B2B Video Marketing: The Power of Content Marketing

b2b video marketing

When you think of B2B video marketing, do you think of it as its own marketing channel or as part of a larger content marketing strategy? Whether you think of your business video efforts separately or as part of a larger B2B marketing plan, B2B video marketing is a powerful option for businesses that want to get seen, get heard, and get results.

What is Content Marketing?

In order to best understand content and B2B marketing, let’s look at what “content” is. Content is a broad term used to describe the material that fills a website, blog, or other informational repository. For example, this blog post is “content.” A corporate video posted on a website’s About Us page is “content.” Photos, case studies, white papers, advertising, polls, games, user reviews, mobile apps, and forums, are all “content.” Generally speaking, branded media that you create and distribute, whether it’s an article, business video, or Facebook status update, is a form of content marketing.

In fact, according to study published by King Fish Media, Junta42, and HubSpot in June 2010, the most widely used form of content marketing for social media campaigns involves branded content that you create (73 percent). Expert videos were next (72 percent) followed by videos (51 percent), case studies (45 percent), and user content/reviews (41 percent).

With these figures in mind, think about how B2B video marketing fits in. First, you might create and distribute a corporate video as part of a B2B marketing campaign. This branded content that you create can also be shared by others if you provide an easy way to share or embed it.

As the figures above illustrate, 51 percent of social media content involves sharing videos. When this happens, not only have you done your part to get your branded B2B video marketing content seen by others, others have willingly shared your corporate video through their own social media channels. That’s the power of content marketing!

Planning B2B Video Marketing Content

No matter where you publish your business video, and no matter how easy you make sharing it, no one will embed your corporate video if it’s not engaging, entertaining, or informative in some way. Similarly, if the business video is excessively long or of poor quality, it’s not likely to “go viral.” Use a professional video production company to ensure the quality of your business video.

As you plan your B2B video marketing campaign, keep the above points in mind. In addition, take a “magnetic” approach. For example, with content marketing, your business video needs to pull business customers in – not push them away. You also want to entice customers to perform a specific action such as visit your website, watch additional videos, sign up for a newsletter, or call your office for a quote. To be most effective, your message B2B marketing message should focus on the benefits to your business customers; it should show that you understand their problems and have the best solution. And then it should prompt them to take a specific action.

Before you produce your business video, think about where your B2B marketing customers will view it. While you may initially post the corporate video on your website, someone else may embed a link to it into a social media platform such as Facebook. Because it’s likely that some viewers will watch your business video somewhere other than your original website, make sure that you include an overlay with your website address directing viewers back to your website.

Encouraging Others to Share Your Business Video

Once you’ve produced and posted your business video, make sure that it’s easy to share. Most website video players and plugins offer some sort of sharing or embed feature that you can turn on. However, this isn’t always enough. Ask your visitors to share it and you may be surprised at their generosity in sharing it. In addition, take advantage of your existing social media networks by posting links to the business video and asking others to share or retweet it.

What do you think about B2B video marketing and content marketing? Share your thoughts in the comments below:

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