Video isn’t the future of online visibility, it’s the present. Almost 95% of internet users watch videos every month. And it’s estimated that the average US adult will spend over 60% of their screen time viewing videos.
The trick for marketers is having the latest strategies available to attract and convert this huge, engaged audience.
A lot has changed in the last 12 months. So we’ve rounded up the most influential video marketing trends for 2026, plus tips and examples to help you press play on growth this year.
Contents
- Short-form video will remain key for brand awareness
- More AI-created videos will lower the creative bar
- Creator-style content and UGC will be even more popular
- Demand for live video will increase
- More videos will feature frictionless shopping experiences
- AI will enable personalized video experiences
- Video series will draw repeat viewers
- Videos will create a cohesive customer journey
- Storytelling will remain the most important aspect of video marketing
The video marketing trends dominating in 2026
Here are the video marketing trends we expect to expand this year. We’re explaining what’s behind them, why they matter, and showing you how to add them to your strategy.
1. Short-form video will remain key for brand awareness
If you’re looking to increase brand awareness, your focus should be on short-form video. Specifically, we’re talking about the vertical video content that’s typically 15–60 seconds long that’s consumed across platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
The algorithms on these platforms favor this fast, fun content, so it’s likely to be served to your current followers and potential audiences.
And it’s not only the platforms that favor these video vignettes. Audiences increasingly prefer quick, engaging clips that deliver value fast. 63% of viewers reported their preference to learn about a product, service, or brand through a quick clip, rather than watch a longer video.
The best part is that these quick clips are easy to produce with decent lighting and a good cellphone.
Raleigh-based cafe and bakery Sugar Euphora shares new cupcake flavors on social media in a short, simple clip with trending audio.
If you haven’t done so yet, try publishing a few short videos in 2026. And don’t forget to repurpose them on multiple platforms for maximum reach.
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2. More AI-created videos will lower the creative bar
AI tools make it easier than ever for brands to create visually impressive videos quickly, which is appealing for small businesses with tight budgets.
Financial Times Employment Columnist Sarah O’Connor predicts that AI-generated videos will become more common, but the outcomes won’t be positive across the board. “I fear 2026 will be a bad year for the creative sector,” she wrote. “I think we’ll see definitive evidence of AI-driven job losses there. LLM-generated creative content has its problems—not least that it’s hard to maintain any sense of consistency in style.”
O’Connor points to the controversial Coca-Cola advertisement as an example, specifically calling, as many have, that some animals are photo-realistic, some cartoon-like, and some even go back and forth between the two styles.
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The lesson here is to use AI cautiously and selectively for video marketing. Make sure you’re starting with the right prompts. And focus more on using AI as a video editing partner than asking it to create new videos from scratch.
3. Creator-style content and UGC will be even more popular
Research consistently shows that consumers trust recommendations from real people far more than polished brand messaging, and this often impacts sales decisions, too. In fact, 40% of adults reported that user-generated content influences their decision to make a purchase.
It’s no wonder, then, that campaigns leveraging creator content and UGC do well. 93% of marketers report that they employ UGC campaigns say they outperform their other tactics. And many integrate creator content because it’s both more cost-effective and more impactful than traditional ads.
With all that in mind, expect to see way more creator-style content as a reaction. These will include videos made by everyday customers, niche influencers, or even members of your team.
This vlog-style video from MJD Pressure Washing is 90% satisfying, 10% cleaning. The only thing that would be better is adding a time-lapse YouTube Short version, too.
With the success of creator-style videos and consumers’ desire for authenticity, it’s a great time to jump on this video marketing trend. The key will be figuring out how to make it work best for your brand. Think Q&As, regular appearances from recurring team members, or even live videos. Most importantly, show off your best work and your personality!
4. Demand for live video will increase
Live video has been a constant for brands and creators. But in 2026, when users are looking for more opportunities for engagement with real people and more opportunities to confirm authenticity, these live video sessions are going to be more popular than ever.
There are tons of options to test out this trend with your audience, depending on your brand and your most-used platform: TikTok LIVE, real-time Instagram Stories of events, Q&A sessions, or product demonstrations on YouTube, and conversations on Substack.
And of course, all webinars count as live video, even though it feels less spur-of-the-moment. So every time you’re setting up a Zoom registration link, remember to focus on as much authentic engagement with users as possible, even thinking out of the box for your content.
Here’s a great example. B2B marketing community Exit 5 hosted The Ultimate Roast of B2B Emails, a “spicy virtual event” featuring marketing experts discussing the worst of the worst when it comes to email marketing.
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With this kind of framing, if you’re invited, you feel like you’re in on the joke. Even better, you can learn from it, too. This gives a live webinar or panel a similar sense of connection as going live on a social platform. The connection is a big part of the goal with these lives; the other key component is providing value. Exit 5’s email roast provides both and is good inspiration for your live video events.
5. More videos will feature frictionless shopping experiences
Traditional video ecommerce journeys involve a lot of friction. Users watch an ad or video, navigate to a site, find the product page, add a product to their cart, and check out. Shoppable videos collapse that funnel. Think easily embedded links, integrations with Shop and other ecommerce platforms, and well-integrated product pop-ups.
These well-integrated shopping features don’t interfere with the regular viewing experience, and they make purchasing nice and easy for anyone interested. The results are strong with interactive shopping videos shown to boost conversion rates by up to 30% when compared with traditional videos.
If your business has an ecommerce offering, it’s worth focusing on how you can use more frictionless shopping features in your video content this year.
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6. AI will enable personalized video experiences
Traditional video campaigns tend to deliver the same creative to every viewer, and traditional video creation techniques made versioning costly and time-intensive. Now, AI tools can automatically generate hundreds or even thousands of variations of a single video—each optimized for a different segment of your target audience based on interests, behaviors, past interactions, or where a person is in the buying journey.
Let’s say you sell T-shirts. A segment of your customer base is tall, very lean runners. Others have bigger builds and use your shirts to lift weights. With AI, you’ll be able to create a version of your sales video for marathoners and another for gym goers.
We know that personalization yields better experiences for audiences and better outcomes for brands. In fact, research shows that 72% of consumers engage more with messages they find personally relevant.
As algorithms continue to learn from viewer interactions in real time, marketers will be able to refine this, and we expect to see even more opportunities for personalization and targeting, so that you can ensure you’re serving the right version of a video to the right person at the right time.
7. Video series will draw repeat viewers
Sprout Social found that 57% of survey respondents wanted brands to prioritize posting content series. This desire makes sense when we consider the themes so far—more humanity, more relationships, more real people. Series allow your audience to become familiar with the structure, grow familiar with the people featured, and become familiar with your brand.
Lowes, the big-box home improvement store, produces a series called The Weekender that helps everyday DIYers tackle projects quickly and affordably.
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Creating a series can also be a smart strategic decision that makes planning out your content calendar a little easier because you’re not always starting with a blank slate. And remember, a series can be as simple as a Q&A with your internal experts.
8. Videos will create a cohesive customer journey
In our first trend, we shared how short-form video will remain a key tool for growing brand awareness. But this isn’t the only way you should be using video.
Video is a tool you should leverage throughout the customer journey and throughout your marketing materials. That means ads and short-form social video content aimed at discovery. It also means website overviews, product or service breakdowns, and in-depth tutorials.
How-to videos like this are a great type of conversion video marketing.
Videos are excellent for teaching prospects and supporting customers. In fact, 70% of marketers find these kinds of educational marketing videos effective.
When considering this trend for your strategy, think about what someone who is in the mid and latter part of the decision-making process will want to know. Maybe is a unique feature or an interesting way to use your product. Or if you sell a service, create some before, after, and during videos to help people imagine what life will be like when you complete their project.
9. Storytelling will remain the most important aspect of video marketing
All of these video marketing trends are good for you to consider during your content planning.
But the most important part is still storytelling.
In fact, many marketing experts predict storytelling to be more important than ever in 2026. As SuperHeroes CEO Django Weisz Blanchetta explained in The Drum, “Human craft is quietly becoming the real differentiator. As content volumes exploded, attention didn’t. What cut through wasn’t better tech, but storytelling with emotion and cultural intent.”
This theme is everywhere for 2026—in expert predictions and Reddit marketing boards alike.
Displaying emotional intelligence and narrative framing is going to result in videos that appeal to your audience, establish your brand’s humanity, and, in doing so, encourage trust. Take this example from Chevrolet, aptly called “Memory Lane.”
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The video features a couple driving in their station wagon in the winter, packed up and heading to holiday celebrations. Over the course of the drive, they reminisce about moments in the car with their young and growing family, from diaper explosions to drives home from college.
This video has a big budget, yes. But the story is small—it’s one family, one car, one holiday trip—with big emotion. When you’re considering storytelling for your brand, remember that small, simple stories can be moving with the right stakes and enough emotional appeal.
Watch these video marketing trends in 2026
Whether you’re planning to invest and expand your established video marketing strategy in 2026, or are looking for some low-lift ideas to test out adding video into your regular routine, these trends should give you a few places to start.
There will be plenty of twists and turns in all types of marketing this year. Just remember the recurring things for video: Keep in mind the recurring themes: More real people, more presence, and more storytelling.
