A new year is nearly upon us, and that means prediction and prognostication will be filling our LinkedIn feeds for the next few weeks. It’s a tired format but it works because in marketing, and life, we’re fundamentally terrified of being caught off guard by unforeseen changes. And that was true even before AI entered the scene.
For those of us who make or deploy video in the marketing arts, OpenAI’s announcement of a new ‘text-to-video model’ was a defining moment in 2024. It generated more questions than answers, and inspired excitement and fear in equal measure. And as we await the formal launch of Sora, a number of other video and visual effects generators are already commercially available. Coca-Cola even used AI to generate their annual holiday commercial.
But believe it or not, in 2025 there will be more to discuss than AI. Here are a few trends (AI related or otherwise) to help you plan for a new year of video marketing.
In 2025, B2B companies should plan to…
1. Get more out of every shoot day. The days of producing one great corporate video from three or four production days may be over. And for good reason! 2024 saw an acceleration in the volume of content created and distributed by B2B companies, and that means leveraging more out of every shoot. Fifteen4 recently conducted 1-day shoots with multiple clients that each yielded 10-15 short-form, high-impact video assets for social and more. In 2025, B2B companies should continue valuing in-person production shoots, while finding ways to maximize their impact.
2. Leverage AI to improve video resolution, create backgrounds for virtual productions, develop proof of concepts, remove unwanted objects or people in frame, expand scenes, fill in voiceover snippets, and perform other essential functions. While not everyone loves the current generation of AI-generated content (note some of the responses to the Coca-Cola video), AI can be deployed to speed up key post-production processes without diminishing the creativity of human-created content. And by accelerating post-production, you can distribute more content to audiences month over month (see #1)
3. Create user-generated videos that complement high-production value content. The effectiveness of video marketing is not as tethered to production value as it once was. For some marketing leaders, user-generated content (UGC) has proven to be effective for building trust and converting viewers, while being substantially cheaper. This includes tactics like remotely recording customers and stakeholders and using AI-powered equipment and apps to create authentic DIY content for social channels. While high-value productions will always have their place, UCG can help to generate trust-building content with limited time and resources.
4. Double down on telling real stories. Next year, B2B brands will continue using large language model AI to bombard their users with technically precise but thoroughly boring content. Brands that use video to tell real stories about their customers and partners have a great opportunity to build trust through authenticity. This is similar in principle to #3, but in addition to talking head content, B2B companies should tell stories that feature compelling b-roll and motion graphics. And in line with #2, these stories can then be distilled into shorter form content for use on social channels.
5. Write scripts like you’re a human being. Okay, so maybe it sounds like I’m piling on with the AI criticism now. But similar to interviewing real humans and telling human stories, developing an authentic brand voice for your video content will make a bigger impact in a ChatGPT world. At Fifteen4, we always say that B2B buyers are human buyers, and a great script is a key component to expressing humanity. Even when you’re selling a SaaS product or cybersecurity platform, your buyer is still just a stressed-out employee or business owner who wants to know that a real person understands their very real problems.
B2B spending is poised to accelerate in 2025, and that means opportunity for marketers. By leveraging new tech while staying human, your video strategy can help you build trust, win loyalty, and start more conversations with buyers.