B2B marketers are taking a page from the B2C playbook and seeing real results.
According to LinkedIn’s B2B Marketing Benchmark Report, strategies once considered too informal for business audiences, like short-form video and influencer collabs, are now central to building trust and driving growth.
The study, based on responses from 1,500 senior marketers across six countries, found that 94% believe trust is the key to success in B2B.
But many brands are moving away from traditional lead-gen tactics and turning instead to emotionally resonant content and credible voices.
Lee Moskowitz, Growth Marketer and Podcast Host at Lee2B, is quoted in the report:
“We’re in an era of ‘AI slop,’ long sales cycles and growing buying committees. Brands need to build trust, prove their expertise and earn their place in the buying process.”
This shift toward more consumer-style tactics is evident in the adoption of video content across B2B teams.
B2B Video Marketing Hits a Tipping Point
Video is now foundational to B2B marketing, with 78% of marketers including it in their programs and over half planning to increase investments in the coming year.
The most successful teams aren’t using video in isolation, they’re building multi-channel strategies that map to different funnel stages.
According to LinkedIn’s data, marketers with a video strategy are:
- 2.2x more likely to say their brand is well trusted
- 1.8x more likely to say their brand is well known
Popular formats include short-form social clips, brand storytelling, and customer testimonials. Content types long associated with B2C engagement are now proving effective in B2B.
AJ Wilcox, founder of B2Linked, states in the report:
“Capturing that major B2B deal requires trust, and nothing builds trust faster than personal video content. I feel more trusting of a brand after watching a 1-min clip of their founder talking than if I read five of their blog posts.”
B2B Influencer Marketing Moves Into the Mainstream
Fifty-five percent of marketers in the study said they now work with influencers. The top reasons include trust, authenticity, and credibility.
B2B influencers are typically subject matter experts, practitioners, or respected voices in their fields. And their impact appears to be tied to business outcomes: 84% of marketers using influencer marketing expect budget increases next year, compared to just 58% of non-users.
Brendan Gahan, CEO and Co-Founder of Creator Authority, states:
“This feels like a YouTube moment. LinkedIn is entering that same phase now. It already generates more weekly comments than Reddit. Its creator ecosystem is thriving and growing fast.”
Buyers trust people they relate to. Marketers are shifting their influencer strategies to reflect that, prioritizing alignment and authority over follower counts.
What This Means
Trust signals are becoming more important across the board, especially as search engines continue to emphasize expertise, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T). Relying on blog posts alone may no longer be enough to demonstrate what your brand stands for.
Video gives you a way to show expertise in a more personal, credible way. Whether it’s a founder explaining your product or a customer sharing their experience.
For long sales cycles and complex buying decisions, what’s working now looks a lot more human: authentic voices, visible experts, and content that’s easy to connect with.
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
