Myth: B2B marketing is complicated and dull. Video won’t make a difference.
Not at all. You could argue that not all B2B products and services are exciting or sexy, but what’s true is that it doesn’t have to be.
In this blog post we’ll cover:
- Why a video strategy will get you results
- Why a B2B brand films can help build an emotional connection with your audience
- Humanising your business through social media video content
- Engaging your audience with live video events
- How product explainers can cut down resource and time interacting with customers
- Optimising the customer experience with video
- How the best form of social proof is a video testimonial
The first step to making effective videos for B2B businesses is to start with a plan. To achieve tangible results, you’ll need to outline a video content strategy first. Are your videos for lead generating or nurturing? Map out your customer’s journey and align videos to create plenty of touch points along the way. Then identify which medium is best suited to delivering that content and establish your metrics.
We’ve often talked about Google’s Help, Hero, Hub approach and why certain types of videos work for different stages of a customer’s journey. But what are the best practices for producing B2B video content for each stage of the sales cycle? Here’s a breakdown of the types of videos for B2B and when to use them:
Brand videos
Tell your company’s story in a brand video that outlines the company’s history, core values and mission, so that you can build an emotional connection with the audience. Explaining why and how you got here goes a long way in uniquely setting your business apart from competitors. In doing so, you have an opportunity to inspire, drum up curiosity and get people talking.
Social teasers and vlogs
B2B video marketing doesn’t have to be impersonal. After all, those on the receiving end of a B2B campaign are humans, so why shouldn’t you communicate to them as if you were running a B2C campaign?
Make the most out of your social channels with a regular sprinkling of unfiltered, every day content. These kind of videos – whether they’re behind-the-scenes snippets or long-form vlogs, can lift the lid on company culture and processes by giving people an insight into a business and its employees. Short and snackable, these video are great for brand awareness and driving engagement across your social channels.
Length: 6-30 seconds (longer for vlogs)
Distribution channels: Social, YouTube
Webinars, live events and live streaming
One of the most engaging forms of video marketing, webinars are live and interactive sessions where viewers become participants. They serve as a platform for thought leadership and as a lead generation tool where registrant emails are captured on sign-up. While most B2B videos rarely exceed a couple of minutes, webinars are an exception. Its long form structure allows businesses to build authority, engagement, influence and trust. A great way of making the most out of webinars is to host the full video on your website or to trim them into clips for distribution across social.
Tip: boost your webinar video reach by enlisting industry influencers for Q&A sessions so you can expand your network reach.
Marketing guru Neil Patel’s Facebook marketing strategy video does this pretty well. With nearly 500 comments and over 150k views, this webinar/how to video is detailed, engaging and inspiring:
Length: Up to 30 minutes
Distribution channels: Social media, YouTube, Email
Product explainers
Explainer videos simplify the benefits and features for the audience. For complex B2B businesses – particularly those in high tech and professional services – an explainer video can can capture someone’s attention instantaneously. Tech marketers should note that businesses in high tech tend to produce three times as much video content than any other industry. The best explainer videos are audience-centric – they focus on problem solving – pre-empting questions by solving popular pain points.
In just over a minute, Zendesk outlines its CRM platform in detail:
Length: Up to 2 minutes
Distribution channels: Website, YouTube, Paid Social, Email
Tutorials
Ideal for sales retention, on-boarding and training tutorials aid with the client servicing process. These videos lay out the steps for using a product or service and to answer any common user queries before they occur. Although these videos can be used on a company website or through email marketing, a YouTube channel can help boost search engine visibility and help potential clients find you.
Video testimonials and case studies
92% of people prefer to hear the word of peers over traditional advertising. A video testimonial or case study can move prospects further along the sales and marketing funnel and can be sprinkled across all your marketing channels to persuade prospects in the bottom of the funnel.
We’re a little biased because we made this, but 9 Spokes does this successfully with the help of Oscar from Gigride:
Length: Up to 3 minutes
Distribution channels: Website, Email, Social
Once you’ve identified the style of video that work for your business, combine your understanding of your audience with the targeting capabilities of the delivery platform to make sure the right people see your video content. Finally, monitor your campaign data – identify what works and don’t be afraid to tweak what’s not.
For a free video content audit on your B2B business, contact us.
Nina Postans
Nina is Head of Marketing and Video Marketing Consultant at Skylark Media. With a background in advertising and publishing, Nina has an interest in consumer and technological trends. She has written for Marketing Week, Fashion Monitor, Advertising Week and Creative Review.