One of the hottest trends in the B2B marketing world this year is the move by so many companies to include video in their social media campaigns, websites, and marketing campaigns. That’s not surprising, because video is a very accessible form of messaging, but another perk is that it helps with SEO ranking. According to Forrester Research, video content is 53 times easier to rank highly in Google’s search engine results than other content. It doesn’t look like the trend will end anytime soon, since most studies show that most companies surveyed planned to increase their video presence in the coming year.
The increase in closed-caption content will only lead to the ease of video becoming more search engine-friendly, since many native channels opt for no audio as a default, and many marketers have begun to realize using artificial intelligence to transcribe audio and create closed-captioned videos increases their SEO ranking.
Why Are So Many B2B Marketers Using Video In Their Media Campaigns?
One of the biggest reasons why video marketing content is taking off is because it’s the closest thing to being there. Having to try to describe your manufacturing process in words only isn’t the same as watching a video of an employee walking you through it themselves with sound and visuals. Other reasons why video works well for B2B marketing include:
- People would rather watch a video on the Internet than reading.
- More than half of all decision-makers prefer video over text content.
- Video educates and informs easily.
- Video can tell a story that can’t easily be replicated in text.
- Video allows a personal connection – people want to do business with people.
- Video content makes websites stickier and viewers tend to spend more time on them viewing more pages.
Good B2B Video Marketing, Cheap
You don’t have to spend a lot of money when you add online videos to your marketing strategy. Here are some easy ways to add video without purchasing a lot of equipment or hiring an expensive corporate video production company.
Convert Blog to Video – If you’ve been blogging for a while you can easily recycle your older blogs and have ample material to work with. Create a video that highlights key blog points, then post it on social media to grab your target audience’s attention and drive them to your blog or site. After a few days move the video to your company’s YouTube channel for an SEO boost.
Replay a Webinar – Using tools like Uberconference or GoToMeeting, you can easily record any presentation and convert it to video to replay. You can add them to your website and your YouTube channel and can ask users to opt-in prior to watching, which is great for gated content.
Product or Service Promotion – Using simple editing software and short video clips you can create videos that highlight what your company does. Short videos about 15 seconds in length are about perfect for use as a native video on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Know When to Go Professional with Your Videos
While many B2Bs may need to leverage budget-friendly ways to create and publish videos, there is a time and place for raising the production quality of specific types of B2B marketing videos:
Corporate Brand Video – Because your brand messaging videos represent who you are, what makes your brand stand out, and your company’s brand promise, corporate brand videos should be professionally produced.
Marketing as Education – When educating your customers, clients, or target audience about your company’s products, services, or processes, you need to present your company as an authoritative source, so you need a high-quality video to do that. It is smart to have your marketing plan nailed down so that you can be cost-effective and perhaps shoot 7 videos in a half-day rather than paying for a new setup and crew each time.
Have You Started Expanding Your B2B Video Offerings?
Remember, even though potential prospects may be on social media for hours a day, chances are they are watching videos – your B2B audience would rather watch the Internet than read it. Incorporate some of these video marketing tactics into your social media marketing campaign for a difference in traffic and engagement you can measure without breaking the bank.
