Summary: We take a look at the latest trends in video marketing, including how marketers are using it as a tool for building trust and awareness with prospects, and increasing their revenue and profits.

Introduction

The global pandemic of the past year and associated restrictions on travel and large gatherings has put a crimp on the marketing plans of many B2B businesses. Many of them have been cut off from their usual marketing venues—trade shows, in-person meetings, and customer visits. Fortunately, web conferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx, have been there to fill some of this gap. Budgets originally earmarked for business travel, trade shows and conferences have ended up being diverted to virtual venues such as webinars and virtual events, along with more extensive use of video for marketing campaigns.

Why include video marketing in your toolbox?

Here are some reasons why you should consider adding video marketing to your strategy:

• • Studies show that most people (~70%) prefer to watch a video than to read a blog article.
  • People pick up information 60,000 times faster when watching a video than they do by reading an article.
  • There are nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, body language and tonality which you can only convey by video. These contribute significantly to the overall impact of your message and can’t be conveyed by text.

So what are the best ways B2B businesses can use video marketing services to get the most ROI out of their marketing dollars?

• • Company Branding videos – including company and executive intros
  • Product, Services, and Instructional videos
  • Recruitment videos
  • Webinars
  • Virtual events

Let’s talk about these in more detail.

Company Branding

Videos that introduce your company to potential B2B customers are invaluable for creating and increasing awareness. Giving prospects the ability to actually see and hear you talk about who you are, your unique areas of expertise, and dedication to customer service and quality can go a long way toward making your business stand out in a sea of competitors. Videos which are “done well” can also help to boost your company’s reputation, and this will also help lift your website’s position in web searches.

A branding video that is “done well” will be one that is a high quality, well-scripted production that conveys authenticity and professionalism.

Product, Services and Instructional Videos

Creating a video that introduces a new product or service is a great way to promote it and create demand. In the case of a product introduction, video can be especially effective in creating interest if you can demonstrate how to use that product. If you’re a service company, demonstrations of your approach to service delivery, or talking about a service-related topic in your wheelhouse helps to give people a sense of your expertise, energy level, and integrity.

Recruitment Videos

As a type of branding videos, a recruiting video can be a great way to attract the best and most qualified job applicants. Such videos have the advantage of being available 24/7, having a broad reach, and being accessible to potential candidates wherever they may be located.

A good recruiting video should give candidates a sense of your company culture and work environment. It should highlight your company strengths, such as your competitive advantage, diversity, growth potential, and opportunities for advancement). They are also another great place to talk about your company’s business philosophy.

On top of all of that, they can be very cost effective compared to other alternatives.

Webinars

Doing live webinars on topics in your area of expertise is a great way to demonstrate and promote your B2B company’s strength in a subject area. They provide a valuable opportunity for prospects to interact live with you. To get even more mileage out of your webinar production, you can record them and make them available to those who are not able to watch them live.

Interestingly, webinars were the type of video in 2020 that increased the most, from 46% in 2019 to 62% in 2020. The percentage of marketers who reported being successful with webinars also grew, increasing 10% from the year before.

Virtual Events

At the other end of the video marketing spectrum is the “virtual event” or “virtual conference”. Virtual events was what many mid and large B2B companies turned to in 2020 to promote their businesses and generate leads.

For a virtual event, B2B businesses can use a combination of live broadcast elements such as keynote speeches, product presentations and interactive panels. As with webinars, recording these sessions provides you with the ability to use this content to continue engaging prospects and customers after the event itself is over.

Want to Know More?

If you’d like  to learn more about how you can use video marketing services and other strategies to help your B2B business grow,  us a call at 408 643-0150 or fill out the form on our Contact page.

Smart Web Marketing

Smart Web Marketing is a digital marketing agency within WSI, the world’s’ largest network of digital marketing consultants. Our agency’s focus is helping B2B companies grow their businesses.  We do this by providing comprehensive digital marketing services to make it easy for prospective customers to find your business you online. Using  systematic processes and up to date technologies, we help you build brand awareness and trust, and show you how to  convert the “right” prospects to paying customers.

What makes us unique is that we understand the needs and challenges of B2B technology manufacturing and professional service companies. This is because of our technical backgrounds and years of tech industry experience. We understand business owners because like you, we are business owners too!

References

https://www.weidert.com/blog/b2b-video-marketing-statistics

https://www.weidert.com/blog/topic/video-marketing

https://wyzowl.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdfs/Wyzowl-Video-Survey-2021.pdf

About the Author

Howard Walker is a Digital Marketing Consultant and owner of WSI Smart Web Marketing. He serves as a manager and strategic advisor and uses his experience, expertise, and knowledge from many years of experience in the tech industry as a product marketing engineer and project manager. His experience with digital marketing services and the use of online analysis tools allow him to implement strategies and recommendations that provide the best-in-class services and results for clients.