Why B2B Video Marketing Should Be Your Top Priority for 2018

Over the past several years, video has completely altered the way people absorb information. As a result, it has also changed the way B2B marketers need to think about their content strategies. B2B video marketing is no longer an elusive idea – it’s an essential piece of the marketing puzzle, and should be a top priority for your B2B company in 2018.

Give your audience what they want

We know what you’re thinking: video is great for B2C, but the audience I need to reach isn’t as concerned about video. But that’s just not true. Though B2C companies have capitalized on video marketing more than B2B companies in the last few years, that trend is due for a change.

One argument B2B marketers often make is that video is only appealing to millennials, not people in a position of authority in business. Newsflash: this argument is based on old data. Yes, the average business owner is in their fifties, but the latest data shows that 57% of people age 55+ actually want videos from brands. While this percentage is the lowest of the age demographics, 57% is too large of a pool to ignore.

The people in charge of businesses are asking for more videos. With this in mind, B2B video marketing is no longer just a trend to follow – it’s a need that business owners are begging you to fill. By filling this need, video marketing closes the gap between B2C and B2B. While non-specific content is hastily scrolled past, videos targeted toward this key demographic are more likely to gain attention. Video content gives you an opportunity to remarket to viewers who’ve watched your video, offers another opportunity to drive traffic to your website, and helps to expand your inbound lead funnel. B2B video marketing strategically places your message in front of the eyes that can affect change within their businesses.

Extend audience retention

One of the most difficult things to achieve, regardless of industry, is being remembered. Remaining relevant to someone scrolling through Facebook after they’ve skipped your post is nearly impossible with only text. With B2B video marketing, however, retaining the attention of viewers is not only attainable, but profitable. In fact, 62% of people consume video content thoroughly, more so than any other form of content, according to Hubspot. Reaching your audience and actually connecting with them is much more achievable with engaging video content. Readers only retain 10% of a message when absorbing it through text, but viewers retain 95% when absorbing it via video. Video content is key to making sure your business connects with and is remembered by your audience.

Engage existing clients

Producing engaging content isn’t only about reaching new audiences. It’s also about keeping (and upselling) your existing clients. 41% of people watch videos from and about brands that they already like.

For B2B marketers, this demonstrates a large pool of nearly guaranteed viewers. At the very least, an engaging video can remind a client that your company is still there, working hard for their success. This boosts client satisfaction, making it more likely they will remain your client and perhaps even refer you to other businesses.

At its best, B2B video marketing can make it much easier to upsell current clients on other services and technologies you offer. For example, if your business is introducing a new service, create a fun, engaging video explaining the benefits of that service, tailored for existing clients. The average retention rate is 35% higher for personalized videos, so curating video content specifically for existing clients is far more likely to encourage their participation in your services.

B2B video marketing and social media

These two go hand-in-hand. When considering B2B video marketing for your content strategy, the amount of video absorbed on social media every day cannot be ignored. In 2017, Facebook users watched 8 billion videos per day. LinkedIn has added a native video capability. Even Snapchat, whose users watched 10 billion videos daily in 2017, has become a viable B2B video marketing option, utilized successfully by top B2B brands like Cisco and IBM.

While platforms like Instagram and Snapchat may seem outside your B2B video marketing target demographics, there is certainly room to explore. As these media channels develop more sophisticated targeting techniques and programmatic advertising options, B2B brands gain more opportunity to deliver content directly to the desired audience.

When building your video strategy for social, one of the most important factors that can make or break the success of your video is length. It’s important to understand trends around how video is being consumed on the social channels that resonate  most with your target audience. According to Hubspot, videos under 90 seconds see an average retention rate of 53%, but videos over 30 minutes retain only 10%.

To get the absolute most out of each video you curate, make sure you sit down and plan out each piece of the process. The more meticulously you plan in advance, the less time you’ll waste going back and reshooting.

Let’s say you want to create an explainer-video about a certain product or service. It’s important to think about which platforms this video will live on, and audience behaviors on each. You may decide that in order to convey the full benefit of your product or service, your explainer video needs to be one minute long. That one-minute video will be great for your website and YouTube, but you’ll also want to consider smaller clips to share on other social channels. Simply shortening the full-length video will not convey the full message. This is where organized video planning and production can guide you through creating the assets you need to maximize your video on all of your brand’s channels.

Incorporating video into your existing content strategy

Rather than developing an entirely separate strategy for B2B video marketing, analyze your current content strategy to see where video can complement your existing content. One of the best ways to start is to look at your current blog posts and social media content to see what’s already receiving some attention, but with a little more effort, could skyrocket in the ranks. Create a short video based on each of those preexisting pieces of content, insert the video, and reshare.

Staying consistent with your video content is necessary to building an audience and expanding your reach. To start, you can repurpose some older blog posts into new video content to be published on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. Then, start developing new concepts into weekly,  monthly, or quarterly videos. This method gives current viewers something to look forward to and share on a consistent timeline. Videos like these are also a great way to engage your audience by answering questions, interviewing industry thought leaders, and featuring new products or services.

When diving into new video content, make sure you’re developing a storytelling strategy across all digital channels. Once you begin building a library of video content, those stories don’t only have to exist in the form of videos. They can be repurposed, with some minor tweaking, for blog content, social media posts, podcast audio, even emails. In fact, merely including the word “video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19% and click-through rates by 65%.

Every individual absorbs information differently, so, don’t burn your energy creating something that not every person may have the chance to experience. Spread your B2B video marketing content across each medium, increasing the odds for your content to reach new eyes.