Updated for 2026 • B2B + AI Read time: ~9–11 mins
By Clwyd Probert • Last updated: 29 December 2025
How Powerful Is Video Marketing for B2B Growth in 2026?
Video marketing is powerful for B2B because it compresses complex ideas into something buyers actually consume, builds trust at scale, and creates measurable pipeline when paired with clear CTAs, analytics, and distribution. In 2025–26 benchmarks, most businesses use video and most marketers plan to keep or increase spend, making it a must-have, not a nice-to-have.
This is the modern version of our original 2017 post—rebuilt for today’s buying committees, AI-assisted content workflows, and the reality that B2B discovery now happens across search, social, and answer engines. If you want a strategic programme (not a random pile of videos), you’re in the right place.
Why does video marketing work so well for B2B buyers?
In B2B, you’re rarely selling a “quick win”. You’re selling a decision—often to a committee—where risk, trust, and clarity matter more than hype.
1) It reduces cognitive load
When your offer is complex (software, services, transformation), video lets you show the “before/after” and make the value obvious in seconds.
2) It creates trust faster
Seeing real people explain real outcomes beats reading a generic paragraph—especially when buyers are sceptical and time-poor.
3) It supports internal selling
The right video becomes a shareable asset that champions can forward to finance, IT, leadership—without you being in the room.
And buyers are already doing this. Google-referenced research shared by Communicate Magazine reports that around 70% of B2B buyers watch videos at some point in their purchase journey (published 2024).
The punchline: if your prospect can’t understand your value in under a minute, you’re forcing them to do homework. Most won’t.
What do current 2025–2026 benchmarks say about ROI and adoption?
Here’s the “are we late to the party?” answer: yes, most of your competitors are already using video—and many are doubling down.
Fresh benchmarks (useful for stakeholder buy-in)
- 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool and 93% of marketers consider it integral (Wyzowl “Video Marketing Statistics 2026”, based on survey data gathered in late 2025).
- 92% of marketers plan to spend the same or more on video in 2026 (Wyzowl, late-2025 survey results).
- Only 5% of companies reported cutting video budgets, while over half planned to invest more in 2025 (Wistia, 26 March 2025).
- For distribution, YouTube remains dominant, and LinkedIn is widely used for video by B2B marketers (Wyzowl platform usage data).
ROI doesn’t come from “posting more”. It comes from the right buyer-stage match, a clear next step, and measurement that ties attention to outcomes.
A useful B2B mental model: video is a trust multiplier. Your job is to attach that trust to a next action (demo, download, consultation, reply).
If you’re building video as part of a wider growth system (SEO + content + CRM), our Inbound Marketing services approach is designed to connect content to pipeline—not vanity metrics.
Your format choice should be dictated by where the buyer is in the journey and what uncertainty you need to remove.
| Format |
Best for |
What it should answer |
Strong CTA |
| Explainer / positioning |
Awareness → Consideration |
“What is this and why should I care?” |
Read the guide / subscribe |
| Product demo |
Consideration → Evaluation |
“How does it work in the real world?” |
Book a demo |
| Webinar / deep dive |
Evaluation |
“What’s the approach, risks, and proof?” |
Register / request assessment |
| Customer story |
Evaluation → Decision |
“Will this work for someone like us?” |
Talk to an expert |
| Short social clips |
Awareness |
“What’s the insight in 20–40 seconds?” |
Watch the full version |
Wistia’s 2025 reporting also highlights that product videos, webinars/live streams, and educational videos are among the most common—and commonly successful—types businesses continue to prioritise.
If you want deeper tactical guidance, see our video marketing strategy guide and our B2B video marketing breakdown.
How AI changes B2B video: production, distribution, and trust
AI isn’t just a “make videos faster” thing. It changes how you plan, how you personalise, and how you prove value.
AI adoption is accelerating
Wistia reports AI usage in video creation jumped from 18% to 41% year-on-year, with another 19% planning to start soon (26 March 2025).
Accessibility is now table stakes
Caption usage has increased by 572% since 2021 on Wistia—and AI is a big reason teams can finally do this at scale (Wistia, 26 March 2025).
Distribution is shifting too
LinkedIn continues to push deeper into video. Recent Reuters reporting highlights LinkedIn’s move into video tools and content partnerships (published 25 August 2025).
Strategic note (TARS voice, minus the sarcasm): if your AI workflow produces content that’s inaccurate or generic, you don’t get efficiency—you get reputation debt.
Use AI where it actually helps (and where it doesn’t)
- Great for: ideation, scripting outlines, captions, translation, clip extraction, title/thumbnail testing.
- Needs human judgement: messaging, proof points, compliance, customer claims, and anything your buyer will fact-check.
A practical 6-step B2B video strategy you can run in 30 days
This is the version that works when you’re busy, slightly understaffed, and still expected to “do more content”. You’re welcome.
- Choose one outcome. Pick a single measurable goal (e.g., increase qualified demo requests). If you can’t measure it, it’s a hobby.
- Map buyer questions to stages. List the top questions asked by prospects in awareness, consideration, and evaluation. Make one video per question.
- Write for clarity (not cleverness). Use: problem → insight → evidence → next step. Keep intros short; deliver the point early.
- Produce lean, then polish. Prioritise audio + lighting. Use AI for captions, edits, and repurposing, but keep a human review step.
- Distribute where attention lives. Put the full version on your site, then slice clips for LinkedIn and email. Align with your social media marketing plan.
- Measure, learn, iterate. Connect video performance to your CRM. Wistia notes that more than half of marketers connect their video platform to CRM/email tools to track video analytics alongside marketing data (Wistia, 26 March 2025).
If your tech stack is HubSpot (or you want it to be), strong measurement depends on clean setup. Our HubSpot onboarding work is designed to get tracking, lifecycle stages, and reporting aligned—so video contributes to pipeline in a way leadership actually trusts.
How to measure video marketing ROI (without lying to yourself)
Views are not ROI. Views are… optimism. Here’s a cleaner way to measure B2B outcomes.
Use a stage-based scorecard
- Awareness: play rate, average engagement, new visitors to key pages.
- Consideration: click-through to supporting assets, email replies, meeting bookings.
- Evaluation: lead form completion, demo requests, sales cycle velocity, influenced opportunities.
- Decision: close rate on video-influenced deals, retention signals, expansion triggers.
Want a tactical win? Put a clear CTA at the end of your key evaluation videos. Wistia’s benchmark data shows lead gen forms embedded in video can convert strongly—nearly a quarter of viewers completing them in their dataset (Wistia, 26 March 2025).
How video supports SEO, AEO, and GEO (and why that matters in 2026)
Video doesn’t replace SEO—it amplifies it. And in an AI-first discovery world, the surrounding text matters just as much as the video itself.
SEO basics
Add transcripts, descriptive headings, and embed video on pages that already have intent (services, case studies, contact). Then reinforce with internal links.
AEO & GEO basics
AI systems extract “answer-ready” text. Put your best 2–3 sentence explanations directly under headings so they pass the standalone test.
Quick placement tip: Wistia reports that videos on contact pages often see some of the highest play rates (Wistia, 26 March 2025). If you’re not using video to support conversion on bottom-funnel pages, you’re leaving money on the table.
When you should bring in a strategic partner (and what to ask)
If you’ve got a backlog of “we should do video” and no measurable system, you don’t need more ideas—you need a strategy, a workflow, and reporting you trust.
Questions worth asking any partner (including us)
- How will you tie video to pipeline (not just views)?
- What’s the plan for distribution (LinkedIn, email, sales enablement), not just production?
- How will you use AI responsibly (accuracy, brand voice, accessibility)?
- How will you integrate measurement with HubSpot/CRM reporting?
For leaders thinking bigger than “marketing content”, video becomes a strategic capability—especially when paired with AI enablement. If that’s your lane, start with AI strategy consulting and then we can map a practical roadmap together.
Ready to make video pay for itself?
If you want a B2B video strategy connected to SEO, HubSpot, and real revenue—let’s talk.
Book a consultation
Frequently Asked Questions
Does video marketing really work for B2B companies?
Yes—when each video answers a real buyer question, includes a clear next step, and is measured against pipeline outcomes (not views). Treat video as a system: strategy → production → distribution → measurement.
Which B2B video formats perform best in 2026?
Most B2B teams see strong results from product explainers/demos, educational how-tos, webinars, customer stories, and short social clips that push to deeper assets. Match the format to buyer stage and keep CTAs obvious.
How long should B2B videos be?
As short as possible, as long as necessary. Short clips win attention; longer webinars can convert well if the topic is high-intent and the CTA is placed smartly (especially near the end).
Should we use AI tools to create B2B videos?
Use AI for speed (captions, edits, repurposing, translation), but keep human review for messaging accuracy and brand voice. AI should support strategy, not replace it.
What’s the best place to host B2B videos?
Choose a host that provides fast playback, strong analytics, and CRM integrations. Then embed videos on high-intent pages (services, case studies, contact) and distribute clips via LinkedIn/email.
How do you measure video marketing ROI in B2B?
Track play rate and engagement, then connect video interactions to conversion events (forms, demos), influenced opportunities, and closed-won revenue. Stage-based reporting beats “views” every day of the week.
How does video help SEO, AEO, and GEO?
Add transcripts, descriptive metadata, strong internal linking, and answer-first copy around the embed. This helps traditional search engines and AI systems understand and reuse your content in results and answers.
References & further reading
Note: Statistics and platform features can change quickly. Always validate benchmarks against your own audience and your current funnel data.