Videos are the in-form content these days and rightfully so. The B2B marketer is slowly but surely catching the trend. Before you begin filming, you first need to determine the type of video(s) you want to create. Check out this list to better understand your options.
1. Demo Videos
Demo videos showcase how your product works — whether that's taking viewers on a tour of your product and how it can be used or unboxing and putting a physical product to the test.
It is important to strategize and execute on how to use video in each stage of the buyer's journey.
You don’t want to create a demo video that’s slow, boring and academic. You want to create a demonstration that’s engaging and eye-opening. You need the perfect mix of music, animations, and color that’ll hook your audience while taking them on a step-by-step journey of your solution.
Look at a great example of Cambridge Sound. This video for Nightingale – their Smart Home Sleep System – demonstrates the product using text animations instead of a voice-over.
The key point to notice here is that the video works without a narrative. By not using a story line, Cambridge technologies made features and use-cases the focus of their demo video.
2. Brand Videos
Brand videos are typically created as a part of a larger advertising campaign, showcasing the company's high-level vision, mission, or products and services.
The goal of brand videos is to build awareness around your company and to intrigue and attract your target audience
3. Event Videos
Is your business hosting a conference, round table discussion, fundraiser, or another type of event?
Produce a highlight reel or release interesting interviews and presentations from the gathering.
4. Expert Interviews
Capturing interviews with internal experts or thought leaders in your industry is a great way to build trust and authority with your target audience. Find the influencers in your industry — whether they share your point-of-view or not — get these discussions in front of your audience.
5. How-To Videos
Instructional videos can be used to teach your audience something new or build the foundational knowledge they'll need to better understand your business and solutions. These videos can also be used by your sales and service teams as they work with customers.
6. Explainer Videos
This type of video is used to help your audience better understand why they need your product or service. Many explainer videos focus on a fictional journey of the company's core buyer persona who is struggling with a problem. This person overcomes the issue by adopting or buying the business's solution.
You can also use animated videos for hard-to-grasp concepts that need strong visuals or to explain an abstract service or product.
Here is a simple explainer video on DocuSign
7. Case Studies and Customer Testimonials
Your prospects want to know that your product can (and will) solve their specific problem. One of the best ways to prove this is by creating case study videos that feature your satisfied, loyal customers. These folks are your best advocates. Get them on-camera describing their challenges and how your company helped solve them.
8. Live Videos
Live video gives your viewers a special, behind-the-scenes look at your company. It also draws longer streams and higher engagement rates — viewers spend up to 8.1x longer with live video than with video-on-demand. Live-stream interviews, presentations, and events, and encourage viewers to comment with questions.
9. Personalized Video Messages
Video can be a creative way to continue a conversation or respond to someone via email or text. Use HubSpot Video or Loom to record yourself recapping an important meeting or giving personalized recommendations. These videos create a delightful, unique moment for your prospects and can drive them further down the purchase journey.
10. New Tech Videos 360° & Virtual Reality Videos
Have you exhausted all the above options and want to impress your audience with some cool, novel tech?
You can add 360° approach to videos. With this, viewers “scroll” around to see content from every angle — as if they were physically standing within the content. This spherical video style allows viewers to experience a location or event, such as exploring Antarctica or meeting a hammerhead shark. Virtual reality (VR) allows viewers to navigate and control their experience. These videos are usually viewed through devices such as Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard.
You can even add Augmented Reality (AR) to your videos. In this style video, a digital layer is added to what you are currently viewing in the world. For example, you can point your phone's camera at your living room and AR would allow you to see how a couch would look in the space. IKEA Place app is a great example of this.
