Mobile video in B2B marketing is already starting to take off, and now a new push by brands and vendors to optimize video content for mobile is making it imperative for B2B marketers to hop aboard the mobile video bandwagon in 2017. There are three key reasons:
Reason #1: B2B marketers have to go where their customers are
There’s now growing evidence that mobile is being used at every stage of the customer journey. Often, the way prospects first hear about a company is via a video that they’ve seen online. Then, when they go to research the company and its products, they search for videos that explain clearly the pros and cons of using that product or service. Finally, at the point of purchase, they might look for “how to” videos or other forms of video content that will confirm their intent to purchase. All in all, 70% o B2B buyers are interacting with video, and 91% of B2B buyers are searching for content on their mobile devices.
Reason #2: Mobile video is more engaging than text
With video, it’s possible to communicate more information in a shorter period of time than with text. Instead of reading 1000 – or maybe 2000 – words of content that describe all the features of a product, B2B buyers are simply watching short two- or three-minute videos on their mobile devices. Since they are viewing these videos on tiny screens, they expect the videos to be short. And, indeed, 45% of mobile videos are less than 6 minutes in length.
Reason #3: Mobile video is taking over the web
According to Cisco, by 2020, 75% of all mobile viewing will be online video content. That’s a staggering figure. That basically means that a mobile video-based web is replacing the old text-based web that many of us grew up with. A key factor in all this, of course, has been the role of the smartphone. According to eMarketer, smartphones are driving digital video views up 33% on a year-over-year basis. And that’s led to some amazing growth rates for mobile video. The vendor Ooyala says that mobile video views have increased by 400% in just the past two years. Talk about exponential growth…
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For B2B marketers looking to get started with mobile video, the obvious starting point is finding the right vendor to create a complete online video platform. Buto, for example, is an enterprise video platform to help you start conversations and change behaviors. You can start by creating a short video describing how it works and which customer niche it serves. Depending on budget, you can create additional videos for specific verticals or industries.
From there, your only limit is your imagination. Some B2B brands set up YouTube channels, where they commit to creating new videos on a regular basis. Others prefer to think of mobile video from the perspective of webinars, which have always been a classic tool for winning over customers. And, with the growth of live video streaming, it’s also possible to set up video feeds from live events as way of engaging prospects and customers who were not able to attend.
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.