Why video content is such a favourite for B2B marketers

Written by Richard Strange | Sep 25, 2024

Is video really everyone’s favourite medium for connecting with audiences and brand building?

The first thing to understand is ‘What is the Point' of your video content

The one detractor for me has always been the linear nature of video. You can’t search it; the audio and visual are often connected—so you need captions—and you can't easily just listen like an audiobook (there is a reason why podcasts have a format, cinema, radio, pictures, books, top Trump cards, blogs, news articles, public information films, training materials, and videos all have a format optimisation). Think about how you read a textbook - it’s never from start to finish - more likely is you dip in and out of it.

So understanding the audience, how they listen, what they are trying to achieve (intent), what you want them to do next and how it fits in with your other content assets and distribution channels is critical.

Best advice alert: Don't think about your content format first - work on the idea first, develop and refine your idea, write down your persona and think about the marketing offer you’re driving towards. Declare the purpose and point of the campaign or idea - and only then, choose the content formats you’re going to use.

So, what is the point of your video:

Is it educational, helpful, useful and interesting?
Is it an explainer?
Is it instructional?
Is it entertainment?
Is it to get an audience, or keep the one you have on board?
Is it a training piece or a learning opportunity?
Do you want to change opinions and behaviours?

A how it works video is often where I start. But I don't want a 60-minute demo video. I want easy to consume chunks often, just like in the HubSpot Academy.

But the overriding organising thought - I why, what is the purpose and what format within the genre do you go for.

So, what is the buzz about Video?

1. Engagement:
Pro: Video tends to be more engaging than text or static images, capturing and holding viewer attention more effectively.

Con: Unless you get your CTAs done well - and you experiment with dropping marketing offers/CTAs at early, mid and late stages - monitoring engagement can be more difficult. You might want to use a video platform tool like Wistia to measure viewing and reactions to your videos.

Although you can track engagement to some extent by traffic source (Social, Organic, Paid etc).

2. Complex information delivery:

Pro: B2B products or services are often complex. Video allows marketers to explain intricate concepts or demonstrate products in a more digestible and visual manner.

Con: Unless you get your brand and positioning correct, video can be wildly oversimplified or overcomplicated. Stay true to the audience and the jobs to be done.

3. Storytelling:

Pro: Video enables marketers to tell compelling stories about their brand, products, or customer success cases, which can be more persuasive than written content.

Make loads of videos of customer stories and subject matter expert reviews of key topics.

Brand content storytelling is a marketer’s dream ticket

Con: For storytelling, your prep and production times will likely rise significantly.

4. Emotional connection:

Pro: Through visuals, sound, and narrative, video can create a stronger emotional connection with potential clients (all the senses, apart from taste)

Con: Don’t forget, it’s still a video.

5. Versatility:

Pro: Videos can be used across multiple platforms - websites, social media, email campaigns, and presentations - increasing their reach and impact.

Extras: Remember to slice and dice your video. Get stills for images. Get a transcript for great web page content. Cut up the content into subjects and make short edits for social media. Make it available on demand - gated or gateless depending on your customers’ preference - note, not your bosses’.

Try using video and recordings to quickly capture your idea story - it’s quick and easy to get feedback on your idea before you go to design and everyone else.

6. SEO benefits:

Increasing user engagement: Videos can keep users engaged for longer, improving your site's session duration and reducing bounce rates.
Improving click-through rates: Videos can help improve your click-through rates and encourage users to visit your website.
Improving backlinks: Videos can encourage more and better backlinks to your website.
Improving search rankings: Videos can help your website rank higher in search engine results.
Improving user experience: Videos can improve the user experience on your website.
Improving keyword clout: Videos can help boost your keyword clout.
Improving mobile user experience: Videos are valued by mobile users.
Improving rich snippets: Google favours videos for rich snippets.

Here are some tips for optimising your videos for SEO:

Make your video the focus of your page: Make sure your video is visible and not hidden or below the fold.
Create an eye-catching thumbnail: Your thumbnail should clearly explain your video's topic and stand out in search results.
Optimise your video with relevant keywords and metadata: This can help potential customers find your website.
Consider the length of your video: The optimal length can vary depending on the content type and platform.
Ask for engagement metrics: Ask for engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares.
Recommend other related videos: Recommend other related videos towards the end of your content.

7. Demonstration of expertise:

Pro: Webinars, interviews, and explainer videos allow B2B companies to showcase their industry knowledge and thought leadership.

Con: Getting your subject matter experts and senior leaders to create video with you can be difficult to arrange and get them to the filming - and they can be excruciatingly painful to work with.

Hold their hand, be nice. Talk through what good looks like. Get them to think through what they are going to say. Do it in one shoot and don’t allow them to stop “and lose it in the edit suite.”

8. Mobile-friendly:

Pro: Video is well-suited for on-the-go viewing as more professionals consume content on mobile devices.

Cons: Think how your web page works from a design and build perspective. Just saying: landscape and portrait orientation flips for video watching; people often don’t want sound.

9. Brand Ads on Youtube

A sneaky extra idea. Use your video for YouTube advertising. Often people won;t click, but you still get to roll your brand positioning promises to lots of impressions.

How to Get Started and What Content You Could Start Creating First

Getting started with video marketing for B2B can seem daunting, but it's manageable if you approach it step-by-step. Here's a guide to help you begin, along with suggestions for initial content:

Starting Point: Work on your idea and develop the creative.

Define the purpose and the marketing offer you're driving towards - the what you want someone to do next (what we call Halligan’s Law).

Getting Started:

Define your goals: Determine what you want to achieve with video (e.g., brand awareness, lead generation, product demonstrations).
Identify your target audience: Understand their pain points, interests, and where they consume content.
Set a budget: Determine how much you can invest in equipment, software, and potentially external help.
Choose your tools: Decide on video creation tools. This could range from smartphones to professional cameras, depending on your budget and needs.
Plan your distribution strategy: Decide where you'll share your videos (website, social media, email, etc.)
Measure and analyse: Set up analytics to track performance and ROI.

Here are some initial content ideas:

Company overview video:
- Introduce your business, mission, and unique value proposition
- Helps build brand awareness and trust
- Talk about CSR and ESG (only if you do these, of course)
- Staff and employees

Product explainer videos:
- Demonstrate how your product works
- Highlight key features and benefits

Screen recordings
- Snippets
- Customer testimonials:
- Showcase real customers discussing their positive experiences
- Builds credibility and provides social proof

Customer stories - far more powerful than your CEO talking
- Interviews between your sales or customer success team and the client

How-to tutorials:
- Show how to use your product or service
- Positions your company as helpful and knowledgeable
- Training snippets
- Help and advice

Thought leadership interviews:
- Feature industry experts or company leaders discussing trends
- Establishes your brand as an authority in your field

Spoiler alert - they are only thought leadership if it's thought leadership

FAQs videos:
- Answer common questions about your product or industry
- Useful for both lead nurturing and customer support

Behind-the-scenes content:
- Show your company culture or product development process
- Humanises your brand and builds connection

Case study videos:
- Present detailed examples of how you've solved problems for clients
- Demonstrates real-world value of your offerings

Webinar recordings:
- Record live webinars and repurpose them as on-demand content
- Provides value and captures leads

Product comparisons:
- Honestly compare your products to alternatives
- Helps potential customers make informed decisions

Recruitment and careers:
- Video for every stage of the hiring process
- Interviews advice - getting the job
- What it’s like working here
- Interviews with old hands and new starters
- Social and work life examples

Start with content types that best align with your goals and resources.

How Much Video Is Created Every Day

The amount of video content created daily is staggering and continues to grow rapidly. While exact figures can vary and change quickly, I can provide you with some recent estimates to give you an idea of the scale:

YouTube statistics:
Over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
This translates to approximately 720,000 hours of video uploaded daily.

TikTok:
Users spend an average of 52 minutes per day on the app, creating and watching short-form videos.
While exact upload numbers aren't publicly available, the volume is significant given the platform's 1 billion-plus monthly active users.

Instagram:
With the introduction of Reels and IGTV, video content on Instagram has increased dramatically.

Users spend an average of 30 minutes per day on the app, with a significant portion devoted to video content.

Facebook:
Users watch over 100 million hours of video content on Facebook daily.

Zoom and other video conferencing platforms:
With the rise of remote work, billions of minutes of video calls are conducted daily.

Security and surveillance cameras:
While not typically considered "content," these systems generate vast amounts of video data daily.

Personal video creation:
Billions of smartphone users have the capability to create video content daily, though exact numbers are hard to quantify.

What are the stats to say it might be worthwhile

Video can indeed deliver results. Here are some statistics found on the Internet, but you need to find your results (don't start me on benchmarks, I’m not a fan)

1. Conversion rates:
- Videos on landing pages can increase conversions by 86% (Wordstream)
- 84% of people say they've been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand's video (Wyzowl)

2. Return on Investment (ROI):
- 88% of video marketers reported that video gives them a positive ROI (Wyzowl)

3. Lead generation:
- 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, up from 63% in 2017 (HubSpot)
- 83% of video marketers say video has helped them generate leads (Wyzowl)

4. Information retention:
- Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text (Insivia)

5. Purchase decisions:
- 95% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service (Wyzowl)
- 79% of people say a brand's video has convinced them to buy a piece of software or app (Wyzowl)

6. Email marketing:
- Using the word "video" in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19% (Syndacast)
- Click-through rates increase by 65% when videos are included in emails (Campaign Monitor)

7. Website traffic:
- Websites using video are 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google (Insivia)
- Video can drive a 157% increase in organic traffic from search engine results pages (Brightcove)

8. Social media engagement:
- Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined (G2 Crowd)

What Camera is Best for Getting Started with Video - DSLR or Smartphone?

Both DSLRs and smartphones have their merits. The best choice depends on your specific needs, budget, and technical expertise.

If you’re doing your own filming, my answer is always use the camera you know how to work. I bought a FujiFilm T-3 - and I have no idea what I’m doing with it. So for me a Jobi grip for my iPhone and a holder for the iPad - both attached to tripods, gives me a simple two camera setup.

Let's compare the two concepts:

Smartphone:

Pros:
1. Convenience and accessibility - always with you
2. User-friendly with automatic settings
3. Built-in editing apps and easy sharing
4. Relatively inexpensive if you already own a recent model
5. Good for quick, spontaneous content

Cons:
1. Limited manual controls
2. Fixed lens (unless you buy attachments)
3. Generally inferior in low light conditions
4. Limited audio options

DSLR:

Pros:
1. Superior image quality, especially in low light
2. Interchangeable lenses for versatility
3. More manual controls for creative freedom
4. Better depth of field for professional-looking shots
5. Usually have better audio input options

Cons:
1. More expensive
2. Larger and less portable
3. Steeper learning curve
4. Requires additional accessories (lenses, microphones, etc.)
5. More complex post-production process

Recommendation:
For most B2B marketers just starting out, a recent smartphone model (iPhone 12 or newer, or a high-end Android) is often sufficient and offers the best balance of quality and convenience. It allows you to start creating content quickly without a significant investment.

Consider starting with a smartphone if:
1. You're new to video creation
2. Budget is a concern
3. You need to produce content quickly and frequently
4. Your videos will primarily be for social media or web use

Consider a DSLR if:
1. Image quality is paramount for your brand (it's not - depending on the distribution channel of course - though you do need to get the sound recording right)
2. You have experience with photography or videography
3. You have the budget for a camera and accessories
4. You plan to create more cinematic or professional-looking content

Remember, content and storytelling are more important than having the most expensive equipment. Many successful B2B video campaigns have been shot entirely on smartphones.

Make video a part of your everyday - video, the wonderful every day.

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