B2B marketing requires a strong mix of different types of content, and video is among the most important elements. In fact, tech B2B buyers report that video is more useful than any other form of marketing including case studies, blog posts, white papers, webinars, podcasts, and more.
Video content opens up a wide range of unique branding opportunities, so it’s no surprise that it has taken on such an important role in the B2B space. Let’s take a look at the advantages of videos for B2B marketing and how you can implement this content into your own campaigns.
Creating marketing videos can be an overwhelming challenge for brands that don’t have production experience. Unfortunately, many brands simply avoid videos altogether in favor of blog posts, white papers, and other text content.
Regardless of your niche or the size of your business, video marketing is one of the most powerful ways to demonstrate the benefits of your products and/or services.
While just 33% of video marketers reported a positive ROI from their video content in 2015, a full 87% of video marketers report success in 2022. Companies that continue to leave video out of their digital marketing strategies are missing out on a key opportunity for B2B branding.
One of the most common questions among B2B companies is whether they have the budget or resources to create videos that will sell potential clients on their brand.
Naturally, larger businesses have more freedom when it comes to video marketing. On the other hand, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to produce something worthwhile.
In 2024, an average smartphone has a good enough camera to support professional videos. You can also take advantage of free and low-cost editing programs that make it easy to turn raw footage into a more polished video.
To level up your production quality, make sure to optimize the lighting so that the video doesn’t appear too dark (or washed out). Lapel mics are another good investment, ensuring that voices will come through clearly instead of being drowned out by background noises.
Every B2B brand requires a unique video marketing strategy, but there are a few reliable kinds of videos that can work for many different businesses. Here are a handful of common forms of content to help you get started.
Building credibility is a critical challenge for B2B sales, especially when reaching out to new leads who may not be familiar with your brand. Case studies can improve your image by giving viewers an idea of what to expect from you.
An effective case study video should last just a few minutes — long enough for the client to get into some detail, but not long enough to lose the audience’s interest. Ask leading questions that highlight some of your key strengths.
You’ll be able to trim down later on, so make sure to get as much footage as possible during the recording session. Don’t be afraid to ask for multiple takes if you don’t feel great about how a particular recording played out.
The case study video below highlights Nurture’s capabilities and demonstrates its credibility through its relationship with Nike. There’s a good mix of videos including employees, social media posts, and footage from live events.
At the same time, the whole thing is only two minutes long, and Nurture avoids going into too much detail on any particular topic. You should try to strike a similar balance in your own case study videos.
Before you can establish credibility with a lead, you need to give them a clear idea of what you offer and how it could help them reach their goals. This is the perfect opportunity to create an explainer video and offer a clear response to some of the questions or concerns they may have about your products.
The video below demonstrates the potential of a well-constructed explainer video. It includes a straightforward illustration style along with a clear voice actor who explains exactly why potential clients should consider working with Instant Labs.
To set up a powerful explainer video, start by thinking about the most basic questions leads tend to have about your brand. Rather than going into too much detail on the specifics, try to keep the discussion at a more general level — an explainer video should be closer to a product overview than a tutorial or setup guide.
Like B2C companies, B2B brands rely heavily on their public image to pull clients away from their competitors. In 2024, it’s no longer enough to offer good products for low prices. Without a strong company culture, you’ll have trouble convincing buyers that you’re their best option.
Team or culture videos give viewers an inside look at your organization and help them see you as more than just a vendor. They can be especially effective for brands with strong goals or corps missions, giving the team leadership a chance to talk about their guiding principles.
For example, let’s say your team is making an effort to reduce its environmental footprint. A culture video illustrating the steps you’re taking to help the environment will help you develop a unique brand personality and appeal to other socially conscious businesses.
Netflix is one of many tech leaders that has placed a strong emphasis on its company culture. The video below is just one of a long list of team culture pieces that give customers a look at how the business operates.
It includes one-on-one discussions with many different team members who offer their perspectives. Each person explains how the Netflix culture helps them succeed in their roles while feeling like a valued member of a cohesive group.
Customers trust real experiences more than promotions. Testimonials are key for any B2B brand that wants to develop its image and build credibility with new leads.
A testimonial video gives potential customers the chance to hear about someone else’s experience in their own words.
Powerful testimonials include responses to questions or concerns that the customer had before buying from your business. This will help viewers feel more confident in their own assessment and make them more likely to continue with a purchase.
It’s also a good idea to include at least some negatives or at least nuanced judgements in each testimonial. Your video won’t have as much of an impact if the customer sounds like they’re echoing your talking points.
You could ask the customer to recount a time where they had issues with your service
For example, they might have been disappointed by delayed shipments during the COVID-19 pandemic. If they explain that you quickly responded and stayed in active communication throughout the delay, that will make you look good while giving the testimonial even more credibility.
In just one minute, the video below manages to give viewers a comprehensive picture of what Direct Agents can offer. First, the interviewee gives her name and job title, plus an explanation of what she’s responsible for in her role.
From there, she states how long she has been working with the company and what makes it different from other partners. It also includes a few seconds of footage from team meetings to break up the visual monotony of a basic interview format. While this video could have been even better with a little more detail, Direct Agents took full advantage of the one minute it used.
Along with conventional testimonial videos, you can also leverage influencer marketing to reach new audiences.
Some B2B companies are reluctant to work with influencers. They might think that influencer marketing only makes sense for B2C sales, or that influencers don’t make sense for their image.
In fact, influencer videos can be highly effective in the B2B space. The key is to build lasting relationships with influencers who are a good fit for your brand. Remember that micro-influencers sometimes provide even more value by connecting with highly specific audiences.
One benefit of influencer marketing is that you can trust the influencer to handle most of the content development. Influencers might be open to your ideas, but they usually create their own posts. This makes it easy to have active influencer marketing campaigns while you focus on other projects.
In 2018, Samsung made a strong effort to incorporate more influencers into its global marketing campaigns. Instead of dictating specific content, they gave a group of leading influencers the opportunity to express themselves while promoting the Samsung brand in completely unique ways.
While most brands won’t have the resources to match Samsung’s campaigns, this example shows the power of influencers for all kinds of brands. If you’re having trouble getting started, take a look at some competitors to see what has worked well for companies in similar situations.
Even if a lead is familiar with your brand, they may not have enough information to become a paying customer.
To convert leads at this stage of the sales cycle, you need to communicate your “secret sauce” — the factors that make you a better option than other alternatives they may be considering.
Digital marketer Neil Patel is a master of the “secret sauce” video. The video below covers three sources of traffic that marketers need to be aware of.
Even though viewers can use the information in their own campaigns, Patel demonstrates his expertise within his secret sauce videos.
He offers a short call to action at the end and invites users to check out his agency without sounding too sales-y or distracting from the main purpose of the video.
If a viewer isn’t sure how to take advantage of these concepts, they’ll naturally reach out to Neil Patel for further assistance.
This is a perfect example of how a secret sauce video should motivate audiences to pay for a premium product or service.
Keep in mind that a secret sauce video should be much more detailed than a typical explainer video. That’s especially true for creators like Neil Patel who provide services that may be difficult for an average customer to fully understand.
Video B2B marketing has experienced exponential growth in the last few years, and video content doesn’t show any signs of going away in the near future.
Even if you’re content with your current results, implementing more videos into your workflow could take your digital campaigns to the next level. Start with the core video types mentioned above, but don’t be afraid to expand into other videos as you learn more about what your audience responds to.
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