B2B Video Marketing: 6 Tips to Start Your Strategy

In 2005, the first YouTube video went online. This was the start of the video revolution. 

If you haven't watched it, you should. It's a gem. 

In the years since that first YouTube video, online video has exploded. Today, we watch more than 1 billion hours of YouTube videos every day. 

From cat videos to comedy shows and how-to videos, online videos serve a variety of purposes— and marketers have taken note. 

In fact, 83 percent of marketers believe that video content is more important now than ever before. 

If you’re a B2B marketer, you've likely noticed the growth of B2B video marketing. But how do you do it right — and is video marketing worth it for B2B? 

Note: Sign up for a free 14-day trial of Leadfeeder to see how you can incorporate video into your sales strategy.

Does video marketing matter for B2B? 

Yes, yes, it does. 

Video marketing is fast becoming the top marketing strategy for B2B companies. 

A study by Heinz Marketing found that 68 percent of organizations plan to increase their investment in video marketing in 2020. 

What is holding you back? Maybe you are worried that you don't have the time to create videos, or it will be too expensive. Or you think video is only good for top-of-the-funnel marketing. 

In reality, video content works really well for B2B customers, who tend to do more research and need to be able to get buy-in from seven to eight other team members. 

But, if everyone else is doing it — does video marketing really matter anymore? 

It does — and here's why. 

Video marketing is incredibly effective. 

Seriously — online videos are 600 percent more effective than print and direct mail advertising combined. 

Plus, 62 percent of B2B marketers rate video as the most important format they will use for content this year, far more than email, infographics, or case studies.

If you are looking for an effective and affordable marketing strategy, video can't be beaten. 

We use video marketing here at Leadfeeder to explain what our product does and share detailed walkthroughs, like how to add the Leadfeeder tracker to your website. 

It's been highly effective at driving traffic, nurturing prospects, and providing the detailed knowledge our customers need. 

As a B2B brand, video content can help your brand: 

• Improve customer engagement

• Enhance audience retention rate

• Support SEO, blogging, social media, and other marketing efforts

• Reach clients at different points in the B2B sales cycle

• Create effective remarketing campaigns

It comes down to this — for B2B, video marketing is the most powerful differentiator and prospect nurturing tool at your disposal. 

Well, we're not quite done. 

Let's talk about how to build a B2B video marketing strategy, shall we? 

5 strategies to kickstart your B2B video strategy (with examples) 

Lost when it comes to building a video marketing strategy? No worries! Let's look at a few successful video marketing examples and how you can use those strategies to build a strong, effective B2B video strategy. 

Use video to soar over buy-in barriers  

The vast majority of B2B buyers said there are "between one and six people involved in the purchase process.”

That's a lot of people, with a lot of barriers to overcome. Video can help users helping overcome those barriers by allowing you to break down each one in a short period of time. 

Here's a fantastic example of this in practice from Hootsuite, which plays off of Jimmy Kimmel's Mean Tweets, where celebrities read and react to, well, mean tweets about them. 

When Hootsuite was ready to announce their new dashboard, they knew they had a lot of hate to overcome.

So, they did their own version of mean tweets where Hootsuite staff read terrible tweets about their dashboard design. 

At the end of the video, they announced the new dashboard and showed off a few of the key features — which helped Hootsuite achieve 35 percent year-over-year revenue growth. 

Why it works: 

First, it plays off a popular trend — that approach will usually land well. The self-deprecation allows Hootsuite to acknowledge where they went wrong — and share how they fix it. It is funny and incredibly informative. 

Keep it short and sweet 

When it comes to written content, longer content tends to be better for traffic and conversions. 

For video, though? Short and sweet is the way to go. 

A 2018 study found that 75 percent of videos produced by B2Bs are less than two minutes, compared with just 56 percent in 2017.

Here's a short video we did for Leadfeeder, designed to introduce customers to our lead generation software.

At just over a minute long, it still manages to cover all the main benefits of our product. 

The video has been viewed more than 100,000 times — which is solid stats for a top-of-the-funnel video.  

Why it works: 

The video is short but still hits on all the major benefits of Leadfeeder in an engaging way.

Above all — it focuses on how Leadfeeder can help customers complete a specific task — getting real sales leads. 

Note that there are some cases where longer videos work well, such as case studies or in-depth how-to videos. However, in general, shorter videos are more effective.

Save longer videos for further down the funnel content when prospects are already engaged with you. 

Pay attention to where they are the funnel 

Video content is not just about raising awareness — it can drive direct conversions as well. 

Here's an example from Salesforce. 

Here's the thing — the video isn't actually isn't about Salesforce — it's about banking company Barclays, one of their customers. 

The video is aimed at prospective clients that are mid-funnel — they've heard about Salesforce and have an idea of what it does but aren't quite convinced. 

The video has more than 40K views — which is pretty good for a marketing video that doesn't even include cute cats. 

Why it works: 

The video focuses on one of Salesforce clients, not Salesforce itself. Instead of talking about specific Salesforce features, it focuses on specific ways Salesforce helped Barclays grow. It feels more natural and less like marketing. 

Use video to boost your written content 

One of the simplest ways to start your video marketing strategy is to repurpose existing content by turning it into an awesome slideshow or live-action video. At Leadfeeder, we wrote this long-form guide that breaks down exactly how our website tracker works. 

Here's the issue, though — it's long — over 2,000 words, in fact. Not everyone has the attention span or the time to sift through in-depth content. So, we created a video that covers similar content in a much easier-to-digest format. 

As of writing this, our video has been viewed over 4,000 times.  

Why it works: 

Smart Insights found that 72 percent of people prefer to watch videos to learn about a new product or service. Videos on similar topics you've written about allow prospects to consume content in their preferred format. 

Final thoughts 

Video content is no longer a "nice to have", it's a must-have in the B2B marketing world. Here's the thing— you don't have to have actors, a professional studio, or a huge marketing budget to make it happen. At Leadfeeder, we use Vidyard.

Last but not least — choosing the right platform on which to share your video content can make or break your B2B video marketing strategy. Revisit your buyer personas and goals before deciding where to post your videos. 

Note: Sign up for a free 14-day trial of Leadfeeder to see how you can incorporate video into your sales strategy.