Best Practices for Online Video
We’ve all read a lot of “independent” advice regarding the use of on line video. One thing the web is not short of is opinions! However, some things bear repeating as we still see customers re-inventing the same mistakes.
One key area is focus. In BtoB Demand Generation any video content that is integrated into a campaign should be highly focused. Messaging should address the specific areas not just of a particular industry or application area, but should speak directly to the job function you are targeting.
Video can now be highly targeted, and that is how you achieve resonance in your messaging. If you try to be too broad the content becomes too generic and ends up as an infomercial about your company – “Jack of all trades…..master of none”.
People buy in a particular order. They buy you, your solution, your company and finally your product/service. In order to mirror this you need to demonstrate understanding of your prospect’s challenges. Video is the contemporary medium for doing this, reaching your audience, and delivering meaningful, relevant, convenient content in a cost effective, measurable way.
Its better to deploy multiple, concise, video assets, targeted at specific disciplines, rather than trying to address them all in one video. As they say, if you try to please everyone, you’ll end up pleasing no one.
Many companies we talk to already have video content that they leverage in one fashion or another. Many create video content because they think they ought to, but without having a clear understanding of the objectives. Its ok to have some “general” video content available on your website. Video’s rich content is proven with respect to being engaging, communicative, convenient, and stimulating.
However, the opportunity to integrate video into marketing is about seizing the chance to be highly focused in what you communicate and how you deploy it.
Catie Foertsch in Yes! MediaWorks suggests that you ask 4 questions when embarking upon the use of video content:
1. What do you want your video to do for you?
2. What’s the target audience?
3. What message are you trying to deliver?
4. How will you measure success?
http://www.yesmediaworks.com/blog/bid/33798/Four-Top-Questions-to-Ask-Before-You-Invest-in-Video
Don’t try to use video you have created for a generally informative purpose to serve other objectives. We realize you want to leverage investments already made, but with video creation being much more cost effective these days, you don’t have to fall into the trap of deploying digital content to serve a purpose for which it was not designed, just because you have it already. Results from this will be mediocre at best.
While at the Sirius Decisions conference last week, amongst the diverse set of presentations was the thought that “content is (still) king”.
Content has to be thought through and is more impactful when it is part of an overall plan.
In their book “Rework” Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson make the point that it is better to “get something out there” rather than to constantly consider and analyze to the detriment of timely delivery.
In BtoB Tips For Video Emails, Judith Nemes seems to validate this view by stating that “content trumps slickness”.
In these days of immediate gratification we have to deliver quality content, but not to the detriment of its currency.
So how do you apply these thoughts with respect to video content?
Video Viewing Continues to Grow
According to BtoB article “Reeling In The Online Video ROI” by Matthew Schwartz, on line video viewership continues to grow in the BtoB space. Matthew makes the important distinction between video content viewing and video advertising. “The number of videos watched per person grew 54% in April, but just 1% of viewing time was devoted to watching online video ads, comScore said.”
So we continue to see the importance and acceptance of video as more than just a form of on line advertising.
“We’re seeing that highly focused video campaigns can really help marketers accomplish their goals and help them show brand lift,” said Brian Buizer, senior director of program development at PCWorld|Macworld, which is owned by IDG.
Focus continues to be important, as in life generally – but we still see customers trying to communicate too much information within a timeframe that will hold people’s attention in this ADD world.
Focus, focus, focus……..keep it simple, concise and to the point.
For more information on the BtoB article see this link
http://www.btobonline.com/article/20100831/FREE/100829940/reeling-in-the-online-video-roi
Staggering Social Media Stats
Apparently 70,000 new blogs go onto the web every day.
24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and Youtube clocks 2 billion views per day.
Facebook has nearly 500 million “active” users (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1990787,00.html)
Does this “over consumption” dilute the effectiveness of using social media in B2B?
It clearly makes it more challenging, but in a world where many suggest niche marketing, the challenge of finding the niche with the numbers indicated here can make it look like the “needle in the haystack”.
Applying Video to the Customer Lifecycle
Web video marketing appears to be here to stay. It is being applied in many different ways for different purposes. In B2B it can (and should) be applied at different stages of the “Customer Lifecycle”:
• Building Awareness
• Generating Interest
• Offering Product Trial
• Facilitating Product Purchase
• Promoting Loyalty
Overall it’s a way to communicate with a market in a creative, relevant, convenient, entertaining and less obtrusive fashion.
Where are you seeing the application of video in the B2B world the most, and where is it being most effective for you?
Introductory Post
Colleagues
I have started this blog as a forum for discussion and information sharing around btob demand generation, and more specifically the use of video in a focused fashion as a component in the overall process.
The idea is to share valuable information amongst sales and marketing professionals. It is also about enjoying these useful exchanges and finding some humor in the world that we live in.
Some of the conversations, links and references will be broader than just about video in demand generation. Some will be “vaguely” connected, and might be more humorous, to make a point. Whilst there is a time for serious business there is also time for some joviality.
With these things said, we will start to ask questions and raise subjects here in the coming weeks. We will reference and link to informative content that resides elsewhere.
Feel free to reference this blog, leave comments and ask questions. I look forward to these interactions.
I have been involved in building B2B sales pipelines for most of my professional career. Initially, as an individual sales contributor managing a territory and, for the last 17 years, as a marketing service provider to technology companies. During this time, I have worked with a variety of lead generation tactics, including phone, direct mail and e-mail.
Telemarketing has been the foundational program for lead generation for many years, due in large part to its ability to identify and qualify potential buyers. Once identified, these buyers are presented with a range of product offers delivered via voice, mail/print or e-mail. But these traditional B2B lead generation methods are suffering from their very success. Today, every company uses some combination of these programs when attacking markets.
The result: buyers have become immune to marketing messages. Buyers increasingly hide from marketers. Telemarketing, direct mail and e-mail marketing are no longer as effective at reaching decision makers due to the sheer volume of communications.
We identified this trend several years ago and began exploring options. We began experimenting with the use of video to deliver complex messages and our results jumped dramatically. Using demand generation videos (we call them Visbytes), integrated with traditional lead generation methods, is now our standard approach for complex, B2B lead gen.
Video offers a number of obvious benefits. As a society, we read less and less. People want to be engaged and educated, and visual media is stronger than traditional print for reaching decision makers. It yields better responses while creating emotional triggers. Video provides greater retention rates as well. And for B2B technology products, videos ensure that your complex messages are delivered consistently throughout an organization.
I started this blog to share our experiences in effective use of videos in B2B demand generation. I look forward to hearing from professionals responsible for executing technology lead generation and marketing programs within these highly competitive markets.
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million.” Kathleen Taylor
