Video marketing is often thought of as the foray of retail brands selling directly to consumers. However, you could be missing out if you have a B2B brand and are not leveraging video marketing.
According to the US Business Formation Statistics, 5.5 million business applications were filled in 2023. This is an 8.1% annual increase and the largest number of applications ever recorded in just one year.
These businesses are either your competitors or your future clients. Either way, they’ll probably be using video marketing, so you can’t afford to miss out. Video marketing campaigns for B2B brands not only boost brand awareness and recognition, but they can build trust, establish your authority, and ultimately, increase sales.
B2B stands for business to business, which is a brand that sells products or services to other businesses. This is in contrast to B2C, which is business to consumer (a retail brand), or D2C, which is direct to consumer. It’s important to know which category your business is to understand your target audience.
A B2B brand offers products or services to businesses, such as website design, business software, business coaching, or accounting. These are primarily service-based brands, but there are products that may be sold to businesses. A B2C brand sells mostly products, such as pet food, hair products, or clothing, but there could be some services.
Why does this matter? Your audience is a crucial part of understanding how to approach your marketing efforts and messaging with video marketing.
Video marketing is a strategy that uses videos to promote a brand and its products or services. Because video is naturally entertaining and easy to consume, it’s more engaging than other types of content.
According to research from Wyzowl, 90% of marketers say that video marketing offers a good ROI, and 60% of video marketers quantify ROI through video engagement, such as likes, shares, and reposts. In addition, 88% of video marketers say video has helped them increase user understanding of their product or service.
Producing video content is a high priority for marketers. Consumers have already proven that videos perform better than other types of content, so brands are following through. Here are some other benefits of video marketing:
Videos are the top content in the digital world. The average user spends about 100 minutes a day watching online videos. To stay ahead of your competitors, you have to give the audience what they want.
Written content can be effective, but it’s much more difficult to show off your brand personality and connect with the audience on an emotional level. Videos put you and your brand in the forefront, helping your audience feel like they’re in the experience with you. People want to buy from other people, and videos help you show that you’re a human instead of a faceless brand.
Videos are considered more trustworthy and credible than other forms of content because the audience can hear the tone of voice, see body language, and interpret the interaction as genuine or acted. A customer testimonial or review in video form—rather than written—can go a long way toward showing prospective customers what your brand can do for them.
Ready to get started with B2B video content? Here are some tips for success:
Videos are a great way to show off your product or service and highlight what makes it different from others. For example, you can share videos of customers using your product or service, create video case studies, or compile behind-the-scenes content that highlights your brand’s production process.
Branding your videos is more than mentioning your brand name and putting a logo in the corner. You have to think about your brand’s values and ethos, which should show through in every video clip and script. If the branding isn’t there, your video may come off as inauthentic, which doesn’t help your brand trust.
You can’t just make videos for the sake of it. Like social media marketing, you have to have a strategy and goals in mind. Before you create anything, you have to decide what the point of the video is and what you want to achieve.
Are you looking to boost brand awareness? Do you want to increase your reach to new audiences? Do you want to increase sales? If you’re not sure, start over.
Once you have goals, you have to determine how you’re going to see if you’re on track. It’s not enough to have general goals like “increasing sales.” Your goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timebound. For example, a goal could be to increase sales by 30% by the end of the quarter.
From there, you can decide on metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) that show you if you’re on track. Using your data analytics, check in on your campaigns and see how you’re doing. If you don’t think you’ll reach your goals, what can you do to improve your campaign’s performance in the meantime?
While many brands want to include video campaigns in their marketing strategy, it can be time intensive and challenging to produce videos. While they don’t need to be polished masterpieces that would appear as a Super Bowl ad, your videos will need to be polished and free of shaky camera work, staticky audio, and other issues that affect the viewing experience.
If you’re new to video production, there are tools to help. You could also enlist the services of a video production company to spare yourself the time, hassle, and stress. Whether you choose to do just product demo videos or a slew of campaigns, having seasoned pros at the helm can make a huge difference.
The buyer’s journey is a crucial part of planning and producing content. Your videos should speak to customers at different stages, which include awareness, consideration, and decision.
Awareness is when the customer is just learning about your brand. They’re not likely to make a purchase yet, but they’re exploring the possible solutions to their problem. This is when you want to get on their radar with content directed toward the problem and pain points.
The consideration stage is when the customer has narrowed a list of possible solutions and is comparing them to see which one is the best fit. This is an opportunity to answer common questions customers have about your product or highlight a customer success story using your service.
The decision stage is the final step in the buying cycle. Customers may have concerns or questions they need answered before they complete their purchase. Your content should be focused on demonstrating the merits of your product or service and providing evidence of how it’s helped others, such as product tutorials, testimonials, or case studies.
With a strategic approach, video marketing is well worth the time, effort, and money you invest in it. It can help your brand grow, build trust, and boost sales, giving you an opportunity to stand out from fierce competition.