Your product demo video has 47 views. Thirty-two of those are from your own team. The other fifteen bounced after 8 seconds.
Marketing says: "We need more video content. It's what buyers want."
You spend $15K on a slick animated explainer. Beautiful graphics. Professional voiceover. Three-minute runtime.
Prospects watch 12 seconds, then close the tab.
This happens because most B2B video content is created for entertainment, not conversion. Pretty videos that showcase production value but don't move deals forward.
Here's how to create video content that actually works in B2B.
The B2B Video Framework: 4 Types That Drive Pipeline
Bad video strategy: Create generic brand videos and hope they go viral
Good video strategy: Map specific video types to buyer journey stages and sales needs
Video Type 1: The Problem-Focused Explainer (Top-of-Funnel)
Purpose: Attract early-stage prospects who have the problem but don't know solutions exist
Format: 60-90 seconds, animated or live-action, problem-focused (not product-focused)
Example from Gong: "The Sales Conversation You're Not Tracking" - shows how revenue teams miss critical deal insights without ever mentioning their product until the final 10 seconds.
Script structure:
- Seconds 0-15: Hook with relatable pain point
- Seconds 15-45: Amplify the problem and hidden costs
- Seconds 45-75: Introduce the solution category (not your product)
- Seconds 75-90: Soft CTA to learn more
Distribution: LinkedIn organic, YouTube pre-roll, website homepage
Conversion goal: Video views → website visit → email capture
What makes it work: Prospects share it because it articulates their pain, not because you're selling
Video Type 2: The Product Demo (Mid-to-Bottom-Funnel)
Purpose: Show how your product solves specific use cases for prospects actively evaluating
Format: 2-5 minutes, screen recording with voiceover, use-case-specific
Example from Amplitude: Separate demo videos for product managers, marketers, and data teams - same product, different stories and features highlighted.
Script structure:
- 0-30 seconds: "Here's the problem you're trying to solve"
- 30-90 seconds: "Watch how [Product] solves it" (actual product walkthrough)
- 90-240 seconds: Show the outcome and impact
- Final 30 seconds: Clear next step (trial signup or demo request)
Distribution: Product pages, sales enablement, email nurture sequences
Conversion goal: Demo video view → trial signup or sales conversation
Critical mistake to avoid: Don't create one generic "product overview" video. Create 5-7 use-case-specific demos. A CFO and a product manager care about completely different things.
Video Type 3: Customer Story Video (Bottom-of-Funnel)
Purpose: Prove ROI and overcome final objections in active deals
Format: 90-180 seconds, customer interview or case study format
Example from Snowflake: "How DoorDash Scaled Data Infrastructure 10x" - actual customer on camera, specific metrics, technical credibility.
Script structure:
- 0-20 seconds: Customer introduces their company and challenge
- 20-60 seconds: What they tried before that didn't work
- 60-120 seconds: How your product solved it (with specific features)
- 120-150 seconds: Quantified results (revenue, time saved, efficiency gained)
- 150-180 seconds: What they'd tell other buyers considering you
Distribution: Sales sends in active deals, website case studies page, email to late-stage prospects
Conversion goal: Sales attachment → deal acceleration → close
What makes it work: Buyers trust other buyers more than they trust vendors. Real faces, real metrics, real stories.
Video Type 4: Thought Leadership (Awareness + Authority)
Purpose: Build credibility and executive presence for sales conversations
Format: 2-4 minutes, executive or PMM on camera, trend/insight-focused
Example from Intercom: "The End of the Marketing Funnel" - their CEO on camera explaining industry shifts, positioning Intercom as thought leaders without hard-selling.
Script structure:
- 0-30 seconds: Provocative statement or trend observation
- 30-120 seconds: Why this matters (data, examples, implications)
- 120-180 seconds: What smart companies are doing about it
- 180-240 seconds: How to start (with subtle product tie-in)
Distribution: LinkedIn (personal accounts of execs), conference presentations, earned media
Conversion goal: Brand awareness → inbound interest → sales conversations
What makes it work: Executives want to buy from experts. This builds that credibility before the sales call.
The Production Reality: Good Enough Beats Perfect
The myth: B2B video needs high production value to be credible
The reality: Authenticity and usefulness matter more than production quality
Databox experiment: They A/B tested a $10K professionally produced explainer against a $0 screen recording with iPhone voiceover. The iPhone version converted 23% higher.
Why? The low-fi version felt authentic and focused on solving problems. The high-production version felt like an ad.
Production guidelines by video type:
Problem explainers: Professional animation or stock footage (hire on Upwork for $500-2K). Worth the investment for top-of-funnel reach.
Product demos: Screen recording with good microphone ($100). Update monthly as product evolves. Loom or Vidyard work fine.
Customer stories: iPhone video is acceptable if audio is clean. A $2K professional shoot is better but not required.
Thought leadership: Webcam quality is fine. Invest in good lighting ($200) and microphone ($150). Nobody expects broadcast quality.
The Distribution Playbook: Where to Actually Put Videos
Creating videos isn't the problem. Getting them in front of buyers is.
Website placement strategy:
Homepage: 60-second problem explainer above the fold Product pages: Use-case-specific demos (3-5 minutes) Case studies page: Customer story videos Pricing page: ROI-focused demo showing value Blog posts: Embed relevant demos in how-to content
Sales enablement strategy:
For discovery calls: Send problem explainer video in pre-call email. Frames the conversation around their pain.
For demos: Don't show live demo to cold prospects. Send recorded use-case demo first, then offer live demo to answer specific questions. Cuts no-show rate by 40%.
For late-stage deals: Arm AEs with customer story videos matching prospect's industry and use case. Text template: "Here's how [Similar Company] solved exactly what you described."
LinkedIn strategy:
Post natively (not YouTube links). LinkedIn native video gets 5x more reach. 60-90 seconds max for organic posts. Hook in first 3 seconds or people scroll past. Add captions (80% watch with sound off).
The Uncomfortable Truth About B2B Video
Most B2B companies create videos because "everyone's doing video" without a clear conversion goal.
They create:
- Generic company overview videos
- Feature announcement videos nobody watches
- "About Us" videos that don't drive pipeline
Prospects actually need:
- Problem-focused content that articulates their pain
- Use-case-specific demos that show relevant solutions
- Customer proof from similar companies
What works:
- Map video types to buyer journey stages
- Create 5-7 use-case-specific demos (not one generic overview)
- Optimize for usefulness, not production value
- Distribute through sales enablement, not just marketing channels
- Measure views → conversions, not just views
The best B2B video programs create content that sales actually sends to prospects. If your AEs aren't sharing your videos in active deals, they're not working.
Stop creating videos for your website. Start creating videos for your sales team.