[Updated January 9, 2024]
The vast majority of B2B marketers realize that video is a crucial part of their sales process. In fact, a recent study showed that 96% of companies believed video content was important, while 91% reported that they possessed at least a basic ability to create video in-house. Video is now one of the most in-demand sales enablement tools out there!
The downside of that, of course, is that everyone else is also making videos and automated demo, making it hard to stand out from the crowd.
The best way to cut through all the noise is to understand the right type of video or demo video to reach your target audience and then to place it in front of prospects at precisely the right point in the funnel.
What are the seven primary types of B2B marketing videos?
- Webinar
- Instructional/Demonstrational
- Testimonial
- Interview and Q&A
- Story Telling
- Video Showcase
- Vlog
Having the B2B sales tools and knowledge to create and use B2B videos is just the beginning — execution is the area that can make or break it. Once you’re a master of these forms of B2B video content, you have to put each of them is best in the best place in the buying cycle.
Webinar
While this term can refer to several formats, a webinar is usually a live-recorded, often interactive workshop-type session where viewers can chime in and contribute to the conversation. Webinars tend to be very engaging because they are natural, in-the-moment videos that make viewers feel like they are participating in the discussion.
However, since webinars oftentimes demand that people set aside a determined chunk of their time, webinars should be reserved for those topics that are truly compelling, with a value proposition attractive enough to draw a significant audience.
Turning that webinar into an intelligent automated demo for webinar follow-up is an easy way to reuse one asset multiple times.
Instructional or Demonstrational
How-to videos are popular. Just go to YouTube and look up DIY. You’ll have millions of search results. Generally, in B2B sales, these are most valuable for existing customers or highly interested prospects who want to learn the specifics of using your product.
This type of video can also contribute to customer loyalty because it shows that your business is more than willing to teach your customers all they need to know about their products and service!
Testimonial
A customer success story makes for powerful sales video content. Seeing and hearing other professionals in their industry raving about your product lends veracity and authenticity to the process.
Testimonials are best used when you have completely devoted and committed customers who can provide glowing reviews about your product and are enthusiastic about sharing their genuine delight with others. Ideally, the problem that your product solves for them will be a prevalent one that is common to others in the industry, one that others can relate to.
Video Podcast
Record a weekly podcast with thought leaders where you can bring up topics relevant to your audience. While some podcasts are audio only, if you record both video and audio, you have another asset you can send out regularly.
This type of video, with its back-and-forth format and its every-man style of discussion, can make for a very engaging session. You’ll earn bonus points if you are able to nab an influencer with a substantial following; this type of authority is perfect for leveraging social media traction.
Storytelling
Narratives can be formidable tools because they tend to strike us and tap into our emotions. Stories, even ones related to business, are often memorable, leaving a lasting impression. Importantly, they humanize your sales message because they are relatable and add dimension.
Great storytelling can lead to a large following, especially if you choose to follow through with creating a narrative between different videos. It provides information and entertainment to your prospects as it aims to be an enjoyable experience for them.
Video Showcase
Document and edit together a company event to showcase your corporate culture for rich, expressive videos. This let’s buyers see the human side of your organization.
You can also showcase products or services. Just be sure you strike the right tone or vibe. You don’t want to make it feel too much like a commercial.
Vlog
Vlogs are quite inexpensive to produce while having the advantage of being very relatable and conversational rather than looking like an advertisement. And you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Reuse written content or just read a blog post that’s getting a lot of views.
Find someone at your organization with a natural, relaxed presence and who isn’t camera shy. A vlog is ideal when presented as a simple, talking-head explanation.
Key Takeaway
Using video as a sales enablement tool opens you up to wider possibilities than written content alone. Whichever video format you prefer, Consensus will help you deliver it effectively and efficiently to the entire buying group. We do this by tracking analytics and buyer activities via our Demolytics dashboard. Today, B2B sales tools are widely overshadowed by the potential that B2B videos provide. So no matter what video format you decide to use, we can personalize it to each buyer so that every video is highly relevant to them, which means the stakeholder automatically feels relevant – and enabled to buy.
