The rise of video creation and consumption across the internet should not be surprising news to any marketer. Most of us have seen the statistics stating that – 55% of people surveyed consume video completely – as opposed to skimming a blog article… go ahead, it’s ok if you skim this one too.
However, did you know that over 72% of B2B buyers watch video throughout their ENTIRE path to purchase? Lets say that again:
72% of B2B buyers are watching video throughout their entire buyer's journey: awareness, consideration and decision stages.
That number is only expected to rise over the next 3 years. So if you or your company is not using video to reach your market, let’s change that.
What To Do?
First, DO NOT make the mistake of jumping into video creation simply because I or anyone else told you how important it is. Hasty starts often lead to terrible ROI and disastrous ends. However, a well thought out plan can lead to great ROI and glory. Here are 5 steps to get you started.
1. Know Your Brand Story
Ask yourself a few questions.
- What is our brand’s story?
- To whom do we want to communicate our story? (Target Market)
- Where and how would video make sense in our current content creation plan?
Answering these questions can help guide your video implementation strategy and also insure that it serves a purpose rather than adding to the noise.
2. Remember, The Means Must Serve the End
Has this happened to you before? You decide to go out to eat. You’re not sure exactly where you want to go, but you jump in the car anyway hoping inspiration will strike. An hour later, you’re back at home heating up leftovers because nothing sounded good and your stomach was so empty it felt like it was sucking on your spine.
This is a perfect analogy of creating video (or any other content for that matter) with no predetermined goal. Knowing the end goal also helps determine what you’ll measure, which leads me to my next point.
3. Expect and Plan for ROI
For too long marketers have griped about how they have no idea whether their efforts are having any real return. The best way to fix that, in its most simple form, is to know what your goal is and know how you’ll measure success of that goal. I’m sure we’re all familiar with SMART goals. Use them. Love them. Implement them.
4. Use the Right Tools
Choosing and using the right tools for the job is critical, especially if you want to get the most in-depth understanding of your video performance. Yes, YouTube does offer a bit of data tracking, but what if you choose to post videos on Vimeo as well as YouTube? Using a third party platform to manage your videos means you get the same dashboard for all your videos no matter where they are posted. For this task, we use Vidyard, and it absolutely rules. With the right tool, we are able to tell our clients:
- who is watching
- how many are watching (or not watching)
- how much of the video was watched (both as a whole and individual viewers)
- what part of the video is most compelling (multiple views)
- what part is least compelling (viewer drop-offs)
Not only that, but we can also create interactive videos that help attract and keep viewers attention, collect viewership information and generate quality leads, all within the same system. If Vidyard sounds interesting to you. Give us a call.
5. Accept that, for Video, Quantity > Quality
Yes, you read that correctly. When it comes to video, having more videos is often far better than having a couple GREAT videos. Remember the buyer’s journey? Having videos available for each segment of the journey helps direct them to the end goal. Take a look at this graphic from Google BrandLab
Notice that each marketing goal corresponds to a step in the buyer’s journey, and each goal focuses on different KPIs to measure that goal. If you only have one or two GREAT videos, you’re probably missing at least half of your target market! Just because a video is tailored to your target market does not mean it will perform evenly across that market.
And remember, don’t leave anyone out! Create video content for your target market at each stage of the buyer’s journey.
For us here at AHA Factory, the rise of video is music to our earholes. As you may or may not know, AHA Factory was birthed out of AHA!Videos, a company that continues to specialize in animated, explainer videos for businesses. So, marrying video together with modern marketing techniques, to us, is a no-brainer.