B2B Video Marketing: Strategies that Drive Demand in 2025
Want more customers? You need more videos. A whopping 87% of B2B marketers say video drives more sales and leads to their brands.
And with more than three in four B2Bs using video in the past 12 months, if your company’s not on the bandwagon, you’re already falling behind.
The good news is that B2B video for demand generation is significantly easier with the help of modern tools. This guide explains everything you should know about getting started, plus how to plan effective content, acquire equipment or production tools, and measure video performance and distribution strategies.
- Why Do B2Bs Need Video for Demand Generation?
- Creating, Planning, and Launching Effective B2B Video Content
- Answering Your Questions
- The Easiest Way to Build Your First B2B Video
Why Do B2Bs Need Video for Demand Generation?
You’ve probably heard that content is king — which for B2Bs, is only partially true. It’s more accurate to say that video content reigns supreme, which is the preferred form of content for 90% of b2B buyers.
This isn’t necessarily all that surprising. Think about the reasons why you watch videos: they simplify complex information, offer visuals, and summarize details in less time.
We’ll let the stats speak for themselves:
- Video is preferable. Around 59% of B2B decision-makers prefer watching a video over reading a blog to learn about a product or service. Think about it: decision-makers are busy, tired, and likely overwhelmed by all their options. They’re just looking for a video to explain complex topics quickly. Which leads to our next point:
- Video is simple. At least, compared to complex articles, whitepapers, or blog posts. Research shows that people remember around 95% of a video message compared to just 10% when converted into text. Remember: you’re not always chatting directly with developers, and not all decision-makers will have the technical know-how to explain your product. But they can share a comprehensive tutorial video with their CTO, DevOps team, and other stakeholders in the boardroom.
- Video lowers friction. By ‘friction,’ we mean anything that prevents a lead from requesting more information. Because it’s a lot easier to watch a 15-minute video than fill out a Research shows that B2B websites with videos have a conversion rate of 4.8% (compared to 2.9% for those without video).
Of course, B2B video marketing might sound intimidating at first blush — you need equipment, talent, and editing chops, after all. But getting started is a lot less difficult than you’d think. It could also give you a massive competitive advantage: as much as 49% faster revenue growth, which easily offsets the barrier to entry.
But How Does B2B Video Generate Leads?
Great question. And it mostly boils down to the B2B funnel compared to B2C (business-to-consumer).
In B2C, there are fewer lead generation stages (think Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action). They likely don’t need to report to anyone else to make purchasing decisions. This is one of the reasons why the average B2C cycle is around 19 days long.
This looks quite different for B2B brands, which have around 84 days on average per cycle. That’s nearly 4.5x longer than the average B2C funnel and requires far more meetings, introductions, and organizational buy-in.
So, how does this relate to B2B video? Because most B2Bs are more complex than B2Cs. Video cuts to the quick by creating fewer hoops for prospects to jump through, simplifies complex topics quickly, and quickly reaches decision-makers who are short on time (and who just want to know how something works).
⚡Related: Breaking Down the Marketing Funnel in B2B
Of course, that’s not to say all B2B videos look alike. Many of them serve different purposes and end goals.
Bearing in mind that we’re looking at demand generation here, let’s quickly evaluate the different formats below.
B2B Video Types and Their Applications
There are five common video content types you can use for B2B demand generation: product demos, thought leadership interviews, webinars, testimonials, and tutorials.
Here’s a closer look:
Product Demonstrations
- Average length: Up to 47 minutes
- Time to create: 14 days
- Best stage: Bottom of the funnel
Product demos give buyers a hands-on look at what your product actually does. Whether it’s a screen share walkthrough, narrated video, or live presentation, the goal is to showcase features, address objections, and guide the viewer toward making a purchase decision (hence, why it’s a
Don’t forget to:
- Include callouts, chapters, or timestamps. This helps viewers skip to what matters most to them.
- Pair your demo with a one-pager or ROI calculator. This can help you drive more conversions directly from the video.
- Focus on real-world use cases, not just a list of features. Show how your product solves actual problems so viewers can put your solutions into practice.
Thought Leadership Interviews
- Average length: Up to 90 minutes
- Time to create: 14 to 28 days
- Best stage: Top of funnel
Thought leadership interviews position your brand as a credible voice in the industry. Whether you’re talking to a partner, client, or internal expert, these videos offer original insights that can educate and inspire your audience (without necessarily coming across as a hard sell).
The best thought leadership B2B videos are usually:
- Recycled and promoted on LinkedIn. This is especially true if your guest has a strong network.
- Created with consistent branding. This includes a regular host (or hosts) who know the subject matter well.
- Summarize key takeaways in a downloadable guide. You could also create a blog post for added SEO value.
Webinars and Educational Content
- Average length: Up to 47 minutes
- Time to create: 14 days
- Best stage: Top to middle of funnel
Webinars and educational content offer a structured way to engage leads while offering value-packed content for viewers at multiple levels of the funnel (both top and middle). They’re great for walking through trends, teaching frameworks, or answering common questions in real time. And as a bonus, they double as both lead gen and nurture assets.
Some suggestions for making the most of your webinars:
- Gate the on-demand version with a short form. This can help you capture interest even after the event, but keep in mind it needs to be highly valuable to convert.
- Bring in guest speakers to expand your reach and credibility. Existing customers or clients are a great opportunity here.
- Use polls or Q&A features to drive interaction during the live session. Just try not to make this cheesy: decision-makers might not be impressed by ‘cute’ questions (like ‘what’s the name of your fintech startup?’) and more interested in crowd-sourced insights (like ‘what was your solution for building a payment gateway in your app?’).
Customer Testimonials and Case Studies
- Average length: Up to 2 minutes
- Time to create: 5 days
- Best stage: Middle of funnel
It’s no surprise that short, story-driven videos can be highly persuasive — which is why testimonial videos can help build trust quickly. When real customers share what they achieved with your product, the social proof is more convincing than any brochure or social media post.
Some suggestions for pulling this off:
- Focus on emotion and outcomes. For example, what was life like before and after? What are your favorite features? How are you putting them into practice?
- Keep the script light. Natural delivery is more believable than a memorized pitch. If your video subject does want notes, encourage them to leave bullet points.
- Add testimonial videos to landing pages or newsletters. Another idea is sales decks: let reps counter objections using real-life stories.
Technical Tutorials
- Average length: Up to 30 minutes
- Time to create: 14 days
- Best stage: Bottom of funnel
Technical tutorials are exactly what they sound like: a play-by-play guide covering how to use a product, feature, service, or platform. The goal is to support viewers with practical guidance and provide comprehensive descriptions, clarifications, and links to all resources mentioned.
A few best practices to consider:
- Add graphics and captions where necessary. This is especially useful for users with accessibility concerns.
- Turn especially juicy tidbits into social media micro-clips. That way, you maximize the reach of each video while repurposing content for other marketing tasks.
- Create a written version for people who prefer technical written tutorials. This will be easy to do with transcription software and a blog post or GitHub repository.
💡Related: Writing Guides for B2B Brands
Creating, Planning, and Launching Effective B2B Video Content
So now that you’ve seen different types of content and their applications, it’s time to find different ways to put them into practice.
This, of course, starts by building a plan, which we cover more in our guide on how to create effective video content for developers.
Just looking for the SparkNotes? Start by:
- Setting clear objectives and goals. This means establishing expectations for what your video should accomplish and why. A great option here is implementing SMART goals: things that are Strategic, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. For example, you might want to create 10 testimonial videos in the next six months that measurably improves conversion rates by at least 5% by the end of Q4.
- Understanding your audience needs. Vanity content has no place in B2B. What does your audience want to see from you, and why? You can check this with focus groups, polls, or direct asks on social media. And don’t neglect the power of analyzing your data, either. If you see lots of activity around tutorials, for example, you may want to prioritize them more than lower-performing content.
- Developing a content calendar. How often should you release content? Is there a sustainable pace you want (or need) to follow? It may be wise to start with a cadence of two per month or one every other week, even if you don’t necessarily need the lead time.
- Budgeting considerations. B2B video certainly isn’t free, but that’s not to say it should cost thousands of dollars. You could do everything in-house to save money, but it may cost time and resources. Outsourcing may cost extra up front, but it will certainly be faster and less resource-intensive for your team.
On that note, let’s dive into your options for equipment, editing, and production.
1. Production Essentials for B2B Videos
No matter what type of videos you’re creating, you’re going to need some way of producing them. You have two major options: in-house, or outsourcing.
If you have a small team and/or tight turnaround windows, outsourcing to a third party can fast-track quality while saving time. You could opt for a freelancer to save extra money, but remember you may get what you pay for. Agencies are often a suitable fit if you have plenty of budget but limited time.
For teams with internal bandwidth, however, DIY is doable. Just keep your gear and software up to par. If you don’t feel comfortable with post-production, don’t hesitate to contact an expert.
At a minimum, you’ll need the following equipment:
- A 1080p camera or recording tool
- An external mic
- Other recording accessories
And one of the following editing tools:
Keep in mind good lighting and clear audio go a long way in making your video feel professional, even if it’s shot via Zoom or your cell phone. If you can go for clear framing, good lighting, and crisp sound, you’ll naturally rise above the bottom 50% of your competition.
Not sure how you want to structure your videos? Check out our Video Tutorials for some examples of agency work, plus possible templates for DIY.
2. Distribution Strategies for B2B Video
Now that you have your B2B video in hand, let’s talk about actually putting it out into the world.
You’ve got several different strategies — think YouTube, social media, and embedding videos in other content like your website(s) — although there are several key best practices that stay the same between all options.
First up is organic optimization (aka SEO), which is often platform-specific depending on the route you want to go. With YouTube, for example, adding a description with keywords, resources, and relevant links will be key. On platforms like social media, captions and subtitles are pretty much non-negotiable.
Here’s a quick breakdown of optimizations by platform type:
| Platform | Best Practices for Organic Video SEO | Suggested Video Types |
| – Add native video with captions- Use strong hooks in first 3 seconds- Post from personal + company pages | Thought leadership, testimonials | |
| YouTube | – Optimize titles/descriptions with keywords- Add chapters & closed captions- Use keyword-rich tags & thumbnails | Tutorials, product demos, webinars |
| – Upload native video (not YouTube links)- Use short, engaging intros- Add subtitles for silent autoplay | Testimonials, case studies, thought leadership | |
| – Post Reels with trends/audio- Use hashtags for discoverability- Add captions and brief CTAs | Micro-tutorials, thought leadership, testimonials | |
| TikTok | – Hook viewers in first 1–2 seconds- Keep under 60s- Use on-screen text & trending audio | Product walkthroughs, thought leadership |
Next up are paid promotion options, commonly referred to as advertising or digital ads. These also vary between platforms and depend on the audience you’re trying to reach. Although FYI, they definitely aren’t free.
Here are some video paid promotion options (plus best practices) to get you started:
| Platform | Best Practices | Use Cases |
| LinkedIn Ads | – Target by job title, industry, company size- Keep under 30s seconds- Add lead-gen forms | Webinars, case studies |
| YouTube Ads | – Use skippable in-stream ads- Hook in first 5 seconds- Retarget viewers | Product demos |
| Google Ads | – Use video in Display Network or Discovery campaigns- Optimize landing pages | Tutorials, thought leadership |
| Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram) | – Use vertical format- Add text overlays- A/B test with/without audio | Testimonials, webinars |
| Twitter/X Ads | – Keep under 15 seconds- Pair with a strong CTA- Use captions | Webinars, tutorials |
At the end of the day, remember that videos don’t have to live on digital media alone. Physical events or trade shows may be options. It all boils down to your specific audience, business goals, brand, and overall use case.
“It might be the best case scenario to showcase a specific portion of a video or a demo at a physical event…Not everything is just YouTube.” – Kevin Blanco, Senior DevRel Advocate at Appsmith
Want to learn more about sharing your B2B videos? Check out our guide on syndicating developer content.
3. Measuring Video Performance for Demand Generation
It’s one thing to have a great-looking video, but quite another to have one that actually drives results. But there’s no way to know unless you set performance benchmarks. You need to choose KPIs that track lead conversions and ultimately guide your decisions for making content in the future.
To measure performance, start with core metrics:
- View count
- Watch time
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Conversion rate
Of course, your measurement methods (and expectations) should depend on the type of video in question.
For top-of-funnel content like interviews or webinars, engagement metrics (think average watch duration or social shares) can tell you how compelling your content is. Bottom-of-funnel videos like demos or testimonials might prioritize actions taken after the video (clicks, signups, or form fills).
That all sounds well and good, but we should address the elephant in the room: attribution for B2B videos is notoriously challenging. For example, a prospect may watch a webinar, read a whitepaper, and then request a demo days later. Which asset should get the credit, and how can you tell from a long B2B cycle?
One way to do this is to install multi-touch attribution models, which you can build with tools Google Analytics, Cometly, and/or Attribution. You could also use UTM-tagged video links to better understand where video fits in the buyer journey (like when someone clicks a video from what specific piece).
At the end of the day, look at the general performance of your video content piece. If you’re A/B testing (which you should), you should see what types of content get a lead into your funnel.
You can also use your insights to guide iterative improvements and decide which forms of content are best performing for your brand. Video content is iterative, even if it’s not as easy as editing a technical tutorial.
Answering Your Questions
What’s the minimum viable equipment for professional-looking B2B videos?
You will need: a 1080p camera (a smartphone will work), an external microphone (costing $50-200), a basic lighting setup ($100-300), and editing software (free options like DaVinci Resolve work well). Total investment: $200-800 for decent quality. Here is a comprehensive overview of audio and video equipment.
How do I measure ROI from B2B video marketing with long sales cycles?
Use multi-touch attribution to track video engagement alongside other touchpoints. Set up UTM parameters for video links, track video-to-lead conversion rates, and measure assisted conversions rather than last-click attribution. Focus on engagement metrics (watch time, completion rates) as leading indicators.
Should I create videos in-house or outsource production?
In-house works best when you have: dedicated team member time, consistent content needs, and technical expertise. Outsource when you need: faster turnaround, higher production quality, or lack internal bandwidth. Many companies start with outsourced flagship videos, then bring simpler formats in-house.
How often should I publish B2B video content?
Start with 2 videos per month to establish consistency without overwhelming your team. High-performing companies often publish weekly, but establishing a consistent rhythm is the primary focus.
What’s the biggest mistake B2B companies make with video marketing?
Creating videos without clear objectives or audience understanding. Many companies produce “vanity content” that looks good but doesn’t address specific buyer needs or pain points. Always start with: who is this for, what problem does it solve, and what action should viewers take?
The Easiest Way to Build Your First B2B Video
B2B videos could transform your lead generation strategy — but only if you know how to do it right. Highly technical audiences don’t need extra distractions or cute social clips, but they do want videos that are useful, educational, and help themselves and their developers solve real-world problems.
That’s second nature to Draft.dev: We’ve worked with hundreds of developer-focused companies on thousands of articles, offering demand generation services and video tutorials that move the needle for fast-growing technical brands.
Book a discovery call with Draft.dev to request more information about our B2B video tutorial services.
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