when many enterprises shifted to completely remote workforces, accounted for more than 41% of all video views from the quarter. The second half of the month accounted for 23% of the quarters’ total video views.
“The pandemic has been video's evolutionary event. Whether it’s holding a company meeting or hosting an industry conference, enterprises will continue growing their need for secure, reliable video technologies to stay connected both internally and with the market and customers,” said Jim O’Neill, principal analyst and author of Brightcove’s Global Video Index, in a statement. “As we move through Q2, we can expect to see more use of video as well as more unique and innovative use cases as organizations across the globe continue to stay connected with their employees and customers.”
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Brightcove said the data suggests that business continuity is heavily dependent on having access to video technology and that it “supports the notion that adopting video as a core communications strategy is an essential component to maintaining business continuity.”
Brightcove tracked big increases in U.S.-based video consumption as many people streamed a lot more video while they were stuck at home. There was a 23% year over year increase in video views and a 90% increase in time spent viewing video. Video usage as a whole increased significantly in March and accounted for 43% of all video views and 62% of time spent viewing video during the quarter. Video views in the final two weeks of March, following the declaration of a state of emergency, made up 29% of the quarter’s video views.
More than half (54%) of all time spent watching video from enterprises happened between March 16 and 31.