Videos: Not Just for Consumers

According to an article from Inc., over 90% of B2B customers watch videos online. Furthermore, nearly half of these B2B customers watch videos online when researching products or services. Regardless of a company’s status, marketers are human and, as a result, respond to video and images more than text. B2B customers who have multiple responsibilities on their plate value video as a source of quick, reliable information. Video marketing opens up a new world for B2B marketers who want to emphasize the value of their brand in an eye-catching way.

Top B2B Video Marketing Trends

The B2B community is catching on to the convenience and simplicity of video marketing. Not only do videos inspire engagement with a brand, but they also illustrate the value, functionality, and practical use of a product or service. Let’s take a look at some top video marketing trends for B2B marketers.

  • Case studies. With more than 70% of B2B customers completing product research by watching videos, case studies have emerged as a popular video topic. In a case study video, brands choose whether to stage a scenario or use a real example of customer satisfaction. In order to be successful with a case study, it’s important to outline the initial problem, solution applied, and results.
  • Testimonials. Customer testimonials are a fantastic way to illustrate the value of a brand’s product or service. Video testimonials forge a connection between a brand advocate and a viewer. As a result, customers receive the benefit of a third-party opinion and are able to overcome skepticism while increasing understanding of value.
  • How-to videos. Many brands are finding that how-to videos or product tutorials are immensely helpful for B2B customers. Often, B2B customers are making decisions on a large scale and must be certain of a product’s details. Video marketing provides B2B marketers the opportunity to present information in a way that makes sense to their audience.
  • Creative ads. B2B marketers are using videos to get creative with their messages. To put it simply, B2B customers respond to humor and wit just like most B2C customers. This means B2B marketers have a little artistic license when crafting attention-grabbing videos.

B2B Marketers Using Video Well

A few top brands are using video marketing to their advantage. For example, General Electric created a video marketing campaign to promote software with a Matrix theme. In the video, the brand is portrayed as “good agents” helping provide care to those in need. Check out the video below.

Another company doing video marketing well is Eloqua. In this video, creativity and animation combine to spin marketing into an adventure-filled story.

The Takeaway

B2B marketers are using video to their advantage and reaching more potential customers than ever before. As competition increases, B2B marketers need to accurately target their audience and focus on creating engaging, original video content.

Do you have a favorite B2B video?