From 91% business adoption to 82.5% of all internet traffic: every number, trend and benchmark on video marketing in 2026. Based on data from Wyzowl, HubSpot, Cisco, Statista, Vidyard, Animoto and YouTube.
Businesses Use Video
Internet Traffic Is Video
Conversion With Video LP
Global Video Market
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Video is no longer optional. In 2026, it is the most widely used content format in the world. The adoption numbers speak for themselves: from SMBs to enterprises, virtually every business uses video as a marketing tool.
of businesses use video as a marketing tool in 2026 (Wyzowl)
Year-over-year growth of the global video marketing market (Statista)
Projected global market value of online video in 2026 (Statista)
Sources: Wyzowl State of Video Marketing 2026, HubSpot Marketing Report 2026
Online video dominates the internet. From streaming platforms to social media feeds: consumers spend more and more time watching video content. Below are the key figures on viewing behavior and device distribution.
Average daily online video watch time per internet user (Statista)
of all internet traffic is video traffic in 2026 (Cisco Visual Networking)
Sources: Statista Digital Video Report 2026, eMarketer
Video is not only popular, it delivers measurable results. From higher conversion rates to longer session durations: the impact of video on marketing KPIs is enormous. Here are the hard numbers.
Good ROI
of marketers (Wyzowl)
LP Conversion
landing page with video
Email CTR
video thumbnail in email
Organic Traffic
increase with video in SERP
| Use Case | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Landing page with video | +86% conversion | EyeView / Unbounce |
| Product page with video | +73% more purchases | Animoto |
| Email with video thumbnail | +200-300% CTR | HubSpot |
| Video in social ads | +48% lower CPA | Meta Business |
| Video testimonials | +62% trust | Wyzowl |
| Website with video | +88% longer session duration | Forbes / Vidyard |
| Video in Google search results | +157% organic traffic | Brightcove |
Want to leverage video as part of your marketing strategy? Discover how an AI marketing agency can help.
Short-form, long-form, live video or webinars? Each format has its own strengths. Below are the performance metrics for the most important video formats in 2026.
| Format | Engagement Rate | Avg. Watch Time | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short-form (<60s) | 5.2% (highest) | 89% completion | Awareness, reach |
| Mid-form (1-5 min) | 3.1% | 62% completion | Product explainers, tutorials |
| Long-form (5-20 min) | 2.1% | 38% completion | Thought leadership, SEO |
| Live video | 4.3% | 3x longer than VOD | Community, Q&A, launches |
| Webinars | 1.8% | 52 min average | B2B lead generation |
Sources: Vidyard Video Benchmark Report 2026, Wistia, HubSpot
73% of consumers prefer short-form video for product discovery. Short-form generates 2.5x more engagement than long-form content. TikTok, Reels and Shorts together account for 68% of all short-form views.
Live video watch time grew by 26% year-over-year. Viewers spend an average of 3x longer watching live video than on-demand content. 82% of audiences prefer live video over regular social posts.
AI is transforming the video industry. From text-to-video tools to AI presenters: production costs are dropping and speed is increasing exponentially.
Cost Reduction
avg. savings with AI video
Marketers Use AI
for video production (HubSpot)
Sora Users
MAU • OpenAI
Faster Production
AI vs. traditional production
| Tool | Users (MAU) | Specialization |
|---|---|---|
| Sora (OpenAI) | 12 million | Text-to-video, generative |
| Runway Gen-3 | 8.5 million | Video editing, motion brush |
| Pika | 6.2 million | Image-to-video, text-to-video |
| HeyGen | 4.8 million | AI avatars, translation, personalization |
| Synthesia | 3.2 million | AI presenters, training videos |
| Descript | 2.9 million | AI editing, transcription, podcast |
Video advertising is growing faster than any other ad format. Global spending on digital video ads reaches $230 billion in 2026. Below are the benchmarks by format.
| Format | Avg. CTR | Avg. CPV | Completion Rate | Brand Recall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-roll (skippable) | 1.84% | $0.03-$0.09 | 29% | +42% |
| Pre-roll (non-skip) | 1.52% | $0.07-$0.16 | 92% | +68% |
| Mid-roll | 1.74% | $0.05-$0.13 | 78% | +55% |
| In-feed video | 3.26% | $0.02-$0.07 | 34% | +31% |
| Connected TV (CTV) | 0.78% | $0.02-$0.04 | 95% | +72% |
Sources: Google Ads Benchmarks 2026, Meta Business Suite, IAB Digital Video Report
Video marketing budgets are growing faster than any other marketing channel. In 2026, businesses allocate an average of 31% of their total marketing budget to video. Below are the budget breakdowns and cost estimates.
Average monthly video marketing budget for small and mid-sized businesses
Average monthly video budget for enterprise businesses (250+)
of total marketing budget goes to video in 2026 (Animoto)
| Video Type | Traditional | With AI Tools | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explainer video (90s) | $5,500-$16,000 | $550-$2,200 | -80% |
| Social media video (30s) | $1,600-$5,500 | $110-$550 | -85% |
| Testimonial video | $2,200-$8,800 | $330-$1,300 | -78% |
| Training / course video | $3,300-$13,000 | $220-$1,600 | -88% |
| Brand film (corporate) | $11,000-$55,000 | $2,200-$8,800 | -75% |
Sources: Searchlab market research 2026, Wyzowl, Lemonlight
Where is video marketing heading? Based on current growth rates and technological developments, these are the most important trends and predictions for the coming years.
By 2027, 60% of all marketing videos will be created or edited with AI tools. Text-to-video quality will reach the level of professional productions. Production costs will drop by another 40%.
Shoppable video will become the standard format for e-commerce. YouTube, TikTok and Instagram Shop are integrating native checkout into video. The video commerce market will reach $55 billion in 2027.
AI makes it possible to personalize videos in real-time per viewer. Name, offer, language and even visual elements are dynamically adjusted. Early adopters see 5-8x higher conversion rates.
Google is integrating more and more video into search results. AI-generated video snippets appear in SGE. Companies without a video strategy will lose up to 30% of their organic visibility.
CTV ad spending will grow to $42 billion in 2027. Streaming platforms are opening self-serve ad platforms for SMBs. The gap between TV and online video advertising is disappearing.
360-degree video, AR overlays and interactive choose-your-own-adventure videos are going mainstream. The interactive video market will grow to $12 billion in 2027. Engagement rates are 3x higher than passive video.
What do these 50+ statistics mean for your video marketing strategy? These are the five most important takeaways.
With 91% business adoption and 82.5% of all internet traffic, video is the dominant content format. Companies without a video strategy are falling behind the competition.
Short-form video delivers the highest engagement, but long-form is essential for SEO and thought leadership. The best strategy combines both formats.
With AI tools, production costs drop by 75-88%. Small and mid-sized businesses can now produce videos that were previously only affordable for enterprise companies.
+86% conversion on landing pages, +300% CTR in emails, +157% organic traffic. Video is not only engaging, it delivers hard measurable results at every step of the funnel.
78% of video views are on smartphone. 85% watch without sound. Vertical format (9:16) and captions are not a luxury but basic requirements for every video in 2026.
The statistics on this page have been compiled from the following sources. Where possible, officially published figures have been used. Some figures are estimates based on multiple source references and market extrapolations.
Last updated: March 18, 2026. Have a comment or correction? Get in touch.
In 2026, 91% of all businesses use video as a marketing tool, according to research by Wyzowl. This represents a 5 percentage point increase compared to 2025 (86%). Among B2B companies, the adoption rate stands at 84%.
93% of marketers who use video report that it delivers a good ROI (Wyzowl, 2026). Landing pages with video convert up to 86% better than pages without video. Emails with video thumbnails achieve 200-300% higher click-through rates. Marketers expect an average return of 3.5x on their video spend.
In 2026, the average internet user watches 118 minutes of online video per day. Globally, 82.5% of all internet traffic is video traffic (Cisco). Mobile video usage is growing the fastest, with 78% of all video views coming from smartphones.
The average video marketing budget in 2026 is $3,500 per month for small and mid-sized businesses. A professional corporate video costs between $2,700 and $16,000 on average. AI-generated videos reduce costs by 60-80%, using tools like Sora, Runway and HeyGen. 88% of marketers plan to increase their video budget.
Short-form video (under 60 seconds) has the highest engagement rate (2.5x higher than long-form) and is preferred by 73% of consumers for discovering new products. Vertical video (9:16) is the dominant format on social media with 58% of all video views. Live video generates 3x longer watch times than on-demand content.
Want to learn more about using video in your marketing strategy?
Discover what an AI marketing agency can do for you →At Searchlab, we help businesses use video strategically for marketing and sales. From AI-generated videos to complete video strategy with AI-driven marketing.
Marketing & AI Strategy at Searchlab
Ruud is a digital marketer with 10+ years of experience in online advertising and AI implementation. At Searchlab, he combines strategic thinking with hands-on AI tooling to deliver measurable results for businesses.
VIDEO ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Every social media platform has placed video at the center of its algorithm. But performance varies significantly by platform.
VIDEO PERFORMANCE BY PLATFORM
Sources: Social Insider 2026, Hootsuite Global Report, Sprout Social Index
TikTok & Reels
TikTok reaches 1.8 billion MAU in 2026. Instagram Reels are shared 2x more often than static posts. Together they account for 45% of all social media video views worldwide.
YouTube dominates search
YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world. 70% of buyers use YouTube to compare products. YouTube Shorts now reaches 70 billion daily views.