Using video for B2B marketing is a little-talked-about yet very effective tactic.
Here is what you have to remember when creating your B2B marketing videos: just because you are talking to other businesses through what should be a professional medium, does not mean your message has to be dry or uptight. Ironically, the fact that many B2B marketing videos come across as stiff and “corporate” makes it easier for your video to stand out, if you produce it with pizzazz.
Why should you use video for B2B marketing?
Videos help you sell. Period.
A recent study showed 63% of B2B marketers view video as “more important” for sales and marketing and 82% of B2B marketers reported success with video marketing initiatives. Furthermore, over 70% of respondents claim that video performs better than other content for producing conversions. Here’s what you can do to ensure that your B2B video marketing is a success.
Your B2B marketing video needs to enthrall your prospects.
The fact is, prospects make their purchase decisions based on their own research and the reputation of the brand. In fact, studies have shown the average B2B buyer is 57% through with the decision-making process before engaging with a supplier sales rep. High-quality, professional video is a great way to building your brand reputation. As far as digital marketing strategies are concerned, two-thirds of Business-to-Business marketers tend to use video marketing. Since the competition is intense, you have to create something amazing, informative and entertaining. Then, you need to make sure your video headline, title, description and landing page are all makes the viewers or searchers click on your video instead of that of your competitors.
Videos that tell a company’s story or tell the story behind its products or services do better on video sharing sites and get a large number of views by grabbing the attention of searchers.
Optimize your videos so they can be found.
If B2B shoppers can’t find your video on video sharing platforms or in search engines, then the production quality is moot. The solution? Optimize your video for YouTube and search engines by incorporating industry keywords into your titles, headlines and tags.
More specifically, make a list of keywords and key phrases your target B2B customers are likely to use when searching for your product or service. Then use include those keywords in your video titles and descriptions to help search engines understand what your video is about and serve it to viewers who are searching for said information.
Add a call-to-action to each video – not at the end.
Whether you ask people to subscribe to your YouTube channel, sign up to receive your newsletter or buy your product, each of your videos should actually tell the viewer what to do next. If you incorporate clickable annotations in your videos, link back to your business website if it makes sense. The important thing is that you make it as easy as possible for viewers to find out more, interact with your brand on a deeper level or actually make a purchase. Here is the trade secret: there is no guarantee that your viewer will watch your entire video, so include your CTA in the first 10 seconds of your video, if possible. Also include your CTA in the video description or somewhere on the page where the video lives. This way you can be more sure that your viewers will know how to find your product or know what to do next even if they don’t watch your video through to the end.