B2B brands ramp up expert videos to counter 'AI junk'

This opens up plenty of options for B2B brands beyond traditional influencers. A customer can show how a product works in real conditions. A practitioner can explain what problem it solves. An industry expert can put the product and its claims into context. These people don't need huge audiences if they have something worthwhile to tell buyers.

Create for research, not for reach

Creator content is most useful at the decision-making stage. IAB found that consumers value it for discovering products, comparing alternatives, narrowing choices, and digging into product information and reviews.

Here, B2B creators can do more than promote a brand. They can answer the questions buyers ask when seriously considering a purchase: How does it work? What are the strengths? Where are the limitations? How does the product compare to alternatives?

AI makes credible answers to these questions even more valuable. More than half of consumers prefer AI shopping recommendations based on creator and influencer reviews. Among Gen Z and millennials, this figure reaches 65%.

The takeaway: don't treat creator videos as just another way to fill a social feed. Give authors enough substance to produce material that's useful to buyers. Product demos, comparisons, implementation stories, and candid breakdowns of trade-offs give buyers proof, not another pitch.

The contrast with B2C is telling. According to Sprout Social's '2026 Influencer Marketing Report,' two-thirds of consumers made at least one purchase in the past year directly on an influencer's recommendation. Nearly a third did so ten or more times, and 81% of Gen Z made at least one purchase influenced by an influencer. Meanwhile, half of marketers cite brand awareness as the main reason for using influencer marketing, and only 24% point to direct sales and conversions.

Look beyond views and clicks

B2B companies also need to give creator content time to work. Billo found that software marketers initially approached creator videos like consumer advertising and expected a short path from view to purchase. But a B2B buyer may start a trial, research alternatives, bring in colleagues, and come back weeks later.

That's why views and clicks are a useful but incomplete metric. Trials, signups, qualified opportunities, and pipeline show whether content influenced the outcome, not just engagement.

The opportunity for B2B marketers isn't to add more content to an overcrowded market. It's to find people with the experience buyers value — and give them something useful to say.