If One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...
By Walter Rogers
If there is any truth at all to the old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words," then just imagine the impact your business could realize from a coherent, focused and well-executed online video sales and marketing strategy. Many business executives are still skeptical about integrating video into their sales and marketing efforts, continuing to believe that online video is for sharing clips of babies and kittens doing cute things, but consider this:
- Over 90% of all internet traffic will be video within 5 years.
- According to a recent Forrester report, more than 70% of the U.S. Online audience is watching video on the Web;
- In January of 2010, 32 billion online videos were viewed online in the US
- In March of 2010 the average viewer watched 448 minutes of video online
- 1/3 of CEO‘s under the age of 50 view work-related videos daily
- At least 50% of viewers take action after seeing a website video
- Internet video ads incorporating sound and visuals increase sales and brand awareness by 71%
The evidence is irrefutable; creating, sharing and viewing online video content is now solidly entrenched as a part of mainstream culture, and the movement to push more and varied types of content through video portals will continue to accelerate. From a B2B perspective, the most important thing to keep in mind is that business executives, procurement managers, IT managers, financial managers, and key product users are all a part of this burgeoning online audience. This is true for one simple reason; they like to be entertained just like everyone else, and they are very open and interested in viewing online content if you make it worth their time.
There is no doubt that the age of B2B video is here, so consider the following tips when developing your video strategy:
Make it worth their while
People watch commercials on TV because they are both entertaining and they speak to a need. The same is true of your online video content. It must address a need your customer cares about and it must be delivered in a way that catches and holds their attention. Dry content will not cut it. Anyone can put up content.
See you on YouTube
You don‘t have to invest thousands of dollars to build a video portal on your site; 90% of all online videos are viewed on YouTube. With a small investment in a decent camera and some editing software, you can put together compelling video content, post it on YouTube, and link it back to your site.
Keep It Short and Sweet
Your customers are busy people with short attention spans. Make sure your video doesn‘t run longer than 3 minutes (preferably less), or your audience is likely to jump off in the middle and your efforts will be wasted. If you need to cover more than 3 minutes of information, chop it up into several postings.
Make sure your brand is clearly visible
If you do a good job of making your video compelling and relevant, there is a good chance customers will view it and then forward it to others. For that reason, make sure that your company name, logo and URL are strategically visible at all times so people will know how to reach you after they view the clip.
Match the message to the presenter
The most successful videos tell stories instead of droning on about product features and performance statistics. For this reason, your video doesn‘t have to feature your CEO. Instead, you might want to feature front line managers, product developers, or even customers telling stories about success and innovation in ways that appeal to your audience. First decide the story you want to tell and then find the person who can tell it the best.
Before you create a video, create a video strategy
As with all the latest trends, there is a temptation to jump on the bandwagon just because everyone else is doing it. That is a great way to waste money and opportunities. Before you develop the script for the video, you should determine things like the audience you are trying to reach, the needs that audience cares about, the best way to construct the message to appeal to that audience (CEOs listen differently and care about different things than CFOs or IT managers or HR managers, etc.) Also, what action do you want your viewer to take as a result of viewing your video? Are you prospecting or building customer loyalty? Everything from the content to the length of the video to the script messaging will hinge on how you answer these questions. Above all, make sure you have a plan in place to measure the ROI of your video strategy. Great video with poor returns is a bad strategy.
Finally, cute is not always cool
Everyone loves those funny, hip, clever videos that go viral and get everyone sharing and clicking onto your site. However, cute is not necessarily the best way to reach B2B customers. First of all, it is very hard to predict which videos will go viral; the web community has a mind of its own and it is very hard to manipulate viewers. Also, funny, hip, clever videos with no actionable business value may attract viewers without growing business if there is no connection back to real business value for the customer. Also, if your video only offers irrelevant, silly content, some customers might perceive your company as shallow and unconcerned about their needs and write you off altogether.
Action Items
- Has your company considered adding online video clips to sales and marketing campaigns?
- What audience are you trying to reach with your online video strategy?
- What actions are you hoping your audience will take as a result of viewing your online video?
- Explain how you will measure the ROI of your online video strategy.
Walter Rogers is the President and CEO of Baker Communications. Baker Communications is a sales training and development company specializing in helping client companies increase their sales and management effectiveness. He can be reached at 713-627-7700.
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