Video for B2B Marketing

Video has quickly become a leader in the marketing world.

• 54 percent of customers report wanting to see more video content from the brands that they like.

• By 2019, online content will consist of 80 percent video marketing. The rate of mobile video consumption also continues to rise by 100 percent each year.

• 87 percent of marketing professionals report that they use video and indicate that they have seen reliable results from their efforts. Eighty-eight percent of video marketers say that their video marketing efforts produce at least a satisfactory ROI.

Video has also emerged as the most popular form of content on social media. Posts with video generate up to 1200 percent more shares than text and images combined. On YouTube people watch 5 billion videos every day. On Facebook, people watch as much as 100 billion hours of video. The impact of video on social media has been astounding.

Organisations that do not learn how to keep pace with these developments will suffer. Brands that understand how to use video to maximise their digital presence can see tremendous value.

B2B video content and its role in the buyer's journey

The importance of B2B video marketing lies in its ability to connect in a personal manner. Instead of just reading someone's words, you hear their voice, watch their body language, and often get to look right at them when they speak. Videos can allow people to get a behind-the-scenes look at the organisation or get a chance to see products and services in action, helping to build trust between companies and customers. Brands understand this truth when they realise that 97 percent of businesses that produce explainer videos find that the videos will help to increase prospective customers' understanding of the products and services offered.

Let's explore the buyer's journey for a moment. When a customer realises that they have an issue to resolve, they turn to the internet to learn more about potential solutions. They educate themselves on the problem and the brands that have products and services that might be able to help them. As they move through the stages of the buyer's journey, they go from educating themselves to evaluating the solutions they have uncovered. They get closer to making a decision and a purchase.

Throughout this entire process, the customer wants to see the value of working with your organisation. Initially, you need to demonstrate that you are worthy of their attention and consideration, then show what sets you apart from the competition and answer their questions. B2B video content marketing makes it easier for you to do this throughout much of the conversion process.

Videos can be used to educate customers, build trust, demonstrate your products and services, provide live customer testimonials and more. They rank highly as a means of engagement throughout the early and middle stages of the journey. 54 percent of customers report that video is effective at engaging customers in the middle stages of the buyer's journey, while 40 percent say that it also proves effective during the middle stages.

Customers want to know why they should care about this particular company and their products, and videos make it easy to showcase. Allowing them to see the employees of the organisation and the products in action brings a personal element to the mix and helps to build the relationship.

How to incorporate video into your content marketing strategy

Video-specific channels

When people think about videos, they often first turn their minds towards the video hosting platforms, and specifically YouTube. YouTube, second only to Google as the world's largest search engine, sees over 1.5 billion users per month, with a billion hours of video streamed each day. The sheer magnitude of its audience makes it a great place to get started with any video marketing strategy.

Brands can create their channel and then optimise both it and their videos to attract attention. Using keywords in video descriptions, similar to how you would in written content, and targeting videos towards topics addressing the needs of your customers will help you bring in viewers. Making your videos immediately engaging, ensuring longer view times with tight editing, and encouraging positive interactions with the video, such as comments, shares and subscribes, will also help the videos rank higher in YouTube's algorithm and attract more attention in searches.

Google also indexes YouTube videos to appear in their search results which means if a user makes a query that might be answered best by a video, Google will display a few highly ranked videos from YouTube on the SERP. This offers even greater visibility for organisations.

Consider the B2B video examples that Panorama9 gives us. This humorous video clearly explains what they offer in a fun, engaging way. It leaves people in IT interested in learning more.

Videos on social media

Videos also work well on other social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, for example, all easily incorporate videos into updates.

On Facebook, videos get up to 8 billion views per day. Facebook Live also generates 6 times more interactions than other videos, enticing brands to take advantage of this streaming feature.

Consider the example that Starbucks has given us. Back in 2016, they used Facebook Live to show their efforts to encourage voting and voter registration in the community, helping to build their reputation and inspire people to remain engaged with them.

They are also immensely popular on Instagram, where they use Instagram Stories to share video content. Users on this platform - which is popular among Millennials and Generation Z members - like as many as 4.2 billion posts per day. These highly engaged younger generations turn to Instagram Stories for information about businesses, with as many as 1 in 4 saying they look for stories from the brands when they're considering a purchase.

On social media videos, more than half of the videos are watched without the sound on, requiring the posters to get creative with the videos they create, including putting in captions. LinkedIn video has also found that users see the best results when the videos are short-- generally less than 15 seconds.

Videos on your website

Videos also play an essential role across your website, including your blog posts and product information. You can use videos that help customers better understand your products and your brand across the domain.

Create videos that demonstrate your products and put them on your product pages. Videos that help to introduce the brand and your values and culture can also help to mould impressions of your organisation throughout the site.

Videos on your site can also help customers get personal with the organisation. Introduce them to the team, to the founders and c-suite leaders, and give them a behind-the-scenes look at where you create the products they use. These all help to build a personal connection and brings the customers inside your business.

Ideas for video content creation

If you have decided to begin using video marketing in your strategy, it can be hard to know where to begin. Every business can produce a solid video strategy, and you don't have to start big. Starting with more straightforward video ideas can pave the way for success. Here are a few different ideas for those who want to get started with video production to help them start small and scale-up.

Create videos of your products and services

Use video to see how your products and services work in real life. Consider that when people shop in brick-and-mortar stores, they often try out the products before they make a purchase. Pictures, descriptions, and screenshots of products and services do not capture value the same way. Videos can help to bridge that gap. Customers get to see the product or service in action, making it easier for them to visualise using the product themselves. They can start to see how the product or service will help them solve their pain points.

These videos can also help with practical questions, such as how the product works, how other people use it, and how they can use the product correctly to help them maximise their ROI.

Take a peek behind the scenes

Your videos can also give customers an inside look at a day in the life of your company. Let them get a glimpse of your company culture in action.

Customers receive communication from a variety of different sales team members from several different companies. While shopping around, they evaluate products and services offered by your competitors. Offering them the chance to see your team in person can add a personal touch and help them feel a greater connection with the organisation. Remember - people buy from people, not businesses. The emails you send no longer come from a nameless person - they come from someone whose face they have seen and whose voice they have heard. A faceless corporation no longer developed the product they use, Bob - the head of research and development - was involved, who they feel as though they have met.

Create customer videos and case studies

Your customers are one of the strongest advocates for your organisation. When you have customers who vouch for what you say about your offerings, it amplifies your message. Prospective customers like to hear from others who were once in their same position and managed to resolve their issues with the help of your company. You can use these videos to highlight some successes that past customers have seen with your products and services.

For example, if customers agree to give you case studies, ask them to participate in a recorded interview that highlights the success they saw. This can help promote the entire case study and highlight how others have used your organisation successfully.

Create how-to videos

Create videos that help to explain the critical topics in your niche. Look at popular search terms and then use that information to help people better educate themselves. Not only will this boost engagement overall, but it will also help to cast you as an industry leader.

Shoot live videos at conferences or other events you attend

If your organisation hosts any events, this gives you an excellent opportunity to create some live videos that highlight your business as industry experts. You can show members of your company presenting and speaking, highlighting their position as a thought leader, and also promote the crowd at your event, showing it as a leading event in the industry.

If you attend events, you can similarly demonstrate your expertise by posting videos of your brand representatives engaging at the event. This will be particularly relevant if members of the organisation have been asked to give talks or participate in panels at the event. Help your community feel as though they are there with you.

Develop brand videos that highlight your organisation's vision or mission.

Finally, you can also create videos that help to highlight the vision or mission of your organisation. When done in conjunction with a broader advertising strategy, they can have a dramatic impact on your brand's reputation within the community.

How do I keep track of my B2B video content?

Now that you create regular videos, you also want to make sure you track how your videos perform. Knowing how many people click on them will help you see the topics that interest people the most and at what stage of the buyer's journey videos are the most effective for you.

You can instal trackable links to keep tabs on the content your site visitors click through to. With a marketing automation platform, these links will also connect the data it collects with the information you already have about existing leads in the system, providing you with a fuller picture of how your lead behaves and what you can do to keep bringing them closer to conversion. You will see which videos perform the best, which will help you maximise your video optimisation strategy moving forward.

Video marketing has become an essential part of content marketing. When you produce high-quality videos, you will naturally help your organisation get more out its general content strategy, across a variety of channels and for nearly every stage of the buyer's journey.

Get in touch to find out about using 1827 Marketing’s blend of creative content and marketing automation to put your video content strategy into action.