Think video marketing matters more for B2C than B2B marketing? Well, think again. B2B video marketing is one of the top marketing strategies for B2B businesses.
Over 90% of B2B customers are watching videos online and nearly half of these customers are watching videos for researching products or services.
Video enables B2B companies to show the value of their brand and the product/service they offer in a quick, effective, and engaging way. As we become more and more accustomed to the instant nature of the online world, attention spans are decreasing making it harder to captivate the attention of your target audience.
This is where video is proving to be effective. It provides a convenient and simple way for anyone to find out what they need to know within minutes and without much effort. In fact, a whopping 82% of all online traffic in 2022 was video!
As video marketing continues to increase in the B2B world, B2B marketers and business owners must stay on top of the current trends and be aware of what to focus on over the upcoming years.
To help you stay on top of the game, this article will provide you with what the hottest trends are in B2B video marketing, both now and what to look forward to in years to come.
Search optimized videos
Sorry to break it to you, but there’s no escaping SEO, not even in video marketing. Search engine algorithms are becoming more and more intelligent, and businesses are adapting to these changes by becoming more and more strategic in how they optimize their online content.
Video platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and even TikTok are now being used more often to find answers to specific search queries. Even search engines like Google can recommend a specific part of a video that answers the specific search query without the viewer having to watch the entire video.
With millions of new videos being posted online every minute, competition for ranking high is tough. It’s super important that you prioritize optimizing your videos to increase the chance of it ranking high when an ideal client searches for something your product/service can solve.
You probably won’t be surprised to find that video SEO is more than just inserting some keywords into the video title and description. You also need to optimize your video tags, titles, file names, and video descriptions with keywords that are relevant to your industry and specific video topic.
To really increase the chance of your video ranking highly to more specific search queries, you should also add subtitles to videos as well as consider labeling and segmenting the video content according to the specific subtopics the video covers.
It’s looking like video is going to become the main way of buying online and researching products/services over the next few years. This means competition for ranking high is going to increase as the number of videos being uploaded will increase. As SEO is fairly new for video marketing, it’s really worth digging into and developing a good strategy for it now, while it’s still in its early stages.
Will Whitham
Social media videos
You’re probably aware of the increase in advertising through videos on social media, if not, where have you been? With law firms and financial advisors posting tips on TikTok and the B2B social media platform, LinkedIn introducing its own stories feature, the video-first trend on social media has gained significant popularity for the marketing of a wide variety of industries.
The key reason why videos on social media are proving to be so effective is because of their short but engaging characteristics. Our clients lead very busy lives; they don’t have time to watch a 20-minute video, they want to receive information in the quickest and most productive way possible.
Recent marketing trends are pointing towards the effectiveness of these short-form videos on social media more and more. 68% of viewers watch videos entirely if it's less than 60 seconds, 25% will finish if it's under 20 minutes. The fact is as video length increases, the number of viewers that leave increases. Makes sense considering the fast-paced and busy lives we all lead today!
As videos on social media are getting shorter, you need to ensure they are still highly engaging and informative for the consumer. This could be a behind-the-scenes video of production, quick top-tips on how best to use your product/service, or user-generated content like customer testimonials and case studies.
To get some inspiration for the content to put in your short-form videos, take a look at what videos are currently trending in your industry and consider doing an A/B test on your videos to see which ones work best.
In terms of video formatting for social media, the use of vertical videos is definitely becoming more of a trend, in fact, it’s been found that over 90% of videos watched vertically have a higher completion rate than those watched horizontally.
Vertical videos work great for TikTok, reels on Instagram, and stories on LinkedIn. They are quick, engaging, and are even better suited for the viewer as it’s been found that 94% of users tend to hold their phones vertically.
However, this doesn't mean horizontal videos should be neglected. The horizontal format is still trending for long-form videos and those being uploaded onto platforms like Youtube and Vimeo so it’s important to be mindful about the specificities of each platform before deciding on which format to go for.
Educational and interactive videos
68% of consumers say that watching an online video is now their preferred way to learn about something and 84% of clients say that they are more likely to invest in a product or service after watching a video. With these statistics, you just can’t ignore getting on the trend of providing education and value through online videos.
These types of videos aim to educate potential/current clients. They’re not sales pitches; they are designed to add extra value to customers and to make them feel like they’re not just being constantly sold too.
Also, posting educational videos can help to boost the reputation of your brand within your specific industry and even act as thought-leadership content, which is particularly helpful for B2B businesses.
Below are a few examples of what types of educational videos your customers will find the most valuable.
How-to videos
97% of marketers now say that video is one of the best ways to help the customer understand your product/service. A how-to video usually includes a step-by-step process of how to implement your product/service. Using animations and engaging visuals has shown to be really helpful in explaining processes particularly if you're selling complicated software that’s just too hard to explain in words!
User-generated content
User-generated content is great for potential clients to get a different insight into your brand and help give them that extra boost to choose to buy your product/service. These videos tend to include customer case studies, testimonials, and interviews with customers discussing how your product/service has specifically helped their business.
Behind-the-scenes videos
Giving clients a deeper look into your brand not only intrigues the viewer to watch the video but also helps show the time and effort that goes into your business. Give them a virtual tour of your facilities, or show the inner workings of your software so clients can better understand how and where your product/service comes from.
Don’t be afraid to add a personal touch in here too; include your employees in the videos and any fun team events that take place to add a human touch to your brand.
Silent captioned videos
The no-sound-autoplay feature for videos was first introduced by Facebook and has since spread to the majority of social media platforms. A key finding from this function has been how a significant number of people watch online videos without any sound.
Because of this discovery, more and more videos from brands are including captions so that clients can understand the video content without having to listen to the video.
Creating audio-less videos allows you to get more creative with how you present your content as you have to think of new ways to present the information that you want your client to receive. Soundless animations such as GIFs, video captions, and meme formats are increasing in popularity and tend to effectively captivate the attention of the viewer.
Live stream video
Businesses are using live video more and more to help promote their brand and connect with their target audience in real time. Going live helps to show your confidence and knowledge as a brand within your specific industry and demonstrates to clients that you are available and making time for them.
Live videos are capturing viewers' attention for 3x longer than videos that are pre-recorded and produce 6x more interactions. Live videos help generate a more authentic experience for the client and enable them to see what the brand is truly about.
Live features have been increasingly added to social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Even LinkedIn has jumped on the live stream trend and has seen a 158% increase in live streams since 2020.
A great advantage to live streams is that social media algorithms tend to prioritize them because they are happening in real-time, so going live will help to increase the chance of your video appearing on the feed of your ideal client.
When hosting live videos, try to make them fun and interactive. Calm down the sales talk and incorporate more casual and relatable discussions to make the live more enjoyable. Ask the audience questions using things like polls or emoji sliders for their responses. Make sure to get them to comment with any questions they have so you can answer them throughout the live stream or at the end.
The main reason why viewers tend to leave a live video is because of poor quality, so it’s vital you avoid low-quality live streams at all costs. Ensure there is a good connection wherever you're hosting the live and that you do a few trial tests beforehand.
Final thoughts
The competition within B2B video marketing is high and it will only continue to increase. Getting on top of what is trending will put you in a good position for having successful videos that effectively engage your target audience. Remember, millions and millions of videos are being posted to online platforms every day, so when you’re planning your next video ask yourself why will people choose to watch it?
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