Enhancing your Marketing Content Mix with Videos
Marketing niche B2B software solutions is no easy task. In an environment saturated with content consumption, incorporating video in the marketing strategy of a company is vital.
The power of video to enhance marketing content is undeniable. Below, we will look at the key data, the benefits of adding videos to the marketing mix, resources to consider, best practices and how to leverage videos beyond marketing use.
The Power of Videos in the Data
According to a Nielsen 2018 report, US residents spend 6 hours / day watching videos on average. That includes time spent watching TV, videos in an app or mobile website on a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
About 3/4 of videos on YouTube are set to play another video automatically for high user engagement retention rates.
87% of Marketing Professionals use video as a Marketing tool
Social Media sites have a feed-based algorithm designed specifically to promote videos over any other kind of content on their platforms.
LinkedIn receive on average a 40+% increase in engagement rate compared with posts with just images
Yet, not all companies have the tools, skill set and time resources required to create this type of marketing content. Understanding best practices to create video content and how to measure ROI are key factors into using videos successfully.
The Benefits of Shifting Focus to Video Content
High Engagement without commitment: Videos are the perfect balance between brochures and product demos; Sharing screenshots of a software doesn’t allow the viewer to get a good grasp of the system with the glimpse of an eye. While product demos are always great way to convert new leads, this is a step that can feel too high to climb for a lead that is just looking to gather more information about the product before venturing further down the sales funnel.
Captivate the Audience: A video is a very effective way to communicate a message to an audience that will be easier to captivate with animations and visuals.
Multi-use: Whether it is to share an announcement, show a new feature of the system or train users, videos can serve a lot of different purposes. More on that later.
Infinite repurposing possibilities: Producing videos offers a lot of possibilities to be re-used or re-purposed. A key component of this benefit is to use centralized template. Once a template is built up, most of the content can be re-used to create other videos. Once a video is created it can also be recycled over time in new campaigns. So most videos produced are not a one-time only use.
Cross-Departmental opportunities: The use of videos can extended beyond Marketing functions, to Sales, Customer Service, Account Management, HR etc. for product overview, quick demos, user training. Product updates and more..
Resources to Consider
Unless you’re able to outsource your video production needs to a third party company, producing videos in-house can be very time-consuming. For a DIY approach, many user-friendly and cost-effective tools exist to render the entire process easier. Here are some of the resources to consider when producing videos in-house:
Skillset: You do need to have at least one person on your team that is familiar with the process and who has experience using video editing tools. If you’re fully committed to create video content on a regular basis, hiring a video specialist with some experience can help you take your videos to the next level in both quality and quantity. Producing videos is a specific skillset that can be self-taught whether it comes from doing it as a hobby or some experience at a professional level. Even in Marketing, the amount of professionals who have this skillset is limited. But it’s not impossible to find. You also learn by doing. In our case, the videos we produce today look a whole lot better than the videos we produced 2 years ago.
Time: Creating videos is very time-consuming. Even designing the simplest animations can take hours of work. The workload associated with producing videos in-house can be very heavy, especially during the learning process. It will be necessary to assess your team’s bandwidth to ensure they can take over this type of project. You need to dedicate time to forge scripts, tailor to your audience, draw inspiration from other videos, creating animations, gather feedback, make edits, publish, monitor performance etc.
Third Party Tools: Those are a must to produce videos and they are not free. It is cost-effective, but you will still need to dedicate a budget for it. Several different tools are required to go through all the different steps of the video production.
Tools to Consider
Screen-Capturing: Nowadays, most software marketing videos use animations rather than actual screen footage. It allows the user to focus exclusively on a specific section of the software the marketer is trying to illustrate. However, producing these animations can be technically challenging without a video expert. A Screen Capture software allows to record live-footage of a device screen, ideal to show how to navigate through a software / application.
Animations Maker: These platforms allow users to create animations. It allows the user to focus exclusively on a specific section of the software the marketer is trying to illustrate. However, producing these animations can be technically challenging without a tech-savvy video expert. There is a steep learning curve, but it gives for a cleaner and intuitive final product.
It also gives complete creative freedom in the process.
This allows us to focus exclusively on what we want to show but make it into a more engaging content than just screenshots. So you’ll see animations moving on the screen such as a mouse cursor showing where to click etc. It is a more effective way to retain viewer’s attention than a user guide.
This step is usually the most time-consuming in the video-making process.
Video Editing: These applications allow users to gather all video, audio and image files and compile them into one video file with endless styling capabilities.
These systems range from user-friendly free applications to more advanced systems with a steeper learning curve.
Images / Video Footage Stock: Videos will always look and resonate better with the viewers of your target audience if it includes video footage, whether it is live action, animated, etc.
An easy way to get this footage is via stock websites that have an extensive library of video footage and images.
File Compressor: These applications are often needed to convert video files and / or compress videos. For example, once the video is edited and ready to be published, the end-product file can be very heavy. It might be necessary to compress it so it can be shared and stored easier, or even take less space on your hosting platform.
Video Hosting: Platforms to host videos such as YouTube or Vimeo. While YouTube is free and better to generate organic traffic, Vimeo is directed to more of a professional audience. We use Vimeo essentially as a source host to embed videos to any other website or applications, while retaining control centrally from the host platform. Some of the advantages of using Vimeo include advanced analytics, removal of advertising, the ability to make videos accessible with a password and more. Highly recommended for B2B.
Webinar hosting platform: Webinars are a form of video that are very popular in the B2B world. To host a webinar, a specific host platform is required to register users, host live webinar, field questions and answers, record it and more.
Filming material: Items such as camera, stand, lighting, microphones etc. This is something to explore when producing live video content with interviews, testimonials, success stories etc.
Best Practices
For video to lead to increases in web-traffic and conversions, there are several best practices to consider. From my experience, the following can help:
Centralized Template: Videos should follow the same template to improve brand recognition and staple your brand awareness. This way, it is also easier to re-use and re-purpose the content created.
Tailor to your Target Audience: Just like a product, a video will address a specific segment of your target audience. Ensuring that it is tailored to their needs is vital, with visuals and terminology that will resonate with them.
Set KPI-Based Goals: Define the metrics will you use to compare the success of your videos versus other campaigns or other videos. The metrics will differ depending on the goal of the video. For example a KPI to look at for promotional video will be lead conversion, while an educational video will look at the viewer retention.
The Appeal: The first few seconds and even the thumbnail or the title of a video are crucial. This is the first step into catching the viewer’s attention. The intro should be informative and make it clear who the video is from, who it is addressed to and what it is about.
The Content: Once a user’s attention has been caught, retaining it throughout the video will be key. The goal of the video should be to try to educate the user versus selling to the user. It has to be interested enough for them to keep watching and reduce the early bounce rate.
The Length: Basic rule of thumbs is “the shorter, the better”. However, the length will vary depending on the video type. A product overview video can be a few minutes long while a quick news announcement shouldn’t last more than 5 - 10 seconds. We usually try to keep our training videos under 2 minutes or else the attention span will drop considerably after that time.
CTA: After the video ends, the Call-To-Action will be the bridge between the video and your conversion goal. It should be easy and intuitive for the viewer to understand how to access to the next step.
Analytics: It’s always important to monitor the performance of the video across the different platforms to optimize its performance, make adjustments or learn best practices for the next campaign.
Leveraging Videos for all Types of Marketing and More
We’ve been able to leverage videos for all of our Marketing mix as well as other cross-departmental functions including:
Email Marketing
Social Media Announcements
Organic Videos
Website Collateral
Product Preview
Internal / External Communication
Product Updates
User Training
Sales
Video has become an amazing way to raise brand awareness. Whether the objectives of your organization are to generate product-based buzz , share company announcements, build brand equity, or educating consumers in a complex industry, video can help vehicle the way you reach the goals of your marketing strategy.