Industrial businesses looking to capitalize on the power of videos in the B2B sales cycle often include product demos, virtual plant tours, and customer testimonials/case studies on their company websites and other places industrial buyers frequent.
Those are the most common — and in some cases the most crucial — types of videos, it's important to understand that there are many more ways to use videos as part of your sales and marketing. (And since research from Kissmetrics shows that the likelihood of a purchase increases by 64% to 85% after watching a product/service-related video, you could be missing out!)
Take a look at these five additional uses for videos that manufacturers and industrial companies can add to their marketing and sales arsenel.
1. Show How Products Are Made
Rather than simply show how a product works, industrial businesses can demonstrate the manufacturing processes that go into creating their products.
Why is this useful? Well, 82% of buyers need detailed product information and specifications before making a purchase — more so than price. Videos demonstrating equipment, its services, and how they are made tells the true story of your product (and your company!) while making your buyers' lives so much easier. This style of video can also highlight the care that goes into making each item, so buyers can rest assured knowing the product is high quality.
(For more research on how to meet the needs of your buyers, download our eBook, Industrial Buying Habits.)
2. Discuss The Lifecycle Of A Product
Again, going above and beyond simply how a product works, industrial businesses can provide information about the life expectancy of a particular product, maintenance procedures, how to identify if a product is beyond repair or refurbishing, proper disposal techniques, and potential post-life applications (i.e. can the material be recycled).
This also provides the opportunity to discuss replacement, maintenance and warranty program offerings. Setting a realistic expectation of what your future customers can expect is a great way to build up trust and transparency for long-term success.
3. Educate Customers (Don't Just Sell)
Technical buyers are often well-versed in the types of products and services they source, but the same is not necessarily true of other members of the buying committee.
Provide a video buyers' guide to your offerings that's understandable for non-technical buyers, but communicates important information to help customers make the right selection — not only about your company but about the industry as a whole. A video like this can ease the way into a technical call, potentially expediting the buying process. Plus, it showcases technical expertise and positions your company as an expert in the products/services you offer.
4. Profile Superstar Employees
A company is only as good as its people.
Show how good your company is with short video profiles of some of your best and brightest workers. To prove your reliability, quality, and consistency, interview those employees that have a huge impact on the product, such as engineers, machinists, and other shop floor staff.
In addition, show your customer service in action by featuring CSRs and technical sales reps. Not only does this help new customers (and potential hires!) get to know your company from the inside out, it's also a great way to boost morale within your company.
5. Showcase Community Outreach And/Or Eco-Friendly Efforts
Either of these could comprise one or more videos in their own right. They are all included in the same entry because these videos communicate a common theme to customers: responsibility and dedication. While corporate social responsibility as a buzz concept has waned in the past few years, these programs continue to have a positive impact on organizations' reputations.
In addition, demonstrating your commitment to the local community and/or environment will help convince customers that you will show equal commitment to them.
Bonus: Optimizing Your Video Marketing Campaign
Now that you have a list of story ideas for your videos, here are a few additional tips to keep in mind to make sure your video marketing campaign achieves real results:
- Keep it short and sweet. You lose a good portion of your viewers' attention within the first 10 seconds of your video so make sure your message is clear and engaging and you get to it soon.
- Add captions to your videos. Many videos are watched without sound — especially on mobile. Add some text to enhance the visuals to keep those silent video viewers engaged while they're on their commute or in the middle of their work day.
- Don't forget a call-to-action. A new video won't reach its full potential if it doesn't guide a viewer to take next steps, like visit your website or give you a call.
- Choose a video image thumbnail that relates to other people. This is super important! Take the time to craft an engaging thumbnail that buyers will want to click. If you're publishing a video with a couple of employees, we recommend making the thumbnail of one of them smiling and making direct eye-contact with viewers to increase the number of plays your video will receive.
- Share your videos on social media. A Facebook video receives 135% more organic reach than a Facebook photo, and videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than photos on Twitter — so yes, social media marketing for manufacturers is a must!
We dive in to more of these tips and how to put them into action in our eBook, "How To Get Started With Video Marketing." But if you still need help, contact Thomas' content marketing team and get on board with the industrial marketers who use video content to grow their revenue 49% faster than those who don't!
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