Brands are poised to ramp up their use of live-streaming video in 2018, according to the 2018 Live Video Streaming Benchmark Report, released by Brandlive and IBM Cloud Video. 84% of respondents said that live-streaming video is either important, very important or a top priority in their 2018 marketing mix, comparing favorably with the 86% of who said the same about pre-recorded video.

53% of respondents said their budgets for live video will increase in 2018, with another 41% saying they’ll stay the same. In terms of the benefits of live video, “achieve deeper interaction with audiences” topped the list, cited by 78% of respondents, followed by “make videos more accessible” (66%) and “add human element to digital marketing” (59%).

The most popular external uses of live video were eCommerce sales (61%), virtual tours (54%) and expand in-person events (48%). The most popular internal uses of live video were train retail associates (56%), train sales reps (50%) and CEO town halls (48%).

The survey included 200 participants, a third of whom are in retail and sell physical products. The full report, with additional data, is available for download here.