Top 5 Reasons to Add video to your B2B communication

How many people out there work for a company that is on the cusp of adding video, but cannot commit to taking the plunge? Often this hesitancy stems from a lack of consensus from the key decision makers, lack of awareness of what tools exist, or simply that they don’t see the need to bother amongst many other possibilities.

As video shifts from the periphery to center stage, businesses need to know that video isn’t just for weird cat ladies; it has become a commerce powerhouse that separates the industry leaders from the industry would-be-could-be’s. How many times has your business viewed a competitor or a client that has incorporated video into their B2B communication? Often? Sometimes? Never? Regardless of which, each one presents an opportunity for your business. Here are five reasons why your company needs to add video to your B2B communication:

1. Enables you to conduct business with a personal touch

Whether you are working with a local small business or a multinational corporation there is one inescapable commonality with all business: you are doing business with people. Taking the time to create a video and send it as a follow-up rather than a regular email helps to keep you and your company top of mind. This is especially true if you are bidding on a contract or looking to make that initial sale with a business.

2. Shows that your business is innovative & on the cutting edge

Ever since Kindergarten, who hasn’t wanted to be the “cool guy/girl”? Although we have gotten older and wiser that desire doesn’t go away. Using video in your communications adds the cool factor to your business, particularly if your competitors are not using it in their B2B communications!

3. Increase your visibility on the Web

Have you noticed that any time you do a Google search it’s not only websites that pop up, but also videos related to your query? Ensure that you have some of your B2B video communication on your site and in the social media space. That, along with strategic search engine optimization, will increase the likelihood that your business will appear on the first page of a Google Search.

4. Great Way to Demonstrate your Product/Services

If your business cannot meet with potential clients but you need to show them your latest widget or ground breaking doo-dad, video is a simple solution! It would be a good idea to hire a team of seasoned professionals to do this for you (ah-hem, videoBIO provides said services at an amazing price point!).

5. 7/10 People prefer watching video over reading text

Admittedly, that's a random made up statistic. However, it reflects the ever-growing trend of people using video. This is advantageous for your business! Let’s go back to the first point: video allows you to show your product/service, allows you to engage your client, and most importantly it allows you to show your authenticity, something people value greatly so much that it can be the difference between closing the deal or not.

To help your company take its first steps or adopt new methods to keep doing great things be sure to contact videoBIO at info@videobio.com or 416-840-7600

We look forward to helping you add video to your B2B communication strategy!

- Jermaine P.V. Bagnll

Jermaine is an Account Manager at videoBIO and heads up the social media. Don’t forget to follow videoBIO on twitter @videoBIO

Social Video- where does it live in the marketing mix?

…and who is making the decisions? In a recent article published by the Business Insider-- The Top 20 Social CMO's Of The Fortune 100 http://t.co/vAKMYD3 we hear that Chief Marketing Offers (CMO’s) are doing more ‘do as I say, not as I do’, and need to get into the drivers seat when it comes to personally experimenting with social media and video if they are going to be credible in leading the charge as the shift to social media in the marketing plan gives new definition to the communication strategy. Often the purveyors of social media are the ones in the trenches experimenting and doing the work, not leading. This poses a new challenge to vendors selling strategic solutions and innovative applications into the c-suite.

Social video is one of the most interesting applications for video as it pushes companies to think about video in the spectrum of uses from spontaneous video clips and messages to polished, highly produced video for what we knew as marketing or advertising uses. But video has changed. It’s no longer an event but a continuum of more personalized communications then you could ever achieve with text or pictures.

User generated video content and personal branding are pushing the volume of video content towards personal video messaging, profiles and spokesperson-led conversations and communications on video. A new communication standard that is coming fast and furious and putting CMO’s in the catch up seat as they figure out where and how they want video to live in their communication mix. Here are a few questions for CMO’s to think about as they consider video and putting video tools in the hands of their teams for self producing video:

1.Is showcasing your people and their respective voices important to your company

2. Do you consider yourself an innovator and experimenter of new technology and do you want to stay ahead of the curve in the video revolution

3. Have you experimented with video (outside of your agency)

4. Do you want to create video content for a variety of uses? If so, how much (a progressive video content creator would be creating and sharing video daily as part of regular communications)

5. Do you envision empowering end users in your company with video tools allowing them to video message, create social video, self produce video content?

6. Is compliance with your brand and messages an important factor in managing and moderating video messages generated by your sales reps, employees etc.

Your professional video profile doesn't have to be serious!

video profiles are all about taking the opportunity to add the human, personal touch to your online profile. This is important when managing your reputation online while trying to make a connection with your audience. But that doesn't mean that it has to be serious! It just has to be authentic to you and what you want to put out to the world. Take Peter Shankman as an example. We did a social media videoBIO for Peter a month or two ago. It's one of my favourites because it's witty, funny, fast paced and exactly who Peter is. Smart, quick, adventourous and always thinking. Check out Peter's videoBIO and you will see what I mean http://www.videobio.com/pshankman

Your profile: bigger than the sum of its parts

Finding your authentic, niche voice is key to defining your profile online. It will drive what you talk about and define why people want to listen. Your profile is bigger than the sum of its parts but the parts are important. So what goes into a profile?

1. Your personal brand-- the brand called you. What is it at its core that makes you unique? Note- it doesn't matter if you are in a corporate position or are an entrepreneur-- we all have a personal brand.

2. The content, perspective and media that surrounds your brand and builds it every day. You need to keep it alive and fresh. Is it relevant, consistent and unique? The content surrounding your brand is your digital thumbprint online. How many places do you live online? How easy is it to find you and the information surrounding you that we want to know? Articles you have been published in, your professional profiles, your website, your videos and other digital assets?

3. Your community. Those who listen. Those who are your fans. Those who follow. Those who extend your brand. It is your community and network who ultimately will define your profile online.

Your online profile is not your brand

Your online profile is the reflection of your brand as understood by your community and managed by you!

You've heard the expression.... 'she's very high profile'. Well what that means is that she has a high degree of visibility and brand recognition in the market.

This profile comes from how you manage and develop your brand in the social media world. Your online profile is a moving target that takes lots of time, care and nurturing on a day to day basis in order to have it viewed by others in the way you hope it will be. If your online profile is measured by those who know it then we never ultimately be in control of it. But we will be the CEO of its development strategy and 100% accountabile for the consistency of its execution (both on or offline), which most certainly will impact the way it is viewed by others.

The online profile setup

Google, Bing, Yahoo all have one thing in common. They have a lot of power over what people will find out about you when searching on your name.

What they find when going out in a search query against your name is a culmination of all activity you have had online associated with your name. For better or worse, you have an online profile. And once you do it is tough to change. So, the good news is that it can be managed but you have to know what's out there and how it works!

Over the next months I am going to publish a series of posts that will help you to understand how the online profile works and how to take control back and manage your repuatation online before someone or something else does!