Nine Things I Learned Making Video Content for B2B

What makes a B2B video successful? Well, it turns out the answer is a lot of the same things that make a B2C video successful. CI Design's video production team leader, David Busse, shares his insights based on his experience making award-winning B2B videos for clients in Milwaukee and across the country.

1. Content really is king.
Need more proof that content is more important than production value? Just look at how cat videos on YouTube earn millions of views while beautifully lit, artsy music videos only seem to have a few hundred. The same rule applies to B2B videos: the content itself is more important than the production value. Beginning your video content creation from the messaging side will generally lead to better results.

2. You might not need a video.
As much as I hate to say it, videos aren’t always the answer. At least, they aren't the only answer. Videos benefit from being supported by a strong brand message and marketing strategy. It’s important to make sure you have those in place before you decide to make a video. Once those are created, then decide if a video could serve your business well.

3. Get creative with office space
Most work that happens in the modern knowledge economy looks exactly the same: a bunch of people slouched in front of glowing rectangles, tapping furiously on a smaller, not-glowing rectangle. If you want to make a truly engaging video, think creatively about how to shoot in your office, or utilize concepts that don’t require an office shoot at all.

4. Take advantage of precious executive time
Putting your executives on camera is an effective and popular video marketing strategy. Most executives keep a very full calendar, and trying to schedule multiple executives on the same day can be difficult. I always try to plan weeks or even months ahead of time to get the right people on camera.

5. Lead time
A typical timeline for a B2B video from concept to final delivery is 2-3 months. The timeline can be faster or slower depending on how things are planned, schedules, and the time it takes to receive feedback.

6. Let's talk about your feelings
The last Coca Cola video ad you saw probably featured a storyline about how Coca Cola is emotionally intertwined in your experience of the world. Marketing to how your customer base feels about your brand can be much more effective than an ad that explicitly explains what your company does. This sort of marketing is becoming more popular in the B2B world and can help lead to imaginative ads that people want to share. 

7. Less is more (effective)
There’s a tendency for B2B clients to want their videos to serve many masters. In our experience, this usually dilutes the original message, effectiveness, and impact. Allowing your videos to speak with a more focused message and purpose will allow your video to resonate with the right audience and give them something substantial to take away.

8. Always be on-brand
If you use your overall marketing strategy as a guide, your video should feel right at home on your website, in your social media feeds, and anywhere else your company has a presence.

9. Beware information overload
Some videos can be very information-heavy, such as product or training videos. As a best practice, we recommend approaching those videos from a high-level overview. When you get too deep into the details, you risk alienating your audience. Use your videos for overviews, and keep the highly technical stuff in manuals and guides.  

Want to see David’s knowledge in practice? Check out some of the fantastic video projects the in-house team at CI Design has worked on recently.

Find out how our award-winning video team can help your team. Drop us a line at hello@cidesigninc.com.