Top 5 Video Marketing Trends for 2026

How AI, strategy, systems, and measurement are reshaping how brands use video this year

Video has been a cornerstone of marketing for years, but how it functions and creates value continues to evolve. In 2026, video isn't just about attention or aesthetics; it's a core layer of how brands are discovered, understood, and evaluated by both people and AI systems.

Below are five trends shaping where video marketing strategy is headed in 2026, and how brands can use each one more strategically.

1. Video Will Influence AI Search Visibility More Than Brands Realize

AI-powered search is changing how information is retrieved, and video is increasingly part of that process. Once limited to pulling information from titles and descriptions, modern AI systems can now extract topics, transcribe spoken content, identify context, and evaluate structure within videos.

In 2025, Google said that AI-driven search experiences increasingly pull from multiple content formats, including video, when generating summaries and recommendations. At the same time, most major platforms now automatically index spoken content within video using advanced speech-to-text models.

The implication is clear: videos that clearly explain ideas, stay focused, and communicate authority are becoming more discoverable, while unfocused or purely promotional content loses value. Visibility is no longer just about keywords or thumbnails - it’s about clarity and substance.

Brand takeaway: Treat video as more than just a visual asset. What it explains and how clearly it explains it now directly affects how discoverable your brand becomes.

2. Video Is Becoming a Primary Communication Layer for Brands

Video is no longer just a supporting tactic or an ad format. In many cases, it's now the first place people turn to understand a product, service, or company.

In 2025, surveys showed that 96% of people use video to learn more about a product or service, making video one of the most influential tools in buyer education and decision-making. That shift explains why video is increasingly used to:

• explain complex offerings

• set expectations

• reduce friction before sales conversations

• build trust earlier in the journey

Rather than supplementing written content, video is often becoming the primary way brands communicate value. Companies that treat video as a core communication layer - not just a promotional asset - are better aligned with how people actually learn, evaluate options, and make decisions.

Brand takeaway: Use video to explain, not just promote. Video has become the place people go to understand your offering, which makes clarity and usefulness matter far more than a single perfectly crafted message.

3. Most Brands Still Aren’t Measuring Video Correctly

Even as video has become more central to marketing and sales, measurement hasn’t kept pace.

In 2025, while over 90% of marketers reported using video, many still evaluated success primarily through surface-level metrics like views or impressions. Those numbers can be useful, but they rarely reflect real impact.

More meaningful video performance indicators include:

• engagement quality in addition to volume

• retention and completion rates

• downstream actions, such as inquiries or signups

• how video supports sales, onboarding, or education

Without determining the most important metrics and tying them back to intent, even well-produced video can feel ineffective. Brands that understand why their video works and how it supports real business outcomes will be better positioned to improve and scale.

Brand takeaway: Define what success looks like before you hit record, and don't measure video in isolation. Track performance based on how your video supports real business goals, not just how many times it was watched.

4. Video Strategy Will Matter More Than Posting Consistency

Consistency has long been important in content marketing, but in 2026, video strategy will matter far more than frequency alone.

More than 700,000 hours of content are uploaded just to YouTube each day, so platforms and algorithms are forced to aggressively filter for relevance and value to users. In that environment, posting regularly without direction just creates more noise.

Strategic video is built with intent. Each piece has a purpose, a defined audience, and a clear role within a broader system. That's what allows content to compound instead of getting lost.

The performance data reflects this shift. In 2025, brands with documented content strategies were over 50% more likely to report strong ROI from video than those focused primarily on posting cadence. Consistency still matters, but without strategy, it no longer differentiates.

Successful video strategies tend to share a few common traits:

- clear goals

- defined audiences

- intentional formats

- planned distribution

Brand takeaway: Posting consistently isn't a strategy. Decide what each video is meant to accomplish before you decide how often to publish.

5. Video Now Warrants Systems, Not Just Campaigns

As video takes on a larger role across organizations, one-off campaigns are becoming inefficient.

In 2025, many marketing teams reported producing more video while feeling less confident about its overall impact. The problem wasn’t effort, it was fragmentation. Videos created in isolation don’t compound in value.

Brands that treat video as an ongoing system rather than a series of disconnected projects see higher efficiency, better consistency, and stronger long-term ROI.

Modern video strategies increasingly rely on systems:

- modular content designed for reuse

- long-form sources that generate short-form assets

- consistent messaging across formats

- workflows that support scale without chaos

Brand takeaway: Stop planning videos one at a time. Design systems and content pillars that allow each piece to support and build on the last.

Bonus Trend: Video Is Becoming a Go-To Internal Tool, Not Just an External One

In 2026, some of the most impactful video being created won’t be public-facing at all, but will instead be a core operational tool.

In 2025, companies that leaned into video for internal communication reported higher clarity and faster onboarding, while reducing time spent in live meetings. As teams grow more distributed and move faster, video is increasingly being used internally to replace meetings, standardize knowledge, and scale communication.

Video is now being used to:

- attract and onboard new hires

- reduce repetitive or unnecessary meetings

- document processes and decisions

- keep teams aligned as processes evolve

Internal video requires different planning. It may not need to go viral, but it needs to be just as clear, reusable, and easy to update. When done well, internal video systems reduce friction: teams spend less time explaining the same things, stay aligned as they grow, and don't lose critical knowledge when people leave.

Brand takeaway: In addition to your marketing efforts, look for internal workflows that can be streamlined or replaced with video. Some of your highest-return video investments will be the ones that save time and improve clarity inside your organization.

Looking Ahead to 2026 Video Marketing Trends

In 2026, video isn’t just about production quality or platform trends. It’s about clarity, strategy, and communication - designed for both humans and AI systems.

Brands that approach video thoughtfully, measure it correctly, and treat it as a core part of how they communicate will be better equipped to stand out, earn trust, and create long-term value.

Written by Jon Statman, founder of Leading Edge Media in San Diego. His team specializes in corporate video production, brand storytelling, and event coverage for companies seeking high-quality, strategic video content that supports real business goals.