The Effectiveness Of Video Marketing For B2B Professionals

If you're a business owner or B2B marketer looking to seriously upgrade your marketing results, then B2B video content is a surefire way to turn heads and make people listen. A recent study published by Vidyard and Demand Metric found that 70% of B2B marketers are using video and 82% of them have reported success with video marketing.

This proves that 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. Being remembered in the digital age is becoming increasingly more difficult. Remaining relevant to someone scrolling through Facebook after they’ve skipped your post is nearly impossible with only text.B2B video marketing, however, can bring more money into your business. As well as retaining the attention of viewers, much more than content like blogs and articles. In fact, according to Hubspot, 62% of people consume video content thoroughly, more so than any other medium.

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 brand is remembered and that it continues connects with your audience. 41% of people watch videos from brands that they already like. Which shows us that producing engaging content isn’t only about reaching new audiences. It’s also about keeping (and upselling) your existing clients. For B2B marketers, this demonstrates a large pool of nearly guaranteed viewers. An engaging video can remind a client that your company is still there, working hard for their success. Ultimately boosting client satisfaction and retention.

The average retention rate is 35% higher for personalized videos, meaning upselling other services to current clients becomes much easier when executing an effective video marketing strategy. If your business is introducing a new service, then you should create a fun, engaging video explaining the benefits of that service, tailored for existing clients. Let’s say you need to create an explainer-video to tell prospects about a specific product or service you provide. Stop and think for a moment. Where is this content going to be published? Facebook? Instagram? Maybe a landing page on your official website? Most importantly. How do your customers behave on each specific platform? Is this something that you as a business owner or B2B marketer know?

More often than not, companies are too eager to create their first video and end up spending too much money, consequently pulling all of their future video ambitions to an abrupt halt. On the flipside, there’s plenty of businesses out there who churn out a slew of social videos. Although, since they’ve simply replicated fads that they’ve seen, their content hardly considers their audience’s challenges or habits.

Considering the time, money, and resources involved, video marketing can’t be an impulsive guessing game. It’s time to stop thinking about B2B video marketing as a tactic and start to think of it as a strategy. Each type of video resonates with audiences differently, depending on their aims and the message you are trying to deliver. For example, videos created for social campaigns will be early-stage content. These videos require a higher production budget to show your business in its absolute best light. Whereas other forms, such as product demos will be more geared towards prospects that are closer to purchasing and could get away with a lower budget production.

For the goal-driven B2B marketer, video content provides a clear avenue for campaigns that perform. Whether the goal is capturing attention, building authority, driving conversion, or retaining customers, video marketing will yield results every time.

Animated Videos

The usual process for an animated video starts with writing the script. Then onto storyboard, animation, voice over, music and sound effects. Then on top of that, you’ve got the amendments and revisions at each stage and consultation time.

So say you choose to go down the animated video route. The next decision you should make is whether you’re going to recruit freelancers or go for a company/studio. Choosing freelancers has its pros, in that it can allow you to mix and match a range of different skills, budget, and quality. If your budget is tight, this could allow you to work with people who have lower prices. But you have to take into account your own time. If you take on the role of the project manager, the hours you spend, organizing and managing is a cost. Say instead you want a company to make the video for you. This means you can hand over more of the reigns to them. Then you can simply check up on the project at each stage, before carrying on with your usual responsibilities. Make sure you shop around for the best price, however. As some companies will offer fixed prices and turnaround times, others will charge upon completion.

Live-action Videos

For live-action videos, there is a much more complex process altogether. To begin, you’ve got your script and storyboard stage. Which you will either need to have a go at yourself, or hire a professional to do it for you. Then you’ve got the filming where you’ll need: location, cast, insurance, props, wardrobe, and set. Then there are all your post-production elements. From editing, music, sound effects and extra graphics. It’s worth noting however, if time and money are tight, it’s possible to shoot a DIY style live-action video in just a couple of days.

A major benefit of live-action is that you can take advantage of things you already have. You can use your home or workplace as a setting and rope your friends and colleagues in to do some acting.

Overall, the cost depends on what resources you can utilize and what you need to source. After weighing these up you can budget accordingly.

Animated Videos Pros

The most alluring benefit of animated videos is that they save you money, time, and energy. This is because they don’t require actors or expensive locations. There are no sets to build or locations to find and no temperamental actors to coddle. Animated videos also work best for abstract products or services, making it possible to explain very complex subjects in an easy and accessible way. Whilst still being fun to watch and engaging for your audience. This is why there has been a noticeable rise in animated videos within the tech world.

Animated Videos Cons

The main drawback animated videos can have is that they tend to feel more impersonal than live-action videos. ‘Adam Knows Best’ explains abstract or interesting concepts through live-action videos in an engaging way. Showing that explainer videos don’t necessarily need to be animated in order to engage.

On the other side of the argument, when JotForm tested animated versus live-action video, they found their animated video outperformed their live-action video. With a 20% higher click rate, which led to a higher serve rate by YouTube.

Animated videos can also take three to seven weeks to create, depending on length and complexity. If time is against you, you need to bear that in mind.

Live-action Videos Pros

A big pro of live-action videos is that they carry a slightly more authentic, instructive tone, as well as feeling more relatable. Partly thanks to people's innate ability to read body language. Live-action videos are also faster to create, as long as you don’t add too many complex elements to them. The more writers, actors, locations, and camera angles you add, the longer the video will be. As long as you keep it simple, you can complete a well-planned video in three to six weeks.

Live-action Videos Cons

What puts most companies off live-action video marketing is the cost, which often increases the more resources and staff that you require for the project.

Another drawback of a live-action video is your ability to edit once the footage has been recorded. If you missed even just one scene or want to add in a few extra words, then getting the crew, location and setup back together can prove to be challenging. Whereas with animated videos, amendments and changes can be easy, instant and incur little to no extra cost.

Always consider the resources you have. The location, camera, sound gear and talent you choose can all carry a hefty cost. When it comes to deciding what exact video type, style and production you require. There are so many more variables that come into place than the obvious ones of cost and time. You will have to make the time investment needed to weigh up exactly what you want to achieve and base it off solid measurable evidence (Alternatively, you can ask the advice of an experienced video agency like us!). Don't forget that it's always possible to incorporate different styles from both live-action video and animated (for example having animated graphics pop-up on a live-action video). An approach that can give you the best of both worlds.

Finally, whether you're creating customer testimonials, product features, professional influencer product reviews, or full-blown commercials, get creative by integrating video into your B2B marketing strategies. Don't let your competitors reap all the benefits!