The Undeniable Effectiveness of B2B VideoÂ
Investment in video marketing continues to grow. In fact, video is now considered the most effective form of B2B content marketing. Examples of Business videos include product demos, tutorials and training, customer testimonials, webinars, events, market research, thought leadership, and more. Executives and business leaders increasingly watch work-related videos. B2B videos not only drive views, but also directly influence actions such as downloads, demos and contacts. For more video market statistics see Avid Demand’s 2025 B2B Video Marketing Guide.
YouTube: Your Video Powerhouse
Given the rising importance of video, YouTube has become an essential part of any successful B2B marketing program. YouTube – the world’s second latest search engine – offers a massive, diverse, global audience; an audience that conducts over 3 billion searches every month.  Â
YouTube is not just for teens and millennials. Google reports that 75% of those aged 35 to 53 years-old watch YouTube videos on a regular basis. Â
YouTube is not just for consumers. A recent Forbes study finds that 75% of Fortune 500 executives view business-related videos and often take action such as further searching, registering for a demo, or contacting sales. The International Data Group supports this, sharing that 46% of B2B technology buyers purchase a product or service after viewing a related video.Â
It’s important to remember that YouTube videos aren’t only displayed on YouTube! Today, Google estimates that 30% of all organic results include a video thumbnail. Â
Additional YouTube information and insights into business buyers’ usage of video can be found in Avid’s Video Marketing Guide.
The Importance of Video Optimization
Given YouTube’s massive reach as a search engine and the widespread use of video among business buyers, I’m surprised more B2B marketers aren’t fully optimizing their video content. Just as you engage in SEO for web pages, downloadable assets, and blog posts – you must optimize videos to maximize their effectiveness. Â
Video optimization improves your brand’s visibility when prospects search for relevant information – either on YouTube or on an alternative search engine. Improved visibility leads to increased video views, engagement, and leads. Bottom line: It is essential that B2B marketers apply fundamental SEO practices to their video content. Here’s how…
Basics of Video SEO
Your website SEO strategy should inform your approach to video marketing and YouTube optimization. Foundational marketing elements like target audiences, buyer personas, searcher behavior, search query analysis, and keyword prioritization apply to videos as well. Â
At a minimum, every YouTube video should have:
- A descriptive, compelling, keyword-rich TITLE
- A unique and informative, keyword-rich DESCRIPTION
- Video TAGS (#keywords)
- Optimized LINKS to relevant web pages and additional resources on your website
- A compelling CALL-TO-ACTION or a lead gen form
In addition to these critical SEO elements, a fully-optimized YouTube Channel involves the following best practices:
- Easy to understand PLAYLISTSÂ
- Intuitive ORGANIZATION and categorization of videos
- Consistent BRAND treatment
- A compelling THUMBNAIL image for each video
- Effective START and END screens
- and more…
The Best First Step
I’ve found that many B2B marketers don’t fully understand what’s on their company’s YouTube Channel. Too often video content is owned and managed by a separate (non-integrated) team. It’s not uncommon to discover that a company’s YouTube Channel has not been proactively managed or maintained over time.
Key questions marketers must answer:Â
- How many videos exist on our YouTube Channel? Â
- Which videos are Public? Private? Unlisted? Â
- What is the average age (publish date) of our videos? Â
- Are our YouTube videos visible for high-priority searches? Â
- Which videos get the most views? Â
- Which drive traffic to the website? Â
- Generate actions and leads?
A great way to answer these questions and jump-start an improvement plan is to conduct a YouTube Inventory and Audit. This will provide a clear picture of your organization’s channel in terms of video volume, accessibility, organization and categorization, types of video content, currency/age, usage, and performance.
Typical Inventory/Audit deliverables:
- Master List of all YouTube Videos
- Video Lists for each privacy setting: Public, Private, Unlisted
- Analysis of Videos by Views, Age (Publish Date), Engagement, and Actions
- Assessment of current implementation of SEO elements and video best practices
- Recommended lists of videos to:
- Fully-optimize
- Archive
- Refresh and republish
- Summary of biggest challenges and opportunities.
- Overview of recommended YouTube Improvement Plan
YouTube Marketing Success Metrics
B2B marketers must justify their investment in video marketing by accurately and effectively measuring results. Utilize a YouTube Performance Dashboard to establish baseline metrics, measure improvements over time, and prove videos’ contribution to brand visibility, prospect engagement, leads, and pipeline progression.
Recommended YouTube Success Metrics:
- Video VISIBILITY in Google and YouTube search results (video impressions)
- Interest and POPULARITY (video views)
- Viewer ENGAGEMENT (view duration, actions taken)
- Website TRAFFIC (clicks from YouTube videos to website)
- Conversions (Calls-to-Action) and LEADS (lead gen forms)
YouTube Management Recommendations
Just like website SEO, video optimization is not a one-time effort. Avid Demand recommends 3 steps to keep your YouTube Channel efficient and effective:
- Establish a Video Publishing Process that defines roles and responsibilities for ownership, review, approval, and channel oversight.
- Create a Video Checklist to ensure SEO elements are included and video best-practices are adhered to.
- Conduct a Quarterly YouTube Audit to review videos, ensure currency and relevance, and identify needed video updates, refreshes, and republishing.
If your YouTube channel is currently a big, unorganized mess… it can (and will) happen again – especially without clear ownership, documented best practices, and helpful policies.
Turn Your YouTube Channel Into a Marketing Machine!
Market research clearly proves that B2B marketers need to be prioritizing, and investing in, video marketing. Based on this, YouTube Optimization is now an essential marketing practice. How to best capitalize on this opportunity? Start by fully understanding your YouTube Channel. Conduct an Inventory & Audit. Establish baseline metrics. Create a YouTube Optimization Plan. Measure improvements with a Performance Dashboard. Â
Turn your company’s YouTube Channel into a highly effective, full-funnel marketing machine! Â
Contact Avid Demand if you’d like to review our YouTube optimization process, see B2B examples of a YouTube Inventory & Audit, a YouTube Performance Dashboard, or client case studies illustrating expected results. And, take advantage of our newest asset, The Rise of B2B Video Marketing in 2025 for a concise summary of video trends, insights and recommendations in the B2B world.
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Patricia Hursh is the president and founder of Avid Demand. Today she leads the agency’s Client Service Department, guiding multi-functional teams to ensure bottom-line business results for Avid Demand clients. Patricia specializes in developing digital marketing strategies and full-funnel marketing solutions for B2B companies.