The Numbers Speak! Why B2B Marketers Should Use Video Content

It's no secret that business video can be used to increase leads. But if you're like most small to medium B2B marketers, crafting and distributing a steady stream of video content is just not something you're planning for - in the near future, at least. Many B2B marketers feel it's just too hard, it's outside their skill set, and it's far too complex and pricey to even consider, especially with all the other marketing tactics you've got on your plate to deliver.

Here at g2m Solutions we don't believe this to be true and now we have some hard evidence from MarketingSherpa, who recently published a case study that might motivate you to make room for it in your content marketing strategy. Using B2B software company Attivio, their post on how videos attract 300% more traffic and nurture leads has us doubly convinced that it's a worthwhile activity to invest in.

Attivio started posting videos regularly in 2009. So, what benefits did they reap?

• More site traffic. A whopping 200%-300% increase in unique monthly visitors.
• People browse the site for longer. They saw a 100% longer average time on site per visitor (1 to 2 minutes).
• People stick around on web pages for longer. 1 minute 30 seconds is the average time spent on pages without videos. This doubled to 3 minutes on pages with videos.
• A noticeable increase over the last 18 months compared to the previous 18 months in search traffic (by 157%), unique visitors (by 100%), and page views (by 63%).

But you can't just churn out irrelevant videos and expect the same results. You need to think about why you're using video to communicate your message in the first place. As with all content, your video must reflect your target audience's key concerns and pain points and it must form part of a coherent overall content marketing strategy. You should be doing it to make your viewer's life easier, to advance their knowledge and understanding.

Videos work best when simplifying a complicated subject. It's easier to digest a 2 to 3 minute video as opposed to an 8 page whitepaper, especially if you need to explain a complicated technology.

Here is a 5 point checklist of "must-haves" when it comes to video content:

1. Create more than one type of video. Each type of video should have a different goal, and even target buyers at different stages of the funnel. For example, an introductory 'this is how we help you' video would be for new visitors, while a detailed product tutorial would be for those further along the sales funnel.
2. Tie videos to specific conversions. For example, one video can have a written CTA to visit your site, a button inside the video for more information, and a form in the final frame to request a demo. Check out the solution from g2m Solutions' partner Visible Gains who have one solution for doing this.
3. Measure and tweak your videos. As with all marketing tactics, you should measure your results. Which topics generated more click-throughs? Which video length had the lowest bounce rate? Learn from what your analytics is telling you and adapt future videos.
4. Avoid high production costs. Overproduced videos can often seem too commercial and "salesy" these days. People are much more likely to tune into something more down-to-earth and real. That being said, don't go to the other extreme and produce an amateurish grainy video - focus especially on the audio component, bad audio is a huge turn off. Find a comfortable middle ground.
5. Promote your videos through email marketing. Attivio found that emails with links to videos made up a massive 54% of total clicks, with PDFs (28%), web pages (14%) and sharing buttons (4%) making up the balance.

If you'd like more information on how to use video to drive leads, please feel free to download our complimentary whitepaper on the subject:

Are you planning to use video in your 2012 marketing campaigns? Perhaps you use video already? How have your conversion rates been affected? What platforms have you experienced some success with?