The essential guide to B2B video marketing

Most companies are enjoying the power of online video marketing in the Business to Consumer (B2C) arena. Unlike in the past, there’s now a high percentage of success stories as marketing teams begin to grasp the fundamentals of establishing video marketing goals and optimizing video content. The next big step for them is to implement the same groundwork and service to their Business to Business (B2B) division.

The difference between a B2C and a B2B video marketing campaign is the shift in the creative and viral focus of the project. Below is a guideline on how marketing teams can implement an operative B2B video marketing approach.

 

B2B Video Marketing Goals and Objectives

An effective B2B video marketing campaign has well-defined goals and objectives. Marketing goals are the projected outcomes of the project such as increased sales rate and raised brand awareness. On the other hand, marketing objectives are short-term – and often real-time – results of the project such as the number of video posts and reposts, specific mentions (@) at various social platforms and targeted video views.

To implement credible goals and objectives for a video marketing campaign, marketing teams must:

• Create objectives that, if accomplished, will reach the preset goals of the campaign.
• Create goals that, if attained, will cover the ROI objective of the campaign.
• Create objectives that will accomplish the goals.
• Measure the achieved goals against the company investment to see if the ROI target is reached.

 

B2B Video Marketing Creative Approach

When brainstorming on content ideas for B2B marketing videos, it’s imperative that the marketing team focuses the creative concept to the end buyers. These are the consumers responsible for purchases within the brand. Don’t just think about the type of video content that will make them buy the product or acquire the service. Instead, think about the kind of content that will encourage them to share or repost the video to other people.

Create a video that reflects the consumers’ situation and resonates with their feelings. The content should inspire them to pass along the message to others – preferably to the brand’s secondary demographic. Think along the lines of smart, clever, wacky or even wild. Present a video that they can share with anyone and that they won’t feel embarrassed for liking and reposting the content.

 

B2B Video Marketing Viral Approach

B2C video marketing is all about the consumers. B2B, on the other hand, focuses on the business end of the campaign. When establishing the viral approach for B2B video campaign, the marketing team must determine more than just the target audience of the project. They also must define the direct and tangential influencers in their niche. They must identify the platforms their target market frequently use as well as their digital timelines.

It’s also recommended to put enough budget in seeding the video to the right audience – at least at the start of the campaign. The idea here is to go from “paid viewership” to “earned viewership.”

The viral objective is to make the audience watch the entire video – and not just parts of it. The viral goal is for the viewers to share the video voluntarily and for free. When these objectives and goals are achieved, the earned views will cut the cost invested on the paid views – mostly in half – and will guarantee a more accurate targeting.

 

B2B Video Marketing SEO Tips

• Create a video that addresses the problems the brand’s B2B consumers often experience. Pay attention to the keywords or key phrases they will likely use when they search for answers online. Incorporate these terms in the actual video as well as in the video tags.
• For YouTube videos, make sure to use subtitles and closed captions. Create a searchable version of the video, so the keywords become searchable as well.
• Make sure to optimize all the searchable keywords and phrases of the video – titles, descriptions, and tags.

Consumers aren’t just the people in the business world. Businesses are considered people as well. With B2B video marketing, look into the brand’s B2C approach, but with a narrower focus.