Video may be the most important tool you use for your marketing
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There has never really been a question that video is a dynamic vehicle to communicate your message. It will never replace being one-on-one with a client, but it may be the next best thing. Since it enables you to reach thousands of potential buyers in one email and social media post, it may be even more effective.
In a recent online survey, when both video and text are available on the same page, 72% of people would rather watch a video. This growing preference has helped grow other forms of video including webinars, demos, and social media videos.
If you now believe in creating videos, let me provide you with some helpful tips:
- For businesses, the three most popular places to embed video content are on their own websites, social media, and landing pages.
- Shorter is better. I would go no longer than 3-minutes for your video. The average video length online in 2018 was 4.07-minutes (33% shorter than 2017’s 6.07-minutes), so it seems to be trending shorter.
- On average, 52% of viewers watch a video all the way through, regardless of the video’s length.
- The majority of B2B video views still take place on desktops (87%), but business video mobile is growing.
- Mid-week is the most popular time for B2B video views, with Thursday seeing the most views overall and mid-morning being the best time.
- The best type of content to deliver will be related to your prospects’ industries, so be sure to signal the relevance to their work.
Your potential buyers are on LinkedIn, and new data shows they want to hear and see you.
One of the best distribution channels for your B2B videos is LinkedIn. According to Social Media Today, 80% of B2B social media leads arrive via LinkedIn, compared to 13% from Twitter and 7% from Facebook. Even more importantly, LinkedIn generates three times as many conversions as Facebook and Twitter.
LinkedIn has always been a great channel for connecting with prospective buyers. But on this platform, it’s better to keep your videos short — ideally between 60 to 90-seconds. Always add captions to your video, since many businesspeople often have their volume off or low when they watch videos at work.
In terms of process, you don’t have to be Martin Scorsese to produce content videos. While you can probably produce 6-9 professional videos from one video interview session, you can also make your own videos. With a high-end phone, tripod, and microphone, you are in the video business. For a relatively modest investment, a videographer would provide lighting, high-end cameras, and professional editing that will enable you to generate cost effective weekly videos, if you plan and budget accordingly.
If you go down the video path, please share your videos with me and let me know your best routine and method. This part of marketing is only going to grow, and we can all learn from best practices.
John Houle is the president of JH Communications and can be reached at 401.831.6123 or at john@jhcom.net.