Marketing research shows that posts featuring videos perform significantly better in B2B social media marketing than posts with still images and text. And the gap is only getting wider. To capitalize on this growing trend, there are steps you can take to maximize the benefits of B2B social media video marketing. In this blog, we’ll go over some proven ways to get more out of your social media marketing using the power of video.
Best practices for B2B social media videos
Produce videos for each phase of your buyers’ journey. Prospects are at different places in their decision-making processes, so you should produce and employ varied video types and content that addresses their differing pain points and priorities. One example is making brand videos, educational videos or videos on trends shaping your industry. These video types raise brand awareness at the top of your marketing funnel. Use them to target new potential clients who may not know about your brand.
Generate interest and consideration at the middle of the funnel by making product demo and case study videos. Short videos are also perfect for highlighting service offerings. Lastly, creating customer testimonial videos and in-depth tutorials drives social media ad conversions and retention at the bottom of the funnel.
Post your social media marketing videos on multiple B2B channels. Reaching your target audiences effectively requires publishing your videos on the marketing channels where your potential buyers are consuming digital content. This tactic goes beyond social media to include your website, landing or squeeze pages, enterprise email, sales outreach, and even customer onboarding when there’s a content fit. For example, embedded videos also help B2B landing pages and email blasts perform better.
Try a digital design platform like Canva or your favorite video editing software to optimize your videos for each marketing channel by using the appropriate video formats, run times, text captions and calls to action. If your CTA says to click the link below, you’ll need to change it on Instagram, which only allows links in the profile bio.
Measure and track the performance of your videos. Tracking the results of your social media video marketing strategy is vital for optimization. Doing so allows you to determine what’s working and what needs to change. Evaluate the impact of your video marketing efforts based on your defined goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each B2B video campaign.
You can choose from available external analytics tools or the social platform’s ad management center to track metrics such as impressions, views, watch time, engagements such as likes and shares, click-through rate, number and type of leads generated, calculated conversion rate, return on ad spend (ROAS) and overall return on investment (ROI). Other good measurement tools include feedback surveys and interviews for collecting qualitative data from both customers and prospects.
With these core best practices in mind, you’re ready to start producing B2B-optimized social videos.
Tips for optimizing social media videos for B2B marketing
From ideation through production and distribution, there are a few things you can do to ensure your social videos deliver strong returns.
Make your videos concise and direct. People have virtually unlimited options for spending their time online and research proves that short social videos get more views than longer ones, in general. YouTube may be the exception to this rule.
American social media audiences tend to have short attention spans and we have the memes to prove it. Most people don’t want to spend much time watching long marketing videos on social media or anywhere else. Consider the fact that most television ads are either fifteen, thirty or 60 seconds in length. The remote control is to TV what the finger swipe is to social media.
The best practice in 2023 is to aim for social media marketing videos that are two to three minutes in length at most. For platforms like TikTok and Instagram, videos should be no more than one minute. Facebook, Snapchat and LinkedIn allow for more variation in video length, but shorter almost always beats longer.
Create high-quality videos that feel authentic rather than corporate. Your videos should be well-produced and engaging. Use high-quality video and audio. This means using good quality equipment, editing your videos carefully, and choosing interesting topics to talk about.
Use interesting visuals, storytelling, and humor to keep people’s attention. People are more likely to watch and share B2B social media videos that look and sound professional, but they also want to watch videos that feel genuine as opposed to tightly scripted and heavily edited.
Balance video production value with authenticity. Some platforms like TikTok show a clear preference for videos that are edited within the app as opposed to being exported from Adobe Premiere or Apple Final Cut Pro, two of the most popular video editing platforms. TikTok’s algorithm tends to show videos edited outside of TikTok to fewer people, encouraging content creators to stay within the app.
Target your videos to your audience. A little marketing research can go a long way in B2B video production. When planning and producing your videos, consider precisely whom you want to watch each video. What are they most interested in? Can you identify their pain points and deal-breakers and speak directly to them in your social media videos?
Try conducting a survey or focus group to find out what your target audience wants to learn from a B2B social media video. Then tailor your videos to their needs and interests.
Use optimized search keywords in your video titles and descriptions. Search engine optimization (SEO) is not just for digital text publications. When you upload your videos to social media, always use relevant keywords in the title and description. This allows web surfers to find your videos while searching for information on social media and using search engines in an app or web browser.
Google has a virtual monopoly on internet search and the company also owns YouTube, a widely used social media site and app devoted exclusively to video. That’s why it’s always a good idea to make one version of your video that’s formatted for YouTube. When your video shows up in more Google searches, it gets watched by more people.
Promote your B2B marketing videos across social media. Once you have created different versions of your videos for each social channel they were made for, you’re ready to promote them on social media. Share them on your organization’s channels and encourage your followers to share them as well.
In some cases, it’s appropriate to ask certain staffers to share marketing content on their personal social media channels, especially people in visible leadership roles. It helps to establish a standard for what kinds of posts you encourage key personnel to share. Use your best judgment and when in doubt, leave them out.
Boost your B2B social media videos. Use some of your ad budget to boost your videos and get them seen by more members of your target audiences. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to see solid returns if your videos follow the best practices outlined here. Take advantage of each social platform’s segmentation capabilities to zero in on purchasing decision-makers in your industry. Paying to show your B2B marketing videos to people who do not follow your brand is also a good way to gain new social media followers.
Optimize for mobile viewing. More than 75% of all videos are played on mobile devices. Consider adding text captions for voice-over narration and spoken dialogue. LinkedIn reported in 2022 that 80% of its videos were watched with the volume down, which is common on phones and tablets. LinkedIn offers more than 5000 templates for silent viewing videos. Regardless of platform, make sure your text is big enough to be easily read on smaller phone screens. Two other ways to optimize for mobile is to use close-ups of faces for better emotional impact and to feature bright colors that help grab and keep a viewer’s attention on phone screens where there’s always a temptation to scroll to the next social post.
Different kinds of videos to incorporate into B2B social media marketing
A variety of video types have proven effective for B2B social media marketing. The most popular types include:
Explainer videos. Short videos that explain a product or service concisely are a great way to introduce your brand to new potential customers and to explain complex concepts in a way that is easy to understand. Explainer videos are also good for top-of-funnel content that shows the need or pain point your brand addresses. Animated explainer videos are a major subcategory that uses digital cartoons or hand-drawn pictures to show how something works.
Product demos. Product demos show off your product or service by providing a demonstration. For example, a roofing company would want to show before and after shots along with some footage of their roofers in action. Video demos are effective in generating interest in what you are selling. Highlight features and benefits using animated graphics and background music to enhance the presentation. In some cases, it also helps to have an on-camera presenter to show potential customers how your offerings can benefit them.
Testimonial videos. Testimonial videos feature customers talking about their positive experiences with your products or services. They are a great way to show potential customers that your products or services are effective and that they can trust you.
Case study videos. These B2B videos can take a narrative or testimonial form, or they can be a combination of both. Use them to tell the stories of how your products or services have empowered other businesses. They are a reliable way to build trust and credibility with potential customers. It can be difficult to get hard data to back up success stories but it’s worth the extra effort because you are building a case after all, and a few key numbers and facts can go a long way towards persuasion.
Behind-the-scenes videos. Video has a uniquely immersive ability to take your customers and prospects behind the scenes for an inside glimpse into your organization’s culture and how your products or services are made or performed. It helps to have someone on camera who acts as a welcoming host, showing viewers around, explaining what they’re seeing. Behind-the-scenes B2B videos can introduce team members and humanize your enterprise by portraying relatable, reliable expert partners.
Live videos. Live videos allow marketers to connect with their B2B audiences in real time. Use live videos to answer questions submitted online before or during the live video stream. You can also give live product demonstrations that allow viewers to ask live questions. And you can simply chat with your audience in real time, an effective way to gather new leads and build relationships with potential clients.
Adapt successful B2B videos to your purposes. Try modeling a B2B social media video ad after one you know has racked up a ton of views online. It doesn’t need to be from the same industry or sector. Script the model video shot by shot and then rewrite it as an ad for your offerings. Follow its structure but create your own content. This can be a solid way to make a B2B video ad when you’re starting out or when you’ve made all the other types and want to try something else.
Experiment with different types of B2B videos. Not all video ads will succeed. Some videos will hit the mark and get high engagement while others will fall flat. Get creative and experiment with different B2B video types, checking the metrics to see what resonates most with your audiences and directing your efforts accordingly. Variety is also important. If you keep making the same kinds of videos, expect your metrics to show a drop in engagement.
Be patient. It takes time to build a successful social media video marketing program. A working strategy that you can fine tune in action is just the beginning. Learning how to execute your plan also has a learning curve. Do not count on receiving results overnight. Stick to your plan but be flexible too and adjust content creation based on those KPIs you set. Keep refining and promoting your videos and you will eventually see positive results.
Ready to create attention-grabbing B2B social media videos?
The best types of videos for your B2B social media marketing campaign will depend on your specific goals and target audience. However, any of the video types listed above can be effective if they are well-produced and engaging.
Follow these tips to optimize your social media videos for B2B marketing and reap the many advantages that B2B video marketing has to offer.
Contact the B2B marketing experts at Elevation Marketing if you’re interested in getting help making engaging B2B social media marketing videos. Depending on your video needs, we can advise you on common mistakes to avoid in B2B social media marketing or we can do all the heavy lifting for you.