B2B Video Marketing: The Missing Ingredient for Success

Video marketing is your ticket to some of the highest engagement and conversion rates you’ll probably ever see. No, we’re not being hyperbolic, we seriously mean it!

According to Explain Ninja, when a person watches a video, they consume 95% of the message—compared to a dismal 10% when reading. Oof, our condolences to all the writers out there… What’s more, 74% of businesses in a 2021 survey say video content marketing gives them better ROI than simple static images.

But if it’s so rewarding, why are some B2B marketers still not seeing results from their video marketing strategy? The missing element is often vision. Without a clear, realistic vision, you have no destination. And when you have no idea where you’re headed, objectives and goals are all over the place. Marketers end up producing content that doesn’t align with their overall marketing strategy and, what’s worse, stuff their customers don’t want to watch. They become bugged out by low viewership and eventually have to halt video creation so they don’t waste any more time or money.

Many marketers may throw in the towel and just believe video marketing is not for them. But that’s a cop-out; the truth is anyone can make video marketing work. James Cameron, director of blockbusters like The Terminator and Titanic once said, “To convince people to back your idea, you’ve got to sell it to yourself and know when it’s the moment. Sometimes that means waiting. It’s like surfing. You don’t create energy, you just harvest energy already out there.”

A lack of vision, inspiration, and poor timing, is the real culprit here. If you’re a B2B marketer, stay tuned; we’ll show you how to design a clear, realistic vision (like a successful director), and we’ll provide inspiration for video marketing strategies to grow your viewership and create winning campaigns.

What is video marketing?

Video marketing is a form of content marketing that you can use to advertise and educate an audience about your product or service, company, or industry. Content can be hosted on your business website, social media, or sites like YouTube and Vimeo that are made specifically for video content. And it’s usually a part of a wider content strategy that can focus on any stage of your marketing funnel to build awareness and interest, help grow potential during the consumer adoption process, and ultimately sell your product or service.

Moment of truth—how much time have you spent watching YouTube this week? It’s ok—we won’t judge. Some stats say the average person watches almost 5 hours per day! But it’s no surprise that video is one of the most powerful tools marketers have today.

How is digital video marketing different from advertising?

Advertising can be in a video format; however, not all types of videos are ads. The content you create will serve many purposes, like demonstrating how to use your product or service in-depth, without making a hard sell to your audience.

4 logical reasons you should use video marketing

Videos are the preferred way to learn

A key advantage of video content marketing is that it’s easier to consume than written material. Let’s face it, many of us preferred to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the best film in the franchise) than read the book that came in at 107,253 words! Online video marketing is a concise and memorable way to tell a story or share valuable information. When your audience has to read a case study or lengthy blog post (ahem), their brain has to work harder and longer to receive and understand the message. In fact, in a recent survey by Harris Poll, over half of participants cited YouTube as their favorite learning tool.

Corporations become way more likable

Consumers increasingly want to see the face behind the company, and corporations are shifting their marketing to add a friendly, relatable face to their brand. When your company is faceless, you lose out on potential buyers reading your facial expressions and body language to gauge your authenticity and credibility. A big part of the consumer decision-making process is proving yourself—if you don’t, you may just lose valuable buyers in their customer journey to those who are showing upfront and center. We also see a move towards content that feels less “corporate.” This means conversations and topics are presented in a relaxed way that feels like you’re speaking to a friend and not a colleague and even references trending pop culture topics.

Video marketing is an SEO goldmine

Quiz time: what’s the second largest search engine in the world (behind Google)? Sorry, Yahoo and Bing—it’s actually YouTube! More and more B2B and B2C brands are rushing to create a video marketing strategy for YouTube as the platform sees an influx of corporate content presented in a fun, engaging way. But don’t forget about social media sites like LinkedIn and Instagram; posting videos here can also drive traffic to your website and landing pages.

Video is more shareable

When was the last time you dropped what you were doing to read a 3,000-word article that a friend shared with you? Yeah.. we didn’t think so. More likely you saved it somewhere, to get around to reading eventually—if ever. Now, if that same friend shared a quick 1-minute video about the same topic, would you be willing to part with a moment of your time? Most people would. That’s why sharing videos online is popular. It gives us the chance to not only inform our industry peers and work contacts but entertain them as well, without taking too much of their precious time.

Types of video marketing formats that’ll convert viewers into customers

• The how-to video: In this format, you’re telling or showing your audience how to do something. For example, if you offer small business accounting services, in your online video marketing you might teach customers how to calculate payroll customers.
• The explainer video: These are short videos that show how your product or service works. Explainer videos are often animated, and a plethora of online tools and freelancers have sprung up to help you with this.
• The customer testimonial: In these videos, you let your product or service shine by having customers send in favorable quotes.
• The customer review: Similar to testimonials but a bit longer and more descriptive. Some companies post both positive and negative reviews, and even positive reviews can acknowledge the product’s downsides for authenticity. Buyers can create them by their own initiative or be given compensation.
• The customer success story: Think of these as a case study in video marketing form. It consists of a narrative of your customer, their backstory and struggles, how your product or service swooped in to save the day, and finally their results.
• The product demo: With a demo, you can show your product or service in action. Give a walkthrough and make it easy for customers to understand how exactly they’ll get results.
• The product launch video: Want to build hype, gauge interest, or increase anticipation for a new product or service? The launch video is your ticket. It’s also a great way to get pre-orders or sign-ups so you can predict sales.
• The expert interview: B2B professionals who want to grow in their careers are always on the lookout for this type of content. Expert interviews can provide insights, give advice, and comment on industry trends.
• The Q&A video: This video marketing strategy is extremely popular, and for good reason—your audience gets to feel heard when they submit questions, and all you have to do is answer them in a video.
• The behind-the-scenes vlog: Let customers get to know who you are in a relaxed setting. Vlogs can follow your company’s process for creating a new product or show you interacting with customers.
• The influencer collaboration video: This format uses influencers, or thought leaders within your industry, to review, mention, or demonstrate your product or service to their audience.
• The webinar: Teach your audience something new in a lecture format, typically 1 to 2 hours; it can be either live or pre-recorded. Many companies use webinars to bring in qualified leads and grow their email lists.
• The audiovisual podcast: Do you have a podcast? Consider recording yourself speaking or having a conversation. There are customers who’d prefer to see your face when you speak.
• The live stream: Live streaming is extremely popular right now because audiences feel more connected than ever before. Real-time video content marketing is interactive, usually with live-chat features.

The single most important part of a marketing video

Any video marketing guide should help marketers understand their customers better. Next up, we’ll discuss what makes a video so enticing to watch: vision. To understand the vision, let’s take a look at it from a Hollywood director’s perspective.

A director’s vision is the big picture they want the audience to walk away from the film with. The main message or idea, the feelings you want to invoke, the lasting impression you want to make. A vision starts inside your head, and at first, it might be over the top, fantastical, or a bit like an ancient buried artifact that you don’t know the shape of yet. But once you take your vision to paper, begin researching, and get feedback, you’ll naturally start chipping away at your idea until you unearth a clear, realistic picture.

By the time your audience watches your video marketing content, your vision should be clear. You should have one central message or idea they can identify, and the tone, look, sound, text, and editing should all come together to create this. And make sure to deliver what you promise; if your vision is to create a comprehensive how-to video on prepping for your taxes, then you better do just that. Keep reading along to create a strategy that’ll bring your vision to life.

A video marketing strategy to bring your vision to life

In order to be successful with a video marketing strategy, it needs to be detailed and comprehensive. Do you ever wonder why an average joe sitting in their bedroom can create an account on social media and get thousands of hits while your company struggles to get a few hundred views? Well, even an amateur begins with a plan to conquer content.

Create a vision statement

A vision statement is the first step in your video marketing plan. It outlines:

• What story you’ll tell?
• Why does it need to be told and shared?
• Why you’re passionate about the topic?
• What benefit does the viewer get from watching?
• How do you want your viewer to feel both during and after the video?
• What action do you want viewers to take?

Video marketing tip: Collect similar videos that match your vision in idea, theme, tone, and style to use as a reference.

Know your audience inside and out

When creating your vision, always keep your audience in mind. Your audience will likely be a segment of your customers or market such as:

• New customers who need more education
• Old customers who need new products or services
• Potential customers who need more information before they purchase

Video marketing tip: Always survey your audience to find out what kind of content they want to see.

Remember your overall content strategy

Why use video marketing in a vacuum? A great strategy always aligns with a bigger content plan. Email marketing campaigns, case studies, ebooks and more will pair well with video content to aid your audience. Decide where video marketing fits in your funnel:

• Awareness: let prospects know your solution exists
• Consideration: help prospects evaluate you against competitors
• Conversion: get your audience to make a purchase
• Loyalty: create engaging content that nurtures your audience

Video marketing tip: A strategy should include videos at every stage in your marketing funnel to bring your customer to a close.

Decide where the video will live

Where will your video be hosted? Some sites great for B2B brands include YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, and LinkedIn. You don’t have to be on every platform, just every platform a significant amount of your customers hang out on. Also, check out video hosting platforms made especially for B2B marketers like Wistia; they offer special features like next-generation analytics and SEO tools.

Video marketing tip: Take a quick, in-depth course on how to use each hosting platform and social media channel; don’t waste time fiddling around, learn from the experts ASAP.

Decide on a budget

Want to know how much this will cost you? Unfortunately, there’s no set number out there. It all depends on your vision and your company’s marketing budget. Some things you may have to purchase include:

• A camera and lighting equipment
• Professional editor and editing software
• Scriptwriter, transcription writer, or translation writer
• Graphic designer
• Photography and videography studio services

Video marketing tip: Fortunately, if your budget is small, you can DIY videos for next to nothing. A smartphone with a good camera will do in a pinch, and freelancers or consultants exist to fill any role on your team.

Create project scope and timeline

It’s important to note that different types of video marketing require different lengths of time and resources to produce and edit. Layout your entire strategy and begin planning. This includes key figures involved, objectives, outcomes, possible issues that may arise. Creating video content is a lot like watching it—it’s easy to underestimate how long it will take. So leave yourself room for error, especially if you’re new.

Video marketing tip: Outline your video with a storyboard, mood board, script, and working title.

Distribute your video and monitor its performance

Be free, little video, be free! You’ve worked hard on your video and now it’s time to send it out across the web to do its work. Pay attention to metrics like these to determine how successful your video is:

• Clickthrough rate
• Conversion rate
• Time watched
• Video completion
• Shares and likes
• Number of comments and saves

Video marketing tip: Make different variants of the same video; you may need to upload a 3-minute video on YouTube and a 30-second version of it on Instagram.

Video marketing best practices

1. Make sure your audience cares about your topic. You can guarantee this by doing thorough internal and external research.
2. Ensure there’s a clear benefit and payoff for watching the video. Customers should know within seconds from your title, thumbnail, and caption why your content is worth their time.
3. Keep it well researched and organized. This means all your information is factual and organized in a logical order, answering questions your viewers will have along the way and helping them follow along till the end.
4. Get to the point within the first 30 seconds. Give them a hook, but remember this isn’t fishing; they can click away the second they get bored. To prevent that, set up the story and tell them the benefit of watching upfront.
5. Choose the right length. Some topics can be covered in seconds, while others need an hour. Research how much your customer knows and what they want to learn to decide a length.
6. Stay away from hard selling. Like pitching upfront or asking for a sale. Instead, focus on educating decision-makers and give them space to decide if they want to buy.
7. Make it accessible. Add closed captions, and consider translating the video to any other languages your audience speaks.

Key takeaways

• Why use video marketing? Because it has one of the highest ROI among all other content marketing solutions and it’s the preferred way to consume media today.
• What makes a captivating video? Vision. Vision is the big picture you want to push to your audience, how you want them to feel, think, and what action they should take afterward.
• To align your vision with customers’ needs, use a B2B lead enrichment tool, like Lusha Extension. It’ll provide enough firmographics and demographics to tailor your video marketing strategy to your audience’s interests.