Sales, awareness, education…
With each passing year, video is an increasingly integral part of any marketing plan, including or perhaps especially for B2B companies. The numbers don’t lie. A full 71% of B2B marketers used video—and that doesn’t include livestreaming, according to Content Marketing Institute’s 2020 final report on B2B marketing.
It’s ubiquitous, but is it worth it?
Think of your own experience. Has a video ever impacted your willingness to buy something? 84% of respondents to Wyzowl’s 2020 report said they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. In the same document, looking at return on investment, they reported that 87% of video marketers had noted an increase in site traffic and 80% claimed video had directly increased sales. From a 30,000-foot view, YouTube is the second-most visited website in the world, reaching more 18- to 49-year olds in an average week than all cable TV networks combined.
On a personal level, we’ve seen video work extremely well for the wide variety of B2B businesses that we work with. We’ve used video as a medium to increase brand awareness, educate shoppers, help close sales and nurture customer relationships.
Clearly, you can’t afford to skip out on video, but where do you start?
We get a lot of questions about video and how to include it effectively to achieve a goal like getting more leads. In this article, we’ll run down some of the best video marketing strategies for you to consider as we move into 2021.
What is video marketing?
Simply put, video marketing uses video to achieve the goals of your marketing strategy. This could include the promotion of your product or service, increased engagement, and market outreach.
What kinds of video marketing should I be considering?
There are numerous ways to incorporate video into your marketing strategy, each with its own strengths. Here’s a shortlist of some of the most effective video tactics to engage your customer base.
Product overview
These short videos, rarely more than 90 seconds, promote your product or service by focusing on the key benefits or attributes. Think of television commercials—product overview videos are in the same vein. Here’s a product overview video we produced for a machine manufacturing company:
Explainer videos
Similar to product overview videos, explainers simplify complex or virtual products. These tend to be animated.
Vlogs
Vlogs (video blogs) are just like written posts but with a video component. These work best for short tips or bits of information. Take a look at this vlog series on small business tips we wrote and filmed for Canadian financing company, iCapital; here’s one:
Milestone
Adept at capturing personalities and emotion, video is a natural medium for celebrating a milestone. Look at the interesting, unusual, or superlative projects at your company and consider getting creative with a behind-the-scenes approach. These videos let your customers in on your corporate culture and introduce them to the real people behind your product or service. Authenticity is absolutely crucial for milestone videos so ditch the scripts.
Leadership announcement
Sometimes a video gets the message out better than a blog post. Take a look at this video we helped create for DDA Canada to announce their new brand name.
Contest/event promo
If you’re running a contest or an event, adding a video component can help engage customers and generate additional excitement. Be aware of your timelines and make sure to plan and shoot the videos well in advance of the event.
This is a fun example from ACM Designs, an interior design company we’ve been working with for years. This video was shot mid-way through a contest in which one lucky person won a makeover of their fishing hut:
Webinar or interview
Videos in this category tend to be aimed at establishing thought leadership in your area. Although not scripted, these videos will have a familiar Q&A format with an interviewer or moderator and an interviewee or panel. Make sure you’ve chosen a quiet location to film these videos and that you have access to any technology you might need to make the talk more compelling.
Video marketing can take many forms, and the medium isn’t as daunting as it might seem. Brevity and clarity are key. Whatever you decide on, work with professionals who can deliver video that’s brand-consistent.
Video is an evolving medium that continues to capture massive amounts of consumer attention with no end in sight. In fact, it’s got a spot among our top 6 marketing trends for 2021. Looking forward, you’ll want to find ways to take advantage of video in all aspects of your B2B marketing.
