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Worth Their Weight: Marketing Videos for Manufacturers

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Marketing Videos for Manufacturers B2Bs Marketing Videos for Manufacturers

Video content is king these days, and the manufacturing industry is no exception. If you’re a manufacturer and have passed on the video spend, it might be time to rethink. A quick glance at the stats, and you’ll see why marketing videos for manufacturers are an important sales tool:

Lower-cost technology like drones, the GoPro, and the high-def filming options on digital SLR cameras make it possible for your marketing partner to produce video with much lower spend. But because video is now relatively simple to make, it’s easy to overlook the details that count. A well-crafted video can position your company as a trustworthy authority and become a lead-generation workhorse. In contrast, a poorly done video can have the reverse affect; looking like an amateur never helped a bottom line.

Before you sink any money into video, here are 3 things to consider:

  1. The Importance of a Well-written, Professional Voiceover. The narration of your video has an end game: persuasion. A good voiceover sets the mood, whether it be light-hearted, trustworthy, or authoritative, to move the viewer to action. Don’t leave that to the amateurs.
  2. Rich Visuals and Clean Edits. In other words, for a video to reach its potential, don’t use your smartphone. You don’t need Steven Spielberg, but you do need high-quality production to look professional and gain credibility. (You can use your smartphone for live video though).
  3. Music Selection. There’s a trove of good-quality, inexpensive stock music available these days. A seasoned ear can match up the right sound for you at very little cost.

What kind of videos work for manufacturers? Lots.

  • Explainer Videos: These vids explain who you are and how you solve a problem. Tip: a simple animated short can simplify a complicated manufacturing process.
  • The How To: The beauty of a how-to video is you can position yourself as a trustworthy industry resource, and feature your product or service at the same time without taking too much of a promotional tone.
  • Facility Tours: Let your audience get to know your facility, and the people that work there. This gives your company credibility, humanity, and lives well on all the social networks. 
  • Products and Services: A succinct, digestible breakdown of your offerings is a great way to get in front of a busy decision maker, perhaps one that is a little further along on the sales cycle. Your salespeople can use these as a tool when trying to convert a lead.
  • Customer Case Studies: A strong case study is the proof of your value. Video gives more depth to your case studies, making them more impactful.

No matter what type you choose (and you should strongly consider producing several), marketing videos for manufacturers can live virtually anywhere. Video has a home base on your website, but serves well as an independent sales tool, in a company newsletter, and can be especially compelling on social sites. Need help building a video strategy? Give us a call.

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Live Video for B2B: Why It’s Time to Get on Board

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live video for b2bIt’s official. Now that YouTube has finally joined it’s compadres and has begun offering live video, it’s time to start thinking about how your B2B brand can leverage it. If you haven’t started using the live video features already available from Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook Live or Periscope, it’s not too late to start. But why should you incorporate live video for B2B into your marketing strategy? And more importantly, what kind of content do you need?

Think Big Fish, Small Pond.

When it comes to live video, B2C brands have robustly adopted this tool as part of their strategy. B2B brands, however, have been historically slow on the uptake. Translation? Your brand has an opportunity to stand out against your competitors – the sooner, the better. If adding yet another social media tactic to your brand strategy seems overwhelming, there’s something you should keep in mind.  This lull won’t last forever. The first B2B brands to begin using live video will reap the biggest gains on reach, engagement, and return. Fortunately, adding live video is nowhere near as daunting as it sounds.

With live video, your followers can comment and ask questions in real time. And live testimonials both build trust and increase your conversions. Watching live video with other consumers creates a sense of community amongst your audience that they associate with your brand. The in-the-moment nature of live video encourages feedback in real time, and can be compellingly shareable. And because live video is off-the-cuff, your B2B stands to gain a level of familiarity with your audience that’s hard to attain through more traditional marketing tactics.

Lights, Smartphone, Action.  

The good news is live video is easy for any marketing department to produce: all you need is a decent smartphone, and you’re ready to roll. And there’s no shortage of ideas for live video for your B2B brand. Still need some inspiration? Here are a few to get the ball rolling:

  • Ask The Expert: host an interactive live interview with one of your company’s experts and open the floor for a live Q&A.
  • Up Your Customer Service: livestream a video dedicated solely to customer assistance and quality assurance.
  • The Big Reveal: build some buzz for a new product or service with a live video revealing your new offering.
  • Testify: interview a satisfied customer and get a live testimonial.
  • Take Your Clients With You: live stream from major industry events and conferences.
  • Go Behind the Scenes: show your customers your company, introduce them to your employees, and give your B2B some life.

Live video may seem daunting at first, but with a little practice, it will become as easy as any other tool in your social arsenal. And with live video taking increasing ownership of internet traffic, the time to start using it is now.

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B2B Monday Myth: You Need to Get a Brand Video Made — Quick!

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B2B video content

The Myth: You Need to Get a Brand Video Made — Quick!

The Truth: Figure Out the Content Before You Move Forward with Video

Video marketing isn’t just for the consumer market. The best perks of video marketing include engagement, brand awareness, and lead generation — which are all very important for B2B brands. But this isn’t breaking news. According to the 2016 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends — North America report, 79% of B2B marketers are using video as a content marketing tactic. So if you haven’t created or shared any videos, you should shoot a quick one and get it out there ASAP, right?

Wrong. The content of your video matters. Good video content doesn’t need to be high-quality (though if you can afford better production, you should do it) nor does it need to go viral; it just needs to have a message that matters to your customer base and triggers a connection to your brand, product, or even other customers. If you can pull this off in an entertaining or insightful way, you’ll be miles ahead of the poor video content that is out there today.

More than anything it’s important to sit down and plan. What are your potential customers looking for? What do they need from you and how can your video help deliver it? Always start with strategy.

In the meantime, here are a few video content ideas you can look through and see if any might be a good fit for your customers.

Engaging B2B Video Content Ideas:

  • How-To Guides — Before turning to you, customers may try to tackle their problems on their own. Help them with the first steps, and you will be top of mind for when the problems become too big for them to handle on their own.
  • Case Studies — This is a great way to showcase what you have to offer. Remember though that your customers don’t care about you, but rather about solving their problems. Use this format to address how your products or services have solved challenges they can connect to.
  • Weekly Podcasts — A series is a great way to keep people coming back for more. If you stay committed to this sort of project, you will have created for your company an archive of useful problem-solving content. But you have to make sure you have someone (maybe you) in your organization who is willing to make the commitment and stick with it. It’s not something that can be  done sporadically.
  • Customer Testimonials — There is nothing more powerful than an emotional connection. And it is easier for people to form connections with other people than it is for people to form a connection to a product. If you have clients or customers who can do heartfelt testimonials and have a good demeanor on camera, see if they’ll be willing to help out. You’ll be surprised how many people will be.

Yes, video marketing has skyrocketed across all industries, but that doesn’t mean you should rush into filming something that no one will care about. Take the time to focus on the content of your video and, more importantly, what you want the video to accomplish before diving in head-first.

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