Here are the numbers behind those questions, starting with Wyzowl’s 2026 survey of 266 respondents and Wistia’s analysis, which surveyed 900+ professionals and analyzed more than 13 million videos and 79 million hours of viewing data. Additional data from HubSpot’s marketing research, IAB’s video advertising research, and Airmeet’s webinar statistics add context on how businesses are using video, advertising, webinars etc.
What the 2026 Video Marketing Data Shows
Nine in ten businesses now use video in their marketing, and 82% of marketers say it gives them a good return. That moves the decision for most teams to which formats deserve the budget, how much of the work AI can take over, and where viewers are actually watching.
- 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
- 82% of marketers say video gives them a good return
- 49% say short-form video delivers the best ROI of any format
- 63% of video marketers have used AI tools to create or edit videos
- 73% of B2B marketers say their highest-quality leads come from webinars
- US digital video ad spending is projected to cross $80 billion in 2026
Video Marketing Statistics 2026
Video is now a regular part of marketing for most businesses, and the numbers show just how widespread it is. Most marketers still plan to use video across their 2026 campaigns, and many expect to keep their spend the same or raise it. Here’s where adoption and investment stand right now.
- 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, matching the joint all-time high reported in Wyzowl’s survey.
- 93% of those already doing video marketing say video is an important part of their strategy
- 67% of businesses that haven’t started using video plan to start in 2026.
- 92% plan to spend the same or more on video this year
91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and among people already doing video marketing, 93% call it an important part of their overall strategy. These figures show that video is already widely adopted among the businesses surveyed.
Businesses that haven’t started using video yet have their reasons. Roughly a quarter say video isn’t necessary, another quarter say it’s too expensive, and smaller shares cite lack of time or uncertainty about where to start. Even so, 67% of non-users plan to start in 2026, so that gap keeps closing.
Video is getting more attention, but that doesn’t mean every team is putting a large share of its budget into it. The numbers provide a snapshot of how marketers report allocating and tracking their video spending.
2. What Marketers Are Actually Making
Video isn’t just a social media format anymore. Marketers are using it across the customer journey, from explaining a product and supporting sales to helping customers and training employees. The numbers below show just how wide that use has become.
Video types by share of marketers producing them
Who makes the video
Top use cases
Product demos, sales videos, customer service clips, training material, and onboarding round out the rest, which means video now shows up in sales calls and support tickets as often as it shows up in a social feed.
Video Marketing ROI Statistics
Views are only one way marketers measure video performance. They also track engagement, leads, sales, support queries and so on.
82% of marketers say video gives them a good return, though how they measure that return varies.
How marketers measure ROI
Reported outcomes
- Increased brand awareness and product understanding (93%)
- Helped generate leads (85%)
- Directly increased sales (83%)
- Reduced the number of support queries (57%)
Short-Form Video Statistics 2026: Winning the ROI Conversation
Short-form video is now common in marketing. Here’s how it compares with long-form video and live streaming when it comes to ROI.
60% of marketers now use short-form video, the most common format in HubSpot’s research.
Which format delivers the best ROI
Consumers back these numbers up: 73% say they prefer short-form video when learning about a product. That doesn’t mean everything should run 30 seconds; it means short-form is winning the jobs that are genuinely short jobs: quick intros, feature highlights, and social hooks.
Wyzowl’s survey gives a look at both how often businesses use these platforms and how effective marketers find them. The numbers aren’t the same across every platform:
- YouTube: used by 82% of businesses, rated effective by 69% of video marketers
- LinkedIn: used by 70%, rated effective by 50%
- Instagram: used by 69%, rated effective by 56%
- Facebook: used by 66%, rated effective by 55%
Wistia’s data comes from actual video uploads, so it shows a slightly different side of platform usage. It gives an idea of where teams are putting their videos:
- LinkedIn (81%)
- YouTube (76%)
- Instagram (roughly half)
- Facebook (just under half)
- TikTok (fewer than a quarter)
That gap between LinkedIn and TikTok usage is worth remembering before assuming a platform’s popularity means it’ll convert for your audience.
YouTube Marketing Statistics 2026
YouTube is still a big part of video marketing. Between its audience size and how many marketers rely on it, YouTube remains a widely used video marketing platform in 2026.
- More than 2.5 billion active users
- Reaches 77% of the leading smartphone-app audience in the US
- 64% of marketers with a decade or more of experience actively use it
- 67% plan to use it more in 2026
YouTube YouTube can support longer-term discoverability because videos can continue appearing in search results and recommendations after publication. A useful tutorial can continue to show up in search results and recommendations months after it is published, while videos on most feed-based platforms have a much shorter window of visibility.
AI Video Creation Statistics
AI is becoming a regular part of video production. Marketers are using it to handle tasks like writing scripts, editing footage, adding captions, translating content, and turning longer videos into shorter clips. Here’s how many marketers have picked these tools up and where they’re actually using them.
- 63% of video marketers have used AI tools to create or edit marketing videos, up from 51% the year before
- 62% of teams are using AI in their video workflow or planning to start soon
- 80% of marketers use AI for content creation
Where AI actually shows up
Most teams aren’t using AI to make an entire video from scratch. They’re using it to get through time-consuming parts of the work faster, from writing the script to cleaning up the final edit.
Mobile Video Consumption Stats: Where People Actually Watch
For video podcasts specifically, the available data shows that mobile accounts for the largest share of viewing, making mobile-friendly presentation important. The viewing data shows just how much mobile has become part of the video experience. Over 60% of global web traffic now comes from mobile, and video follows the same pattern. Where video podcast viewing happens:
Practically, that means captions, tight framing, and a strong first few seconds matter as much as production value. Captions can make video content easier to follow when viewers are watching without sound.
How Long Should a Video Be
Video length depends a lot on what you’re trying to get the viewer to do. A short product video and a long webinar serve very different purposes, and the numbers reflect that.
- 71% of marketers rate videos between 30 seconds and two minutes as most effective
- Videos between 30 and 60 minutes drove the highest click rates, with videos over an hour close behind
These aren’t in conflict once you separate the job each video does. A 45-second product teaser and a 45-minute webinar aren’t competing for the same viewer or the same moment. The better question isn’t how long a video should be; it’s how much time this particular viewer actually needs.
B2B Video Marketing Statistics: Webinars and Lead Generation
For B2B teams, video isn’t limited to social posts. Webinars remain one format B2B marketers use to share information, generate leads, and reach potential customers.
- 8 in 10 teams say LinkedIn is their primary place to share video
- 73% of marketers say their highest-quality leads come from webinars
- 91% of marketers who run webinars call them successful
- 29% of marketing webinars come from tech and SaaS companies
Close to half of webinar views now happen on replay rather than live, which changes how teams should think about them. The live event can also provide source material for clips and on-demand content. Registrations also cluster heavily between 8 and 10am.
Video Repurposing Statistics: Getting More From Every Video
Many teams are turning one video into several pieces of content. Longer videos can be cut into shorter clips and shared across social platforms to bring more people back to the website.
- 76% of companies publish at least one video a month
- More than half turn that footage into social clips
- 60% use those clips specifically to drive traffic back to their website
- 57% of teams spend more time making videos than promoting them
Where teams post the clips:
Ecommerce Video Marketing Statistics: Video and Purchase Decisions
When people are deciding whether to buy something, seeing the product in action can make the decision easier. Explainer videos, demos, and short product videos give buyers a quick way to understand what they’re getting before they spend money.
- 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn about a product
- 85% say they’ve been convinced to buy a product after watching a video
- 80% say they’ve bought or downloaded an app after watching a demo video
These findings suggest that many consumers use video to learn about products before making a purchase decision. A short demo can show how something works, while an explainer can answer basic questions without asking the buyer to read through a long product page.
When researching a purchase, 63% would rather watch a short video, and only 12% would choose an article. So if you run an e-commerce store, a short product video can do a lot of work early on, when buyers just want to get a quick sense of what the product is.
Digital Video Ad Spend 2026
Video budgets can cover several different costs, including producing the video, promoting it, and paying for digital video advertising. The 2025 spending data shows how much companies put into production and promotion, while the 2026 ad figures show where digital video advertising is heading.
Production spend in 2025:
Promotion spend:
The advertising numbers are bigger still:
Video Podcasts Are Having a Real Moment
Podcasting is no longer limited to audio. Video is now part of the format too, with a growing share of listeners watching episodes and spending more time with video versions. You can find more numbers in these video podcast statistics.
- 82% of weekly podcast consumers actively watched video podcasts in Q3 2025, ahead of the 78% who stuck to audio-only
- Among Gen Z listeners, that number jumps to 90%
- 71% find video podcasts more engaging
- Video podcasts see 47% higher engagement than audio versions
- A typical session runs about 28 minutes
- Live-streamed episodes get over three times the real-time engagement of prerecorded ones
Spotify Video Podcast Growth Statistics
Spotify started as an audio app, but a lot of people now watch video podcasts on it. Here’s how fast that has grown.
- More than 500 million Spotify users have streamed a video podcast, up nearly 50% from a year earlier
- By late 2025, Spotify’s catalog had grown to nearly half a million video podcasts, and more than 390 million users had streamed one
- Video shows in the Spotify Partner Program have seen more than 45% average growth in consumption hours since the program’s launch
- Total monthly payouts to enrolled shows have increased by more than a third since Spotify widened eligibility earlier this year
So if you’re planning where to publish video episodes, Spotify is worth treating as a video platform in its own right.
Video SEO Statistics: Where Placement Actually Matters
Putting a video on a page doesn’t mean people will watch it. The page itself matters. Wistia’s data shows that some pages get more video plays than others, while event pages tend to see stronger engagement because visitors are already there for a specific reason.
- Homepages, video galleries, and product pages get the highest play rates
- Event pages saw the highest engagement, since visitors there already chose to invest their attention before pressing play
Where you place a video on your website can influence how much attention it receives. Visitors are more likely to watch when the video provides information that matches their reason for visiting the page.
Accessibility Is Becoming Standard
90% of teams are already taking steps to make their videos more accessible, starting with captions but increasingly including transcripts and cleaner on-screen text. Accessibility is also becoming more important as regulations such as the European Accessibility Act introduce accessibility requirements for covered products and services. Either way, it’s easier to build in from the start of a script than to add after editing is finished.
Where This Leaves Marketers
A video strategy can look very different depending on what a team wants from it. Some formats are built for quick attention, others have a longer shelf life, and webinars give people more time with a subject. AI is also changing parts of the production process, particularly scripting and editing.
- Short clips win at quick discovery
- YouTube can support longer-term discoverability after publication
- Webinars can support B2B education and provide material for replay and repurposing
- AI is increasingly being used to speed up tasks such as scripting, editing, captioning, and repurposing
So instead of chasing the latest format, choose the one that fits your goal and pay attention to what viewers do after they watch.
FAQs:
Keep it modest and produce in-house to begin with. Almost 40% of companies spent under $5,000 on video production in 2025, and 59% of marketers make their videos in-house. These figures show that some companies operate with relatively small production budgets, although the appropriate budget depends on the team’s goals and production requirements.
82% of marketers say it gives them a good ROI, with reported gains in brand awareness, web traffic, leads, and sales.
Short-form, according to 49% of marketers surveyed by HubSpot, is ahead of long-form at 29% and live-streaming at 25%.
63% have used AI tools to make or edit marketing videos, most often for scripting, editing, and captions rather than full generation.
It depends on the job. Short clips rate highest for general effectiveness, but Wistia found 30- to 60-minute videos actually drove the most clicks when the goal is action rather than attention.
Sources at a Glance
- Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2026: adoption, budgets, video types, ROI, consumer habits, platform usage, and effectiveness
- Wistia’s State of Video Report 2026: platforms, social clips, video length, placement, production and promotion budgets, AI, accessibility
- HubSpot’s 2026 State of Marketing report: short-form, long-form, and live-streaming ROI
- HubSpot’s marketing statistics roundup: short-form usage, consumer preference, YouTube marketer stats, AI for content creation
- IAB’s digital video ad spend report: US video ad spend and share of TV and video budgets
- Airmeet’s webinar statistics: webinar leads, success rate, SaaS share, registration timing
- Airmeet’s video podcast statistics: podcast engagement, session length, device split
- Edison Research’s Podcast Consumer 2026 study: video vs. audio-only podcast viewing
- Contrast’s webinar statistics: share of webinar views on replay
- Backlinko’s YouTube user statistics: YouTube’s active users
- Statista’s US smartphone app reach data: YouTube’s mobile audience reach
- Statista’s mobile web traffic data: mobile share of global web traffic
- Bird & Bird’s European Accessibility Act overview: accessibility regulation
