A 2022 HubSpot survey found that short form video content has the highest return on investment compared to any other marketing strategy.
That sounds like a good marketing tactic for any industry, especially manufacturers.
And let’s be honest – Many manufacturers haven’t had to market to the public unless you’re talking about specific industries like fashion and lifestyle brands, who, for years, have built corporate marketing strategies that drive sales.
Manufacturers who create goods and services rely heavily on their sales team. Their approach has to be specific with tradeshows, industry advertising, or while cultivating customer relationships. Today’s landscape is competitive, and it’s time for manufacturers to adapt their marketing.
Here are five ways manufacturers can leverage short-form video content.
Sometimes a new channel, platform, or tool comes along in the business world that you just know is here to stay. At least for a while. Video is one of them. It’s not one of those tools that’s “nice to have” anymore. Incorporating video into your sales and marketing strategies is a must-have that warrants your attention.
While video marketing has been around for a while in B2C, now thanks to the many benefits of video marketing we’re seeing B2B come around to it and use it in their:
According to HubSpot, video marketing is using videos to promote and market your product or service, increase engagement on your digital and social channels, educate your consumers and customers, and reach your audience with a new medium.
What are the Benefits of Video Marketing for Business
Increase Brand Awareness and Consumer Trust
Video is a great way to increase your brand awareness. It allows your customer base to grow by helping more people find out who you are and what you do in a more engaging way. With 54% of consumers wanting to see more video content from a brand or business they support, you need to be sure you’re one of those brands or businesses or your competitors will.
Meet your customers or potential customers where they are and in the format they want. By incorporating video marketing into your strategy, you’ll increase your brand awareness, build consumer trust and increase your online presence.
Increase Conversion Rates
More than just increasing your brand awareness and getting in front of your prospects, one of the biggest benefits of video marketing is the increase it can provide to your conversion rates and generate leads. Smart Insights noted that embedding a video on your site can increase conversion rates by up to 80%
Here are a few ways to incorporate video to help boost your conversion rates:
Send a personalized video to high-potential leads who download your resources
Add video to other pages on your website, client testimonials, such as solutions pages, and more
Boost Social Media Engagement
According to Animoto, video is consumers’ #1 favorite type of content to see from brands on social media. If you want to engage with your customers in a way that gets their attention, video is it. Not only that, but video is the most shared content on social media.
In fact, Facebook actually places a higher priority on video content. Engadget says that Facebook will prioritize videos that people seek out and return to repeatedly. It will also add weight to videos that keep people engaged for at least a minute, especially if those videos are three minutes or longer. Facebook is placing a higher priority on video content because they know that’s what users want.
Remain Relevant in Your Industry
Video isn’t going away anytime soon and if they haven’t already, your competitors will start using video in their sales and marketing efforts.
If you want to remain competitive and relevant in your industry and among your potential buyers and current customers, then video needs to be in the picture. Given the fact that buyers are consuming video at increasing rates, it’s not a matter of if you need to use video, but when. That “when” is today and right now.
Increase Ad Effectiveness
Your buyers are inundated with ads on the internet daily. So much so that we as consumers have learned to tune them out to an extent. Sidebar, banner and other ads of this nature tend to just blend in now and are sort of white noise. Well, video helps cut through all of that noise and grab the attention of your prospects.
According to DreamGrow, the average click-through-rate of video ads is 1.84%. Out of all the digital ad formats, video has the highest CTR. They go on to note that for a 15-second non-skippable YouTube video, the ad completion rate is 92%.
SEO Boost
Looking to get a little SEO juice behind your content? Another benefit of video marketing is the lift it can give to your SEO (search engine optimization) efforts. How? Well, one of the things that Google factors in when it comes to search result rankings is time spent on the site. Are you providing what the visitors are looking for? Video is a great way to engage visitors and provide them with the information they need. So when they spend time watching your videos, Google interprets that as you providing the information the visitor is seeking, which can ultimately move you up in search result rankings.
Strong ROI
This might all sound well and fine, but we know what you’re thinking…. “Show me the money!” Or the stats in this case:
73% of B2B marketers say video positively impacts their ROI. (Tubular Insights)
52% of marketers say video is the type of content with the best ROI. (HubSpot)
89% of video marketers say video gives them a good ROI and 80% of video marketers say video has directly helped increase sales. (Wyzowl)
83% of those using video believe they get a good ROI from it with 82% believing it’s a key part of their strategy (Smart Insights)
The global software company Zycus saw a 6.6x ROI on campaigns using Vidyard (Vidyard)
When measuring the ROI of video, you’ll want to monitor performance right away, based on metrics you’ve determined are relevant to your overall goals. Metrics like views, engagement, conversion rate, social shares, total cost, and whatever other metrics are important to you.
Now that you know all the benefits of video marketing, what’s stopping you from incorporating it into your strategy? Maybe you’re camera shy, not sure what type of content to create, or it could be that you don’t know what the best tool is to create quality, worth watching videos. We can help with that. As a Vidyard Partner, we’re here to help you turbocharge your growth engine with video for sales and marketing.
Book a free 15-minute strategy session with a Lake One Video expert.
Lake One® announced today that they have officially become a Vidyard Partner and Video Selling Certified agency. Vidyard is an online video platform for business that allows you to increase leads, accelerate your pipeline , and delight your customers. With this partnership, Lake One looks to enable their clients with the power of video.
“Through our new partnership, Lake One has the expertise they need to help clients transform the way they market and sell with engaging and personalized video content,” says Tyler Lessard, VP Marketing at Vidyard. “By leveraging Vidyard’s solutions in an integrated way with HubSpot, we’re already seeing joint customers generating more sales opportunities by taking a more personal and impactful approach to how they connect with new prospects. We’re excited to see Lake One bring these ideas to more businesses to help them grow faster in an increasingly digital world.”
Lake One launched in 2014 and has grown every year since, with a belief that business can pursue both profit and purpose. As a virtual marketing team, based in Minneapolis, it supports organization’s who have complex buying processes including Technology, Manufacturing, and professional services in healthcare, IT and staffing.
“Lake One takes a consultative approach to understanding the challenges businesses face today, and to deliver solutions that have an immediate impact on their success,” says Ali Hammoud, Partner Account Manager at Vidyard. “We’re thrilled to partner with Lake One to help more businesses integrate video into their marketing and sales programs in a way that aligns with their goals and how they currently go to market.”
“Video usage continues to surge and we’ve been in search of a technology partner that fits well into the solutions we support our clients with – driving aligned sales and marketing growth. Vidyard fits that need, integrating with the existing sales and marketing tools our clients are already using and empowers both sides of the revenue team to grow with video. We’re thrilled to partner with these leaders in video technology.” says Rachael Cecko, Sr. Director of Operations at Lake One
About Lake One: Founded in 2014, Lake One is a revenue operations and growth firm based in Minneapolis, MN. They partner with B2B organizations to compete and win online by planning, building and implementing aligned sales and marketing programs. They help organizations navigate sales and marketing technology decisions to deploy right sized tools that scale program performance.
About Vidyard: Vidyard helps businesses and professionals connect with their audiences in a whole new way through engaging, personalized, and measurable video experiences. Through its global video hosting and analytics platform, Vidyard empowers businesses like Honeywell, Citibank, and HubSpot to transform their approach to marketing, sales, and corporate communications. Through its free and pro tools, Vidyard helps any business professional create and share custom videos to deliver their message in a more personal and impactful way. Thousands of businesses and millions of people around the world rely on Vidyard for their video needs. Sign up for Vidyard for free: https://www.vidyard.com/free-screen-record
Video is growing in popularity across all areas of the online experience. It’s everywhere. And that includes the selling process. Here’s how and why you should be including sales videos into your existing selling process.
What are Sales Videos
As we refer to them, sales videos are 1:1 videos intended to aid in the sales process. These videos are sent from a salesperson to their prospect or new client to create a connection, simplify complex information, and build rapport.
Sales videos are different from promotional videos or commercials in that they are not a high production venture. They are simple, personalized, and created for a specific prospect to watch. Typically, they address the lead by name and acknowledge their company and invite them to take the next step in the sales process. That might include replying to the email, booking a meeting, or even signing a contract.
Why Video Increases Sales
Given that you don’t have unlimited amounts of time, is it worth the effort to create sales videos? Well, our friends at HubSpot say that “Reps that use video in prospecting, relationship-building, and sales emails see 5x higher open rates and 8x higher open-to-reply rates.” Furthermore, video was named the type of content with the best ROI by 51% of marketing professionals worldwide. Why it works is a little less concrete.
So much gets lost in text. From tone to body language to the nuances and emphasis of specific words, the written word is left to interpretation more than video or face-to-face communication. With video, you’re able to communicate your exact point in the precise manner you intend. This can lead to less back and forth, better understanding, and a higher level of confidence- all of which can translate into sales.
The confidence built by effective communication turns into trust. I am 100% guilty of deleting sales emails that come into my inbox by purely assuming the person on the other end is a bot or scammer. I don’t give them much credence or credibility because I don’t have any real reason to believe that there is a live person on the other end. Video changes that. Seeing a face, even just as a thumbnail, automatically adds authenticity. Just like that, you go from spammer to a real person.
Even when you have an established relationship, video builds trust. Hearing a voice, seeing a face, the automatic response to smile when you see a smile… all those things help build business relationships.
Setting Yourself Apart from the Competition
Video is something that everybody talks about, but few actually use it when it comes to the sales process. It’s inherently attention-grabbing. If you start now, there’s a good chance you’ll be ahead of your competition, especially if you’re in an industry that’s focused on more traditional marketing.
Ways to Use Sales Videos
Sales videos can be incorporated into your existing sales processes. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel by any means. Creating quick videos might save you time by turning what could be writing a lengthy email into recording and sending a 2-minute video.
Thank you’s and recap emails after a meeting: Summarize a meeting and state the high-level to-dos and genuine gratitude for their time.
Meeting reminders: Self-explanatory but a natural way to deliver face time and build a connection.
Explaining complex information: Sometimes it’s hard to communicate complex ideas into an email. Video allows you to communicate more effectively in a manner that’s easier to digest.
Product demonstrations: Don’t launch into a demo if you haven’t made acquaintance yet, but when the time is appropriate, video can be highly effective in this area.
Don’t over complicate things here. Anybody with a smartphone or a computer with a camera can create a sales video. The specific tools listed in the section below can help you physically create a video, but here are some tips to keep in mind regardless of your platform:
Make eye contact like you’re speaking with the person on the receiving end.
Introduce yourself and your company. Even if you’ve had a conversation or two before, a friendly quick intro like, “Hey, it’s Danielle from Lake One!” can you help become memorable.
Keep it brief, under 2 minutes. Some topics warrant long videos, but generally, the shorter, the better as long as you’re still able to communicate effectively.
Consider your environment and clothing. Be professional. It’s a no brainer, but perhaps recording a video for the CEO of ABC Co. while wearing your favorite tattered college t-shirt may not be the best choice.
Be authentic. Turning robot just because you’re recording is as bad as turning into the cheesy local car dealership owner, recording commercials in a gorilla suit. Authenticity in video will get you everywhere.
Where to Host Sales Videos
There are a number of places to host your sales videos. No matter where you decide to do it, make sure it’s a secure location. You want to be able to protect your videos and limit who has access.
Ultimately, you could just host your videos on Google Drive or a secure YouTube channel. However, if you’re going to put the effort into creating your videos, a video hosting platform service is worth your effort. You want to find one that specializes in 1:1 video and be cognizant of the features that help you be successful in that area. There are many video hosting platforms out there, but a design for 1:1 sales videos is notably unique.
Vidyard
Vidyard has everything you need to create quality, personalized sales videos. Their features are what makes them Lake One’s video platform of choice. The feature that had us most star-struck is the analytics. We can see if our video was watched, who watched it, what percentage of the video they completed and more. This data is extremely valuable information for your prospecting and selling.
Vidyard also lets you add CTAs to the end of each video, which is perfect when you’re asking somebody to take the next step. Password protection and the ability to create customized thumbnails on each video are huge pluses as well. Oh, and creating videos is incredibly simple. They offer a Chrome extension so you can literally produce a quick video with the click of a single button. Hosting space with Vidyard is unlimited, too, so you can create and share as many videos as your heart desires.
The cameras are rolling around here at Lake One. While we don’t have our own personal glam teams (yet), we do have everything else we need to create solid content for our B2B video marketing efforts. How do we do it, you ask? Well, with the help of our trusty partners, Vidyard. If you haven’t heard of them, (which isn’t likely) Vidyard is an online video platform for businesses. From video creation, hosting, integrations, sharing, optimization, and analytics, they make it pretty impossible to have an excuse not to be doing video.
Which, if you aren’t, you should include video as part of your sales and marketing strategy. B2B video marketing is a must and not just because we say so. The numbers speak for themselves. Content Marketing Institute found that 71% of B2B marketers use video marketing and 66% of B2C marketers use it. Not to mention the ROI. Optinmonster noted that video marketers get 66% more qualified leads per year and 93% of marketers say they landed new customers by using video on social media.
Here are five ways that Lake One uses Vidyard for our b2b video marketing efforts:
Lead Generation/Prospecting
Ever feel like your lead generation efforts are the same old, same old? Looking to spice things up and even have a little fun? If only there was something that could help with that.
Video is a great and often overlooked tool when it comes to lead generation and prospecting. A few ways to use video for lead gen:
Add video to your landing pages
Add video to other pages on your website, such as solutions pages, client testimonials and more
Add video to your thank you pages or send a personalized video to high-value leads who download resources off of your website
Pro Tip: Be sure to include a CTA (call-to-action) at the end of your videos. Let viewers know what action you want them to take after watching your content.
Lead Nurturing
Since the goal of lead nurturing is to move someone through the buyer’s journey from the awareness stage to the decision stage, video is a great way to help achieve that. Especially for things like email nurture sequences (drip campaigns), it’s a nice way to break-up the content that’s in the emails and get your lead’s attention. Here are just a few types of videos you can use when nurturing leads:
When it comes to managing client relationships, it can be easy to get caught up in an endless cycle of emails calls back and forth. While sometimes picking up the phone can solve for that, it doesn’t always accomplish everything you need it to. That’s where videos come in to play.
Meetings
It used to be commonplace to meet with clients in their offices for kick-off, monthly or quarterly meetings. That all changed virtually overnight, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. While Zoom and other video conferencing tools are great, sometimes what needs to be accomplished can be done in a video. Whether it’s a training, showing a client where to locate something, or a simple introduction video, Vidyard is a great tool to be able to manage clients.
Training
At Lake One, especially since we’re a virtual team, we love using Vidyard for training purposes, whether for ourselves or for clients. One team member, I won’t name names, even refers to their internal training videos as “Trainings with Tiffany.” We didn’t say you couldn’t have fun with the tool, in fact, we encourage it.
With Vidyard you can record yourself on camera, record the screen or a combination of both, so people can see exactly what you’re doing when training. We’ve built up a library of sorts for training for both ourselves and clients. It’s a great way to go back and rewatch something or provide videos to team members who might have missed a live training session.
Vidyard will also transcribe your videos too, whether you’re creating videos directly on the platform or uploading them from elsewhere. This is a nice feature for accessibility reasons, but also if you want to repurpose the video content, you already have the transcription ready to go.
Outreach
Which would you rather receive in your inbox? A generic email with a bunch of buzzwords, going on and on about guest posts and how much someone loves your “most recent piece” all in an effort to partner for link building purposes. Or, would you rather get an email that features an engaging video that’s short and to the point, briefly touching on the topics and value this person could add to your site? I don’t know about you, but I choose door number two.
We use video to either replace or support the messages we send surrounding our outreach efforts. It’s a great way to humanize ourselves and get our message across quickly. It’s also sometimes easier to explain an idea out loud, versus trying to capture it in writing. Plus, with any luck, you’ll stand out from the other pitches that your prospects are receiving.
Content
We know that video is a must when it comes to B2B video marketing and creating the type of content that buyers want to consume. Considering that 85% of all internet users in the U.S. watched online video content monthly on any of their devices, it’s no longer an option whether you incorporate video into your content plan or not. Here are a few places to use and types of videos you can create:
Thanks to Vidyards reporting capabilities, you’re able to see who’s watching your videos, from where, for how long, and get insight into how your videos are actually performing. Like any content, video for the sake of video isn’t a strategy and won’t drive the results you’re looking to achieve. Be methodical in the videos you’re creating and putting out there. These are just a few ways that Lake One uses Vidyard. If you have any fun ways you use it, drop a note in the comments.
