We’ve heard it a bajillion times – content is king. It’s the centerpiece of an effective marketing strategy. Recently, the marketing catch-cry has become more specific, and video content has ascended to the throne.
Have you ever stopped to consider why? And if you’re a B2B marketer, do you need to bother?
Spoiler alert – YES. Bother.
Why You Need Video Content
Video is an engaging content format that’s versatile, powerful and provides exceptional shareability. Customers love it because it’s easy to consume, entertaining and relevant, and marketers love it because it’s providing great return on investment and allows them to tell complex stories and hold people’s attention for longer.
The numbers don’t lie:
- By 2021, video traffic will account for 82% of all consumer Internet traffic
- 90% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions
- 64% of customers say that seeing a video makes them more likely to buy
- Video on landing pages is capable of increasing conversion rates by over 80%
- Video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year
- Video marketers achieve a 54% increase in brand awareness
- 92% of mobile video viewers like to share them with other people
- Video improves SEO – 53% more likely to end up on the first page of the SERPs
- The human brain can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text
- Video helps people remember more…amazingly, people recall 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see and 70% of what they see and hear
B2B Video Marketing
So, video content is important for B2C marketing, but if you’re in B2B, you needn’t bother, right? WRONG! Seriously wrong. The stats are actually pretty similar across both customer types, and considering the complexity of some B2B offerings, the level of competitiveness, the attention span of customers – video is absolutely perfect. With around 80% of B2B marketers using video for marketing, you really can’t afford not to.
How to Incorporate Video Into Your Marketing Strategy
Even if you’re on a limited budget, incorporating video into your marketing strategy is becoming more and more possible thanks to the high-tech equipment that’s in your pocket. You can also try screen casting, animation tools and social media lives.
For a lot of video types, it’s much more important that the content is interesting than the production perfect. In some cases, the more simple and raw, the more authentic the content seems and that’s what really matters.
When thinking about content, you need to hark back to your overall marketing strategy and what you are trying to achieve. Think about the customer lifecycle and how you can produce targeted content across all the stages – from awareness to research, comparison, purchase and retention.
Your existing blog content may be a good source of content ideas. Check your analytics to see which topics were the most popular, and create a video on the same topic. You can also think about how various types of video content might work for you:
- Explainer videos
- Interviews
- Product demos
- Lives
- Case studies
- Testimonials
- Brand videos
You Don’t Have to Spend a Fortune – Just Know What Your Customers Want
We’ve picked three different examples of great video content. Completely different in their creation and content but all are equally as powerful in their intent.
NARVA is a leading specialist in vehicle lighting products across Australia. They have created a series of DIY videos using a range of their products and discussing things that their customers want to know about. They’re professionally shot and produced with a strong intro and outro. But it’s not the good editing that makes them so engaging, it’s the content that is targeted directly to their customers and potential customers. They are helpful, informative and promotive of the NARVA brand without forcing their products on people. Check out their videos here and see what we’re on about.
James d’Apice is a commercial and litigation lawyer that creates a weekly video with a focus on legal insights. They’re nice and brief, filmed by himself, and he speaks in plain English, allowing his audience to understand these complex legal situations. There’s no need to dress it up fancy dress. D’Apice is engaging, approachable, and rigorous in his Coffee and Case Note videos, just that way he and his viewers like it. Have a look at d’Apice’s videos across his social media channels or just head straight to his YouTube page to start watching.
VACC has launched a series of industry study tours that will allow industry professionals to “See, Do, Learn and Experience what’s happening in the automotive industry around the globe.” Cuckoo was engaged to produce a short promo video for their tours. Short, sharp and punchy is what it needed to be to hook and capture the target viewer. We knew it was important to use strong visuals both video and images with up-tempo sound to get our viewers excited. It’s a great example of how video can add that next level of hype to something that just images or copy can’t. Check it out here for yourself.
Ready to go?
Maybe you’re interested in video marketing but not sure where to start?
Or maybe you’ve tried a few things but they’re not bringing the results you hoped for?
We can help with a content review, strategy or video production. Or we can teach your team how to use the many tools that are available – let’s chat.