It shouldn’t be news that video is a powerful marketing tool for both onsite and offsite strategies. However, little information has been given to how B2B companies can leverage this important medium.

Many organizations try, but the resulting videos often highlight their values, their team, their events, their culture . . . with so much emphasis on promoting the B2B company’s interests, the needs of the customer go underrepresented. 

Avoid this common mistake by tactically leveraging video to better connect with your B2B customers during every step of their user journey. 

1. Preliminary Step: Know Your Audience

Videos should be designed with a viewer in mind, whether it be a prospective customer, new hire, or a current investor. Each comes with their own set of priorities, and the most effective messaging addresses these topics head-on. If you haven’t already, do your homework to understand specific audiences’ motivations, education level, and values. 

2. Make Strong First Impressions and Build Relationships Within Your Industry 

For the early stages of the user journey, shape your video content to capture your audience’s attention and convey brand authority. Focus on potential customers’ interests and pain points rather than your own products.

Remember, your goal isn’t to convert casual viewers into buyers with your first interaction, but rather to earn their trust by introducing exciting ideas or helping them solve problems. 

Select your brand representative wisely. A fancy title doesn’t always mean that a person is a good speaker or the most relatable source of information for video audiences. Consider who the decision maker is within the companies you’re targeting, as well as what kind of people they’d be most likely to consult with when assessing brands.

To see this strategy in action, look no further than Magento. Many of their videos give general marketing advice, with topics including How to Optimize Your Online Business for the Holidays and 3 Keys to Sustained Commerce Success. Both examples reference Magento’s eCommerce software, but the spotlight stays on general statistics and best practices from which viewers can benefit. 

Where to best leverage these videos: Considering that these videos are about attracting new audiences, they should be promoted offsite across various social media platforms. It’s also smart to place them within an educational hub on your site. 

3. Depicting Value to Potential Customers 

At this stage, you’ve drawn customers to your site through a variety of ways—organic search, web banners, traditional advertising—and now your video needs to convince them to stay. This is where two different types of video come in handy: the “who we are” messaging and testimonials.

●       Who we are: This is the quintessential video in which you explain the “who,” “why,” and “how,” ideally in under a minute. Most viewers will abandon the content before the 30-second mark, so land your biggest selling points as soon as possible. A great example of this is the video found on Slack’s homepage; though the full video is over two minutes, it summarizes the “who” and “why” within the first 15-seconds while the remainder is dedicated to the less-exciting “how.” Like Slack, keep your language sharp to convey as much information as possible in a limited amount of time. 

●       Testimonials and case studies: Make customer narratives come alive through the power of video. Unlike words on the page, your loyal customers’ endorsements will be humanized and emotionally-charged. Plus, their willingness to participate stresses their loyalty to your brand. 

Where to best leverage these videos: Videos such as the above are proven to improve site engagement and conversions. Therefore, place this content on your website’s major entry points. If this is not possible, make the pathway to find the videos easy to find. 

4. Educate Potentially Converting and Existing Customers 

A successful B2B relies upon brand loyalty for a significant portion of their revenue. What’s more, word travels quickly within industry-based communities about which companies offer quality services and which ones to avoid. Therefore, it’s crucial to educate potential and existing customers about how to use your products for optimal results. Video should be a key component of this strategy.

Audiences are proven to retain information conveyed via video better than if shown through another medium. Plus, multi-step processes can be conveyed with greater clarity, as demonstrated with this live-action video from SFS Group. Seeing the specific products in action is much more compelling than a simple graphic, potentially leading to increased conversions and improved technique. 

The most obvious byproduct is a more satisfied user. However, effective training materials can also reduce strain on your customer service team. Less users will need to reach out for clarity, and those that do can be directed towards the appropriate materials. 

Where to leverage these videos: Product pages present a great opportunity to feature highly-specific, educational videos. However, as mentioned above, these materials should serve both new and current customers.

With this in mind, consider where existing users would look on your site for answers. Do you have a Help section? A product-specific educational hub? Make sure you have a clear path for finding answers and that you place videos appropriately. 

5. How to Measure the Success of Your B2B Videos 

It’s natural to make view-count the primary KPI for your videos. However, this tells an incomplete story, especially for B2B. You’re most likely dealing with niche audiences and, therefore, the focus should be on quality engagement rather than quantity. Ways to measure this include: 

• For upper-funnel videos that appear offsite, look at CTR and social engagement 
• For onsite KPIs, measure how the video helps with the overall user experience. For example:

1. How many people clicked to view the video on the page? Many analytics tools, including Google Analytics, lets you track this by creating Events.
2. Did the bounce rate and time-on-page improve compared to data collected prior to implementation?
3. If appropriate, did conversion rate improve? 

These metrics should help determine if your videos are fulfilling their intended purpose. Don’t be afraid to experiment with placement and subject matter to achieve the best results. 

6. Make Sure Every Video Has a Clear Purpose

In short, great videos have clear ideas about which audience to reach and the desired effect on the user. With this in mind, it’s easy to make decisions on talking points, placement, promotion, and style. 

When in doubt, remember that video is ultimately about helping customers accomplish their goals rather than promote yours. 

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