When mixing marketing and social media you never really know what you’re going to get. The response look like just another drop in the ocean or as overwhelming as a tsunami.
I came across the video below at Jason Keath’s blog, the evolution of media, in a post that compared dancing to viral marketing. How does a dancing man at a concert relate to viral marketing? Well, you’ll just have to watch to find out.
It’s something we’ve all have to deal with at one point or another – a not-so-balanced vendor/client relationship. If you’ve ever struggled on either side of the equation, you’ll appreciate the sad but true scenarios played out in the video below. Enjoy!
So, you still think there’s no way to create fun business-to-business marketing videos? Watch this:
Fun business to business marketing video
The xCELLigence from Roche Applied Science “monitors cellular events in real time without the incorporation of labels by measuring electrical impedance across interdigitated micro-electrodes integrated on the bottom of tissue culture E-Plates.”
If a company that technical can create fun B2B marketing videos, so can you.
The online video market is growing exponentially. By 2012 the U.S. online video audience alone will reach 190 million, almost 88% of the country’s Internet user population, according to eMarketer estimates.
“As with most everything else online, where the eyeballs go, advertising follows,” say the eMarketers.
In just the next four years, online video ad spending is predicted to reach almost $6 billion. Driving the incredible growth is more trust in video content and larger advertisers entering the online video market.
“The use of videos for advertising online is unquestionably growing—except among B2B marketers. They face a huge hurdle. Most of their targets—businesspeople—don’t have audio turned on in the office. Talking heads or voiceovers that no one hears are not very effective.”
The solution? Captions.
Use online video subtitles
PLYmedia, a provider of closed-caption solutions, studied user response to videos where subtitles and captions were included on online videos. Overlaying subtitles and captions increased the amount of time users spent watching videos by almost 40%.
Additionally, videos that had subtitles were watched 91% to completion, compared with 66% to completion for videos without subtitles.
“As more and more online video is consumed in an increasing variety of settings—from office environments to noisy bars to mobile phones—it makes sense to add closed-captioning and subtitling features to digital video files,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst. “These enhancements expand opportunities for viewers to enjoy online video, even when it’s impractical for them to have the sound turned on.”
There’s been a debate going around recently that business to business marketing has no place in social media. For everyone who questions whether B2B viral videos can be successful, we’ve found another example of how they can.
Since Cisco posted this video on January 29, it has had more than 140,000 views. Find out how you can show your love through Cisco in this funny B2B marketing video:
When you start talking about B2B marketing videos, many people stop listening. In the past, B2B viral videos were cheesy and a mediocre attempt at getting the same kind of attention B2C videos would typically get.
But today, marketers are getting more creative and exploring the opportunities for innovation that video marketing presents. Though it does have its challenges, B2B marketing videos can be successful, effective and even funny.
Recently we came across a set of videos from Vital Smarts that clearly demonstrate how it can be done. Below is just one video to take notes on, but we suggest you check out their full collection for some interesting B2B marketing ideas.
SSI Shredding Systems is a business to business company that sells giant industrial shredders that destroy just about anything. The company has created a successful online video campaign by posting footage of their product in action.
Some challenge that these videos predate the popular “Will It Blend” videos, making SSI the first creative mastermind behind the destructive viral videos.
Marketers in the U.S. will be spending more time and money on online video this year than ever before, according to a December survey by PermissionTV. More than two-thirds of survey respondents said they would focus their budgets on online video this year.
Online video tops 2009 marketing trends
Additionally, more than one-half of respondents expect to implement or extend an online video project in the second quarter of 2009.
eMarketer estimates that in the next four years marketers’ spending on online video advertising will reach $4.6 billion, more than seven times the amount spent in 2008.
The reason for the jump in spending – audience. eMarketer projects that more than four out of five Internet users will watch online video ads in 2012, up from the two-thirds of people who did so in 2008.
If you’re one of those marketers planning to focus more of your budget on online video, check out some of our top related posts to help you get started:
With the release of their first Video Marketing Benchmark Guide, the gurus at Marketing Sherpa got to thinking about the increased role video will be playing future marketing.
When most B2B marketers decide to use video in a campaign, it usually comes to life in the form of a TV spot or viral video. Marketers are limiting themselves by only using video in these two areas, because video has proven to work in other types of campaigns, including lead generation, product launches, employee recruiting and raising brand and product awareness.
By looking to the past, the Sherpas were able to find proven video tactics that worked in past campaigns and will work in the foreseeable future. Here’s their list of six successful video tactics to work into your everyday marketing:
Edutainment. The information in white papers and webinars can be very helpful to a lead generation campaign, but all the content and offers you present may be distracting your audience. Create videos that grab prospects’ attention by creating “edutainment” videos that deliver educational content in an entertaining context.
Compliment live events. Don’t keep seminars and conferences a secret, share them with your online audience. Use streaming video to compliment a real-world event to reach a larger audience, acquire new leads or back a product launch.
Email. Embed informational videos in email to support other campaigns. This one may take some extra time and testing, but marketers who have overcome the technical hurdles have had great success.
Recruit. Create employee recruiting videos to attract the perfect job candidate. Recruiting videos give job candidates a clear picture of your company’s work environment and gives prospective employees more detail on what qualities an ideal worker would possess, improving the quality of job applications.
Product tours. A video tour of your product or service can provide much more information to customers than a simple product page or FAQ. Walk customers through the features and functionality of your products to give customers a better picture.
Organize. Put together a library of your company videos on a popular content-sharing site, such as YouTube or Blip.tv. Using third-party sites as your video archive can provide you with more valuable lead generation, brand marketing and search engine marketing.
It may take some time and a lot of testing, but working video into your everyday marketing is a proven way to boost the success of your campaigns. Read the full MarketingSherpa article for more information and links to case studies where each tactic was successful for businesses just like yours.
Are you frustrated with outbound marketing? The calls, the mail, the threats, the tears …
Get mad, quit wasting your time and tears, and find a way to get the leads to come to you.
It’s all covered in “Oughta Know Inbound Marketing,” the latest creative video out of HubSpot. Whether you’re looking for an inbound marketing solution or are a big fan of Alanis Morissette, you’ll enjoy this video …
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