The Future of Video in B2B Marketing
Let's take a closer look at the future of video production in B2B Marketing.
It’s no surprise that video in B2B advertising should be a high priority.
But how high should it be, compared to other content creation marketing approaches?
After all, your marketing team wants you to consider many other things like blogs, infographics, How-To guides, and other cool ways of gaining stardom online!
So, how does video in B2B measure up against all these other conventional approaches?
What performs best? What should you focus more time on?
If you want the answer to these questions, you’re in the right place.
In this blog, I will show research that breaks down exactly why video is number one, and what kind of videos you need to be producing.
B2B, you’re now Good2Go!
Why is video the best for B2B content?
For this section, I will be focusing on an in-depth study done by BuzzSumo.
They researched thousands of pieces of content and pooled together the 5 best performing content styles. They are:
- Video
- Infographics
- How-To blogs
- Blogs with success in the title
- Pdfs and blogs with Guide in the title.
So – which one do you think performed the best? Video outperformed in 3 categories:
- Evergreen Content
- Social Media Shares
- Backlinks
Let’s take a look at what each of these means for you, and video in B2B.
Evergreen
What does evergreen mean in relation to video in B2B?
It means – content that stays relevant for long periods of time.
Blogs about the top SEO strategies of 2014 – are NOT evergreen today.
But get this.
Videos that are several years old, can STILL be evergreen.
Here’s a great personal example.
My wife and I are currently planning our honeymoon and considering going to Chile.
We were scanning Youtube for videos about Chile last night.
We watched a whole bunch of videos, including some that were several years old.
Videos that were made up to 7 years ago are still quite relevant, and informative today.
Some of them were actually pretty cool!
Blogs get obsolete pretty fast these days, but video in B2B (done well) has a much longer shelf-life!
Social Media Shares
Video in B2B performs brilliantly when it comes to shares on social.
People absolutely love to share videos!
Why?
The reason people love to share them so much is it gives them a form of elation.
When you have something amazing to share with the public, you feel special.
C’mon, admit it. You’ve totally done this!
Again, people love sharing videos. Why not make them share your videos?
Backlinks for video in B2B
A lot of people don’t know this, but backlinks are one of the most effective ways of growing your business!
If you have many high-quality backlinks on your website, you will have an UNFAIR advantage when it comes to SEO rank.
Well, it actually is fair, because backlinks are not easy for anyone to come by, and are regulated very well by Google.
Backlinks are one of the most important factors Google considers when it comes to SEO ranking. So, if the video in B2B helps you get more backlinks, that’s a great advantage for your business.
Backlinks happen when other people share your content from your website. And as we’ve discussed, people love to share videos.
Get more great videos on your website, and you’ll get more high-quality backlinks.?
The key here is to make sure you have original video content.
People don’t share mediocre videos. Your videos have to be awesome!
So, how do you make awesome videos that people share?
We’ll get into that in the next section.
A big thank you to BuzzSumo for this cutting edge information! Here are the results of their study.
More information about their research can be found there.
Now that we know why video in B2B is so ripe for your content strategy. Let’s start to look at what videos you should be creating!
What is the best kind of video for B2B?
Brand Story Video
Before we get into long term content creation, you need to complete your foundation.
Do you have a compelling promotional brand video? One that sums up exactly who you are and why you’re the best for your ideal client.
If not, you’re falling behind your competitors.
The best overall approach here is to tell a compelling short story, that invites your ideal clients into a narrative they relate to. What I mean by this is – tell a story about your clients, not about you.
More great advice on this here.
Don’t move forward with video in B2B until you have a great Brand Story video – because they’re proven to raise your sales an average of 64% online!
Content Creation Video Strategy
Foundations are covered? Great.
Let’s move on to videos you can use to nurture leads, and speed up your buyer’s journey.
What is the most effective type of video in B2B for an ongoing strategy?
There are 2 main approaches that work here.
1. Educate
Your clients are looking for authority. If you can educate them on things they didn’t know, you demonstrate authority. So your goal in video content is to be highly informative.
2. Entertain
You can’t be boring.
Remember, you need to be awesome!
Video in B2B that is creative or humorous solves the problem that most videos struggle withholding attention.
Not only will they keep attention for 2-3 minutes, but they are also very fun for people to share.
Let’s look at a couple of examples of videos that do this well.
“So Yeah, We Tried Slack ?”
Creative Real Estate Tour
What’s better – Education or Entertainment?
It really depends on your industry and your client demographic. As a general rule, it’s great to have a mixture of both.
Each will build more trust online in their own way.
It’s best to start with one, measure the results, and add from there.
If you’re willing to make a video that entertains, while it educates, you’ll have a serious winner.
Conclusion
Video in B2B is necessary to gain more ideal clients.
If you do it right, you’ll stay evergreen. You’ll get more shares, more backlinks, and win more customers!
Looking for a video team to make your content strategy easy and effective?
Contact us and we’ll help you create the right video you need.
Good luck, and happy video production!
Just getting started with video? Check out the S.A.V.E.
By Anthony Madani
