As video achieves dominance throughout social media platforms, blogs, and even emails, it becomes necessary for B2B marketers to turn their eyes toward creating valuable video content. Video content is only becoming more popular and more powerful, and those who do not integrate video properly into their marketing campaigns are likely to be left behind by the new marketing vanguard. On the other hand, developing your video marketing strategies now can effectively distinguish you from your competitors, building brand identity and improving your brand’s reach.
1. B2B Video is, by far, the most engaging form of media.
Studies have shown that video is the most engaging form of media. Video makes it easier for consumers to digest large amounts of information, in addition to often creating a relatable, human experience that customers can connect with. Video can also create a sense of urgency that otherwise might not exist, as it creates an experience that the customer has, on a highly personal level.
Through video, you can display complex concepts to your audience — concepts that a B2B consumer might need to understand. B2B customers tend to go far more in-depth with their research, paring down to a few different options and then running comparisons. Through video, you can offer detailed information about your products and services, including what sets your business off from the competition.
Video supports longer sales cycles — such as the cycles required to secure B2B marketing leads. A single video can have a far greater impact on your audience than a multitude of blog posts, social media interactions, and podcasts. Thus, the engagement factor ensures that each individual video is a good investment. Videos will often last a long time, being viewed a multitude of times, and being shared among other business customers.
It isn’t just that video is the most engaging form of media; it’s that other businesses are aware that video is the most engaging form of media. If your b2b digital marketing company is light on video, your business consumers are going to wonder why. Successful, professional businesses are able to produce large amounts of compelling video media. A lack of this media could indicate an organization that has yet to find its feet.
2. B2B Video can easily integrate into your other marketing efforts.
Video can be used to augment and supplement all of your other marketing efforts. Link to video through email, post video on social media, air video as a commercial, and use live video to garner interest in real-time events. Video is an extremely versatile media format, which can be used to make all of your other marketing efforts and media pieces even more valuable. When it comes to B2B consumers, this is extraordinarily important; B2B consumers require more interactivity with a brand across all channels than traditional consumers.
On social media, video content generally performs much better than photos and posts without any visuals. Some recent data shared by SocialMediaToday about video marketing:
- Companies that use video reported growing revenue 49% faster than those that don’t use video.
- 82% of customer internet traffic is expected to come from videos by year 2022.
- Users spend 88% more time on websites that have video.
- Engagement on Facebook posts with video is 13.9% higher.
- On Instagram, 65% of impressions from an ad come from videos.
- 82% of Twitter users mainly watch videos.
- LinkedIn, which is the go-to channel for business-related content, reports 82% view rates for video campaigns
Marketing emails with videos are more likely to be opened and clicked on, thereby making marketing emails more effective even if these videos also have written content. Blogs with video content in them are more likely to be read and webpages that have video content on them are more likely to rank highly on search engines.
In the past, video was prohibitively difficult to include due to internet speeds and bandwidth concerns. Video is currently opening up as a media type as it becomes easier to stream large volumes of content. Video has always been desirable; technology has simply caught up to video only in recent years.
Overall, putting video on a platform augments that platform’s use considerably, thereby making the most out of your budget and your time. By completely integrating your B2B marketing campaign with video, you can take advantage of every aspect of your content. Further, you’ll be able to develop better search engine optimization and improve upon the effectiveness of your social media reach.
3. B2B Video can be used to make otherwise dry topics interesting and unique.
B2B marketing isn’t always flashy or exciting. Unlike straight to consumer sales, B2B products are designed for functionality over form. Many B2B products and services can be perceived as dry, boring, or overly detailed. Video can be used to present this information in an engaging and captivating way, thereby making it easier for B2B products and services to be understood. It’s not just about the engagement; it’s also about the perceived value of the product.
Through video, you can display your personal brand identity and voice while not detracting from the information that you’re presenting about your given topic. Video excels at being able to convey both tone and content at once, thereby effectively multitasking. If you’re trying to both establish a brand identity and educate customers about your products, video is the best possible choice.
Through video, you can create a more consistent marketing voice and identity, and create a large volume of interesting and unique content even if your subject matter is highly detailed and complex. Videos can be used to tell a story of a product or a video, effectively creating a short film that gives the audience an accurate depiction of how a product and service will fit into their world, rather than simply giving them an informational overload. Moreover, this can make it easier for your business to create large volumes of content, with which to improve your advertising efforts and your audience reach.
4. B2B Video advertising has been quickly growing across social media channels.
Social media is becoming one of the most effective ways to reach all types of consumers. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are all used throughout B2B marketing. Social media platforms are now gearing towards video, as video is being more frequently shared among all customer demographics and industries. As it becomes easier to share video on-the-fly and stream live video, video is becoming a more important aspect of social media accounts and campaigns.
On your social media accounts, video is more likely to attract followers. Additional followers lead to additional reach, compounding over time as you acquire more followers through likes and shares. Video advertising is more likely to lead to engagement on social media platforms, specifically, which thereby improves your chances of attracting new readers and “going viral” across the platform.
As video becomes more commonplace throughout social media, it becomes necessary to post additional videos in order to compete with others. If you aren’t posting video, your competition likely is. You could be drowned out by video content if your B2B marketing campaign isn’t fully on board with the way that media is evolving.
81% of marketers state that they would like to create more video content, they simply don’t have the time. Social media makes creating video content more accessible, with built-in tools specifically designed for that purpose. Further, social media today is primarily viewed through mobile devices, which makes video a more attractive prospect. Video is far more easily viewed on a smartphone or tablet than content can be read or otherwise digested, thereby making it the perfect type of media for this type of platform.
5. B2B Video can be personalized and targeted to individual buyer personas.
As mentioned, video is a highly personalized type of media. Viewers are very likely to be able to associate with a video, as they can relate to the individuals who are seen on camera and who are directly explaining products and services to them. For events and other large scale company-focused videos, video gives the opportunity for customers to see “behind the scenes” at a company and begin to relate to it directly.
This can also go a step farther: video can be tailored to individual buyer personas for even more impact. Individual buyer personas describe specific demographics that you’re interested in capturing. These demographics have unique backgrounds, environments, and needs, and personalizing your video for these buyers can give them a uniquely positive experience of your brand. Customers will step away from your video feeling as though your product, solution, or organization truly fits them, in a way that your competition does not.
Video can additionally be used to support buyers at all levels of the customer journey, thereby offering a custom-tailored sales funnel that is directed at capturing leads effectively and efficiently. Long-term, this will reduce the overall costs of marketing and sales procurement, creating an advertising campaign that will be able to grow itself organically even without being fueled by paid advertising.
These personalized videos are more likely to be shared and discussed, and will show customers why your business is better than the others. B2B marketing is highly dependent on proving value, as customers are well-educated about their potential solutions and want the solution that will work best for them. Overall, personalized video is a way to connect with customers on a level that is otherwise extremely hard to achieve.
Through better video marketing, you can invest in a cutting-edge, modern marketing strategy that will empower your organization to capture leads more effectively than ever before. Video will expand your market reach, augment your existing marketing campaigns, and connect on a deeply personal level with your customer base.
With the right content, professional production standards, and well-researched audience demographics, your company will be able to create long-lasting and versatile content that can engage as well as inform. If your business hasn’t already started on a video marketing campaign, the best time to start is now.
Article by Joe Forte, co-owner and producer at D-Mak Productions, a corporate and commercial video production company based in Phoenix, AZ.
