Inside the AI Video Boom: What OpenAI's Sora and Meta's Vibes Mean for Marketers

Inside the AI Video Boom: What OpenAI's Sora and Meta's Vibes Mean for Marketers

OpenAI's Sora and Meta's Vibes gave the world its first real glimpse of what a "synthetic scroll" might look like: feeds filled with machine-made, perfectly personalized video content.

The reaction was immediate and intense. Creators were amazed. Cultural critics were uneasy. And marketers? They found themselves somewhere in the middle. Both fascinated by the creative possibilities, yet uncertain about what it all means for their brands, budgets, and workflows.

While much of the conversation has centered on what AI can create from scratch, there's another side of this story that's just as transformative and, for most marketing teams, a lot more actionable right now.

Because AI isn't just changing what video can look like. It's also revolutionizing how marketers produce and use authentic, human-led video.

The Other Side of the AI Video Story

Tools like Sora and Vibes showcase the awe-inspiring potential of AI-generated content. They stretch our imagination and redefine what's possible.

But just beyond that frontier, another revolution is unfolding—one that uses AI to enhance the real, human stories brands are already telling.

AI is making every step of the real-world video lifecycle faster, smarter, and more efficient. It's helping marketing teams:

• Capture and edit real footage faster, automating tedious post-production work so creative energy can focus on storytelling.

• Repurpose authentic video from webinars, customer interviews, and product demos into dozens of short-form and written assets across social media, email, and blogs, extending the reach of a brand's true voice.

• Distribute and measure intelligently, learning what resonates with specific audiences and optimizing for impact across channels.

This is AI working with human creativity, not replacing it. AI is amplifying authenticity—the quality audiences are craving most right now.

When Generative Video Meets Real Production

Generative video models like Sora and Runway also point to a profound shift in how the "craft" of video production itself may evolve.

Today, one of the biggest bottlenecks in creating professional-grade marketing video isn't shooting footage. Animation, motion graphics, and visual effects make content feel polished, but they are highly skilled, time-consuming disciplines most marketers can't touch without an external agency or design team, creating bottlenecks.

AI video tools are beginning to change that. They can synthesize motion graphics, create backgrounds, or even animate static visuals. This dramatically reduces both cost and turnaround time.

In other words, the same technology that can generate fully synthetic videos could soon augment and accelerate the production of "real" ones, giving marketers access to animation-level quality without the traditional bottlenecks.

Herein lies the bridge between the synthetic and the authentic: using generative AI to eliminate friction in professional production so human storytelling can move faster and look better than ever.

Why "Real" Still Matters

If AI-generated video showcases AI's imaginative potential, real video demonstrates its connective power. Together, they reveal the full spectrum of what AI can enable.

In a landscape where digital experiences can be manufactured in seconds, authenticity becomes one of a brand's most valuable assets. People still want to see and hear from real experts, real customers, and real leaders, and AI can make it exponentially easier for those voices to be seen and heard.

While platforms like Sora and Vibes showcase AI's creative potential, an equally important shift is happening alongside them—using AI to enhance and scale authentic, human-led video that drives connection and credibility.

The Opportunity Ahead

For marketers, the real question isn't if we use AI, but where AI adds the most value and where human insight still makes the biggest difference.

Increasingly, the answer lies in using AI to elevate what's real: the authentic moments, voices, and stories that define a brand. When applied this way, AI expands a brand's reach. It helps teams capture genuine content, scale it intelligently, and measure its impact with precision.

As AI-generated video pushes creative boundaries, operational AI is quietly giving marketers superpowers of their own: the ability to produce, personalize, and repurpose real storytelling at a pace that matches the digital world.

It's a reminder that in this new era of AI video, the technology's greatest contribution may come not only from what it can create, but from what it can augment and amplify.

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If you need help with your email, web site, video, or other presentation to promote your company, product, or service, please give me a call at 330-815-1803 or email me at john@x2media.us

Until next month. . . .remember. "you don't get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression." Always make it a good one!!

If AI Can't Find You, Neither Can Your Customers: How AI Is Changing the Rules of Brand Discovery

If AI Can't Find You, Neither Can Your Customers: How AI Is Changing the Rules of Brand Discovery

If you lead marketing, public relations, or communications at a startup or growth-stage company, your biggest digital risk right now isn't declining website traffic, stale social engagement, or Google's latest algorithm change.

It's total AI invisibility.

We've entered a new phase of online discovery: AI-driven tools are rapidly replacing traditional search.

And although many marketers are still focused on SEO, content calendars, and paid campaigns, the front lines of discoverability have already moved elsewhere.

The question isn't "is our messaging strong?" It's "do AI tools even understand who we are?"

AI Is rewriting the rules of discovery

Across industries, the disruption is accelerating.

Only 25% of companies feel highly prepared for the AI era—but nearly 80% expect it to radically reshape their industry within three years, according to Deloitte's GenAI Q4 2024 report.

The biggest impact? Search, discovery, and digital engagement.

That shift is already well underway. ChatGPT alone is now processing over 2.5 billion prompts a day (up from 1 billion just a few months ago), and other platforms, such as Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini, are building AI-native discovery experiences that are likely to render the traditional Web nearly obsolete.

Customers are asking questions, making decisions, and receiving brand recommendations—without ever touching traditional search engine results or your homepage.

In a world where your audience's first interaction is with an AI interface or AI-generated response to a search, your brand's visibility depends on what machines can extract from your digital ecosystem—not what your homepage looks like.

Your website is no longer a marketing tool, it's a data source for machines

To cut to the chase: AI agents don't care about your homepage design, clever copy, or conversion-focused layout. They don't scroll; they parse. They don't appreciate brand tone; they extract facts.

If your site isn't structured in a way that AI models can read and process—clear HTML structure, proper schema markup, a clean sitemap, strong metadata—your content might as well not exist.

Marketing teams are still spending time and budget producing beautiful, well-crafted content. But if that content isn't legible to AI systems, it doesn't matter how good it is. AI won't find it. It won't serve it. It won't recommend it.

And that puts your team in a dangerous spot: competing in an entirely new discovery landscape using tools designed for the old one.

If your marketing team isn't "tech savvy" it's time to school up and understand that the pivot to win in this space is not to become an AI engineer but to understand AI from a communications point of view.

AI optimization must start at Dollar One

Marketing budgets—especially in lean environments—must now prioritize AI agents as a primary audience.

In AI-powered Web browsing environments, agents act autonomously on behalf of human users. From the first dollar allocated, your spend should answer one question: Will this improve how AI agents understand, interpret, and surface our brand?

More on agents, below.

Shifting marketing priority expenditures should include the following:

• Technical answer engine optimization (AEO) and/or generative engine optimization (GEO) audits focused on AI accessibility
• Schema implementation and structured data tools
• Content formatting for natural language summarization
• Metadata management platforms
• AI visibility diagnostics (testing with ChatGPT (Agent), Claude, Perplexity (Comet) etc.)

Ad budgets, website refreshes, and even video content are still valuable—but only if they're built on a foundation that makes your company legible to machine systems.

If AI can't see it, your audience won't either.

You don't need a massive budget—but you do need to lead the shift

Here's the upside: This isn't about outspending the competition, it's about outsmarting them.

AI is leveling the playing field. Small, resource-strapped teams can now compete with large enterprises if they structure their digital presence for machine visibility. But that requires a shift in mindset—and in leadership.

This is now your lane as a leader in marketing or comms. Not your CTO's. Not your product team's. You're the voice of the brand, the architect of discoverability, and increasingly, the first line of defense against irrelevance.

The shifting-priorities steps listed above are not IT-only tasks. They are modern marketing fundamentals. And they're only going to become more urgent with each iteration of AI capability.

AI agents are becoming gatekeepers—and decision-makers

The next frontier isn't just AI tools that inform users. It's AI agents that act on their behalf.

Platforms like OpenAI's Operator (Agent) and Perplexity's Comet are rolling out browsing agents that don't just find content—they summarize it, recommend it, and execute actions. Bookings. Downloads. Purchases.

Dr. Karim R. Lakhani warned in his 2025 TEDx Boston talk that AI model capabilities are doubling every 6-9 months. That pace isn't just fast—it's exponential. Fall behind one cycle, and you're on the wrong side of the curve. Fall behind two, and catching up becomes exponentially harder.

This isn't a future problem. This is happening now. And every day your digital presence remains unstructured, AI-native platforms are overlooking your brand—and recommending someone else's.

Earned media is your new power play

Here's one thing that hasn't changed—but is now even more valuable: earned media.

AI-powered search agents are increasingly prioritizing trusted, third-party sources when surfacing answers to user prompts. That means press coverage, interviews, awards, and legitimate media mentions aren't just brand builders—they're AI fuel.

Marketing leaders must think of earned media not just as reputation strategy but as visibility infrastructure.

Each article you're mentioned in, each quote, each headline are now among the most indexable and influential digital assets you have.

If you're not investing in PR and media placement—or if you're letting those wins disappear into your archives—you're forfeiting one of your most powerful AI-era levers.

Visibility is no longer earned, it's engineered

As a marketing leader, you already know that perception drives performance. But in the AI era, visibility is no longer something you earn through reach or budget—it's something you engineer through structure and clarity.

If AI can't see you, your audience won't either. And your carefully built campaigns will never even make it to the consideration set.

The good news? You don't need a reorg or a million-dollar investment. You just need to reprioritize what your team considers core to marketing.

Because the brands that adapt now won't just be found...

They'll be first.

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If you need help with your email, web site, video, or other presentation to promote your company, product, or service, please give me a call at 330-815-1803 or email me at john@x2media.us

Until next month. . . .remember. "you don't get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression." Always make it a good one!!

How to Turn Subject-Matter Expertise Into Engagement: B2B Short-Form Video Content

How to Turn Subject-Matter Expertise Into Engagement: B2B Short-Form Video Content

More and more B2B brands are pressing play on video content, and it's redefining how companies engage online.

Fully 78% of B2B marketers currently use video in their programs, and 56% plan to increase their investment in B2B video marketing within the next year, according to the 2025 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report from LinkedIn and research firm Ipsos.

What's more, almost half of B2B marketers say short-form social video content delivers the highest ROI, according to the same report, which also found that about 58% of marketers choose B2B influencers based on authenticity and credibility, while nearly half prioritize industry relevance and subject-matter expertise.

Short-Form Video and Subject-Matter Experts

You don't have to look far to see those findings in practice. Many of today's leading B2B brands are prioritizing short-form video content in their marketing strategies, in large part due to its effectiveness in building trust and connecting with target audiences.

And most of those videos feature subject-matter experts (SMEs) who provide insights on specific topics and areas of specialization.

Consider Salesforce's Instagram strategy. Some of the company's most-viewed reels showcase influencers or in-house experts demonstrating Salesforce products in ways that are both compelling and easy to understand.

For example, one Salesforce reel with around 15,200 views spotlights an SME at Salesforce explaining how to land an entry-level role with AI.

Authentic, expert-led short-form videos can effectively engage B2B audiences, ultimately driving real results.

Expert-driven, bite-sized videos are a valuable tool for reaching key decision-makers.

To stay ahead, creatives working with B2B brands may want to focus on mastering SME-centered strategies tailored for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and other forms of short-form video content.

Four Ways to Use Short-Form Video

Here's how marketers and creatives can effectively integrate SMEs into their short-form video campaigns to maximize reach, engagement, and trust with the companies they serve.

1. Emphasize information-sharing and education

SME-driven content should be informative and practical, and it should provide viewers with a clear takeaway related to a specific technology, topic, or issue.

That approach helps potential buyers understand how a product works, the value it can bring to their organization, or the broader problem it addresses. It can also help current clients discover products they aren't yet using but may want to add to their existing services.

Shopify is a great example of a brand using short-form video content to inform and educate its audience. In a recent reel highlighting "underrated features" in its Theme Editor, Shopify clearly demonstrates tips and capabilities that many users may not have discovered on their own.

The video could also help convert prospective clients who were previously on the fence but became convinced after seeing the Theme Editor in action.

Expert-led content can also help educate audiences on broader global issues they may not be familiar with, while highlighting how a company is addressing those challenges.

Consider the Siemens reel highlighting the company's microgrid project on Terceira Island, developed in collaboration with Fluence. The video not only introduces the microgrid initiative but also explains its potential impact, exploring how the microgrid can "cut diesel use by over 1,150 metric tons each year" and lower "CO2 emissions by more than 3,600 tons annually."

The video's 20,000 viewers have gained insight into the project's significance and into Siemens' capabilities in building sustainable energy solutions.

SME-centered, short-form video content that focuses on actionable knowledge helps prospective clients make informed buying decisions, shows current customers new ways to get more from the services they already use, and gives all viewers a clearer understanding of the company's work and impact.

As a result, this type of content drives B2B brand engagement while serving as a trusted resource for both current and future stakeholders.

2. Highlight actual, relatable experts

Another way to maximize the impact of SME content is to be highly intentional about which thought leaders are showcased.

IBM executes this seamlessly across its social media platforms. In a recent "We're Mainframers" TikTok post, which has around 16,000 views, the company spotlights real mainframers who explain their jobs in a fun, approachable way (tapping into the popular "We're XYZ-type of person" TikTok trend).

By introducing real experts, using a popular trend, and making the content relatable, IBM draws viewers in with an entertaining format and keeps them engaged by revealing what mainframers do and why their work matters.

Companies can also showcase customers in different industries who use their products. Adobe regularly employs the tactic on TikTok, and it pays off.

Adobe's TikTok on Mato Wayuhi, who uses Adobe for their music, has over 2.3 million views. Similarly, the brand's TikTok showcasing Likha Filipino Kitchen using Adobe to create the restaurant's daily menu has more than 700,000 views.

Those videos provide viewers with a glimpse into the ways professionals can apply Adobe's suite of products for a range of use cases.

Featuring genuine, relatable professionals as experts not only adds authenticity to short-form video but also helps audiences connect with the content on a deeper level and builds trust. And it drives engagement by making products accessible through entertaining, real-world stories.

3. Keep content relevant

Just as important as sharing pertinent information and picking the right SMEs is making sure the content you're creating is relevant. As noted earlier, IBM's "we're mainframers" video is one successful example of how to create effective content that's connected to what's currently relevant.

However, smaller marketing teams or B2B brands without the bandwidth to keep up with constantly shifting news and trends can still stay relevant without needing to monitor every development in real-time.

One example is the enduring popularity of "day in the life" videos, which have evolved from longer-form vlogs audiences have closely followed on YouTube for nearly a decade. For instance, Upwork's "Day in the Life" Reel of a parent who uses the platform for freelancing has over 11,000 views.

Such videos continue to resonate because they offer a relatable, behind-the-scenes look that remains timely, even as platforms and formats change.

4. Lean into creativity

One thing many of the most popular TikToks and reels from B2B brands have in common? They aren't stale. They attract eyeballs through artful visuals, clear captions, and well-thought-out concepts in addition to the practical wisdom and informative insights.

And although a large marketing budget can help produce polished videos, it's hardly a requirement, and it's not always what resonates most. As in the IBM and Upwork example, a client filming their workday or an employee recording on an iPhone in the office can be just as effective, if not more so, than a highly produced video.

Authenticity, expertise, and creativity can go a long way when optimizing short-form video strategies.

By sharing educational content, spotlighting real experts, and tapping into trends, complex topics are made accessible and businesses build trust with key audiences.

Invest in genuine expertise, and brand engagement won't just follow, it'll flourish.

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If you need help with your email, web site, video, or other presentation to promote your company, product, or service, please give me a call at 330-815-1803 or email me at john@x2media.us

Until next month. . . .remember. "you don't get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression." Always make it a good one!!