5 min read  | Video

5 video types B2B marketers need to know about

Video enables you to convey more information faster than any other medium. Just sixty seconds of video is worth 1.8 million words, or the equivalent of 3,600 average-sized web pages. It also accomplishes this while appealing to a wider audience and engaging with them on multiple levels.

In the business-to-business (B2B) world, some video types work better than others. These are worth considering further, when figuring out what format best fits your needs. Here are 5 types that have worked well for our clients.

1. The Hero Video

Need to position your business as a trusted supplier with a capable team that can deliver the goods? A hero video may be your best method of showing it.

The idea is that your hero video will live on your homepage and tell your visitors your brand story in roughly 90 seconds. It's a way of showcasing the character and quality of the experience, buyers can expect from your products, services, and team. This type of video works well when you have a variety of products and services that may not be readily understood through words on a page—and it can be a lot more cost effective than trying to tell the same story using complex infographics.

Here's an example of a hero video that we created for 4Sight Consulting:



 

2. The Explainer Video

New and complex ideas are often better explained using pictures, diagrams, and sound. Scripting and storyboarding play a big part in getting an explainer video right. But the style you present it in can vary depending on the stage your proposition is at. Early concepts benefit from a whiteboard style and as a way to test a proposition. If you are raising capital, a succinct and credible explainer using a combination of stock footage, graphics, and diagrams is more appropriate. A well-defined proposition that is ready for a product launch requires a different level of production and polish.

3. The Pre-roll ad

YouTube is watched more than any other TV channel out there today. It makes reaching narrow audience segments with special interests possible. The key to good pre-roll ads is limiting yourself to 3 seconds, to grab the viewer’s attention so that they'll keep watching. 30 seconds is as long as you should go, since longer pre-rolls tend to perform more poorly than shorter ones.

Due to the complexity of most B2B propositions, it is often better to use your ad to drive people to a page rather than trying to jam the whole story in 30 seconds. Pre-roll needs to be integrated into a multi-channel, multi-touch campaign for it to have maximum impact.

Here is one of our favourite pre-roll examples, that we created for our client, Metronode:

 

 

4. The Endorsement Video

Now that 57% of the decision-making process is completed before customers ever engage with a salesperson, the more you can digitise the sales process, the better your chance of influencing the purchase decision in your favour.

An endorsement video from a client or like-partner, presented to support the sales process can be the difference between getting a lead and closing a deal. Endorsement videos need not be high-budget or very long, they just need to build credibility and engender trust. Authenticity is the real key in our experience.

Here is another example that we created for 4Sight Consulting:


 

5. The Case Study

Case studies serve two purposes: to show someone from a similar industry or role how they might apply your solution to their business problem, and to build trust and credibility.

Excellent case study videos tend to be harder to pull off because your customer needs to be more involved in the process and willing to tell their story while skirting around commercial sensitivities. Clearing it with your legal team can be a challenge if the customer asks for a re-shoot!

Make sure you know what you want if you're struggling to make the choice between a case study and an endorsement video. It can end up saving a lot of time and money, if you know which is right for your project or campaign.

This video we produced for ViFX on their success with TVNZ, is an excellent example of an engaging case study.


 


Now that you have a better idea of what type of video would work best for your business, do you need help putting one together? Aamplify's creative team has the right skills to tell your story in a way that engages viewers. Get in touch with our team to find out what we can do for you.