The way we consume content is changing rapidly. And videos are leading this change.
No B2B marketing strategy today is complete without videos. B2B videos can immensely impact lead generation, customer awareness, conversion, and overall ROI.
Gone are the days when B2B videos meant (yawn!) long screen captures or boring presentations that felt like life sentences. These days, everyone from startups to well-established corporations is making awe-inspiring B2B videos that are creative, fun, and entertaining.
So what exactly can you do with videos? Well, a lot actually. You can use videos in multiple ways to meet different needs. And today we’re going to show you a few smart ways in which you can use them. Ready? Let’s begin!
The short answer to why you should create B2B videos is that they engage viewers. According to Wistia’s 2024 State of Video Report, video plays and watch time are soaring. Marketers are finding huge value in creating video content to educate customers on industry insights and instruct them on how to use their products.
Still unsure whether creating videos is worth your time? Here are a few more benefits of B2B video marketing:
They are an engaging and concise way to share content.
B2B videos can enhance brand awareness while providing informational or entertaining content.
Videos increase audience engagement and can grow a customer base.
They can increase search engine ranking, helping your company find more businesses who are interested in your products or services.
They can be shared on almost any platform, from emails and social media to YouTube and product review sites.
15 creative ways to use B2B videos
Now that you know the value of creating and sharing B2B videos for your company’s customers, how will you use video to connect with your audience? The options are nearly limitless.
The 15 ideas below give you a good starting point for developing your own innovative uses for B2B videos. Check out these examples and start brainstorming how your team can create videos that inspire and delight viewers:
1. To showcase your product
Competition is stiff, yes, but your product is unique. Ergo, there surely must be a way to make your product stand out from the crowd. Videos can help you.
You can use videos to highlight those aspects of your products that may resonate with your customers. Is your interface extra user-friendly? Is your design super sleek? There’s nothing like a video to show off a bit and impress your target buyer!
The Nutshell video here is an excellent example of how to do this. The video begins by outlining common issues with sales software, and then explains how Nutshell delivers solutions to those problems. Interactive shots of the Nutshell platform show off high-powered features like contact management, sales pipeline customization, email marketing, reporting, and more. The upbeat music adds to the overall liveliness.
2. To inspire your customers to use your product
Okay, so the customers know what you are all about, they are aware of your rad new features—but it does not mean that they will actually buy your product. So just like B2C, these days B2B businesses aim to motivate their customers with the richness of their product—that extra oomph that marries the tangible with the intangible. Such videos inspire customers to explore the product and expand their own creativity in the process.
Adobe does this in the “Create What’s True To You” video by taking us into the enchanting mind of Billie Eilish. The narration, spun around several “what if” scenarios, lends the perfect opportunity to Adobe to show off what its tools can do. Of course, the graphics and visual design are top-notch, what else can be expected from a brand that stands for it, right? And the choice of Billie Eilish—creative, quirky, full-of-surprises, authentic—gels in very well with the “Create What’s True To You” theme of the video.
3. To introduce new features or services from your brand
As a B2B enterprise, innovation is part of your everyday life. Your brand keeps getting enhanced with new products and features. And you need to announce it to the world. While you could do it via traditional mediums like blogs, newsletters, etc., you can give them extra leverage by making a video around it.
Such videos need not be lengthy, as most of your target audience already knows your product, you could choose to do a video just around the new feature or service you are putting out into the world.
If you are running a business that is home to many other creative businesses, you can take the risk of making a highly creative video. It wouldn’t be a risk, it would be much appreciated. This Etsy video is rich, abstract, and full of mirth. It is a sheer joy to watch the artistry in every asset that has been created. Even the interface scenes have been artistically tackled. The end result does complete justice to the brand.
4. To make users understand why they need you
Solving challenges is what your business is all about. Every product, feature, or service that comes under the B2B umbrella was created to address a particular need. You can use video content to create a thirst for your brand, or to articulate the problems that your target buyer might be struggling with. Once your buyer knows why they need you, they’ll seek you out once they’re ready to purchase.
You can often connect with your audience simply by showing that you understand their problems and provide the perfect solution. WorkingFrom_ is a coworking space offering the comforts of working from home, like Wi-Fi, coffee, cozy couches, and even snacks brought to your desk. The video uses a beautiful blend of animations and recordings of the WorkingFrom_ space to show how the characters in the video use the location to fill their need for a comfortable workspace.
5. To tell your story
Corporate story videos or company story videos tell the story of your company. It makes your enterprise look “human” before your customers and thus stays with them because of the emotional connection it creates. It could take us back to the time when the company was built. Or it could be about the people who built the company—the founders and the employees. It could capture the ups and downs of the company or speak of the glorious moments.
Usually, such story videos are emotional or somewhat pompous, so how do you take a different path? Snowflake’s video shows us how. Warm and funny, this video tells us the story of the founders of Snowflake in a very casual tone. The laid-back nature of the video is a welcome change from the usual. The “bromance” of the founders is evident in the script and the direction.
6. To explain what your brand does
What is your brand all about? If you do not have a video outlining this, then you definitely need to create one.
These videos, also called “explainers,” are typically short and easy to digest. They can be shared across social media platforms and blogs to reach more eyes. As a B2B enterprise, you could use them at summits and conferences to grab attention or use them in your sales pitch. If you are a startup, you can use them to grab an investor’s attention.
Vital Beats video is an example of a brand explainer done right. It is simple, short, and easily understandable. The ocean metaphor used right in the beginning grabs your attention both with the VO and the visuals. Comparing beats to drops and connecting this same metaphor to the end of the video makes an otherwise “techy” video a bit more life-like. The light graphics and the neat animations ensure that you are drawn into the explanation and not overwhelmed.
7. To educate your customers
Educational content is always in demand. People are continually looking for ways to improve their skills and get better at their business. So if you can make videos that help them with it, they will definitely seek out your content. If you can include your product in your tutorials, then they would likely use it too.
Most design-related and technology-related companies have their own YouTube channels where they have been using this strategy successfully to build their brand. Canva has been doing a brilliant job of this. They understand that they cater to a wide range of audiences and have created educational videos catering to each. They have short videos but have not shied away from longer content when the topic demands it.
The video presented below is one of the shorter ones that is effective because it immediately explains what benefit the viewer will get at the end of it and includes Canva in the explanation. Any brand can take some tips from it on how to make their tutorials effective.
8. To recruit the right talent
You will find that a very prudent way to use videos is to reach out to your future employees. Through videos, you can tell what you stand for, bring out the culture and the diversity of your team, and underline what makes your team dynamic distinct—things that are very difficult to convey in words.
These days recruitment videos are getting increasingly creative. If you are looking for ways to make your video stand out, you can draw inspiration from Rockwell Automation’s recruitment video. It is one of those videos that could have turned out to be extremely cheesy but looks inspiring and welcoming instead because of the sheer passion it emanates.
9. To act as a testimonial
Your website likely carries quotes from your clients, but what if these were actual words spoken by real clients? Nothing would connect better with your potential clients than a recommendation coming from someone who has used your product or service and benefited from it.
Client testimonials can be created in a number of ways to make them engaging and honest. LinkedIn does it by using people who are highly relatable—everyday people, who overcame everyday hurdles using LinkedIn. When the footage of what they do is interspersed with shots of them speaking to us, it relays the ease of using this platform. Every person testifying embraces the fact that they are a “creator on LinkedIn,” assuring us that we can be one too.
10. To demonstrate product use cases
Video is a great medium for showing all the ways your product can be used. This approach can be ideal if you consistently find customers or leads underestimating your product’s value or capabilities.
SurveyMonkey does an awesome job demonstrating how their platform is more than just survey software. This colorful and fun video uses animations and graphics to show all the ways companies can use SurveyMonkey to understand their customers and collaborate better. This is an example of how you don’t need to make a stuffy, scripted video to communicate well in a B2B video.
11. To share industry insights
Your business holds a unique position in your industry—and what better way to show that than with a video? Whether it’s a recording of an educational webinar you hosted or a summary of a recent industry report your team’s been working on, this kind of B2B video offers huge value for viewers.
This video by Maersk tells the story of how it’s working alongside IBM, the UK government, and other partners to solve problems in data sharing and supply chain visibility. The video highlights Maersk’s new developments in international trade, while an engaging soundtrack, insights from industry leaders, and visuals of shipping containers hold the viewer’s attention.
12. To conduct an interview
Another great use for B2B video is sharing an interview you’ve had with an industry expert, colleague, or customer. An interview format can really grab viewers’ attention.
This Slack video is a fantastic instance of this. Here, a team with inefficient communication is interviewed about the benefits of using their new platform for messaging and sharing files, Slack. The video is full of humor, and the “So yeah, we tried Slack” intro hooks you in and makes you want to learn more about their experience.
Plus, this video does double duty as a testimonial! The team being interviewed is the same company that shot the video after falling in love with Slack.
13. To offer tutorials
Have a product or service that customers might need help using? A video tutorial is a great way to share knowledge. Creating tutorials also demonstrates that your business cares about helping customers get the most out of its offerings.
As the ruler of the graphic design industry, Adobe has fully capitalized on the value of tutorial videos. (And yes, they’ve definitely earned a second video on this list.) In the video below, creators using Adobe Premiere Pro can learn how to use AI to expand a video’s background.
This video is a perfect example of a tutorial. In just under two minutes, the narrator walks the viewer through the process of using Adobe Premiere Pro and shows how easy the software can be.
14. To answer FAQs
Potential customers may have questions about your product or service that they’d like answered before they get in touch with your sales team. B2B videos can help provide those answers, so your viewers have access to important information even higher up in the funnel.
Hosting an Airbnb property could feel daunting to new business owners, but this FAQ video shows how well Airbnb supports its hosts. The couple featured in the video provides tips and strategies for anyone asking how to start a business on Airbnb. The soothing soundtrack and color tones in the video, combined with the relaxed tone of the couple speaking, put viewers at ease as they embark on their new venture.
15. To provide behind-the-scenes content
Pulling back the curtain on how your business or products work can be a great way to increase audience engagement. Such a video can educate viewers on what goes on at your business or at an event and drive interest in your company and products.
This time-lapse video by OxBlue condenses months of construction on Salesforce Tower in San Francisco into less than two minutes. The video’s upbeat music stokes interest in the construction process, while facts about the project interspersed throughout the video highlight the building itself. And because OxBlue manufactures job site security cameras, the high quality of the shots is a not-so-subtle form of advertising for the company.
Tips for better B2B video marketing
Convinced that B2B videos can help your company engage with customers and convert more leads? Now you’re ready to start making your own B2B videos.
Here are a few essential tips for getting started with B2B video marketing:
1. Write to a specific audience
Just like with other aspects of B2B digital marketing, defining your target audience is a crucial first step. Your business appeals to certain customer segments more than others, so it makes sense to design your videos for those audiences.
Everything about your video should be tailored to your ideal audience, from the script to images and graphics. Consider how elements like color, lighting, words, and even the movement of animations can strengthen your brand.
2. Tell a story
The most effective videos tell a story. Whether it’s the story of your brand or the story of changes in your industry, it’s important to craft a video that progresses logically and moves the viewer along.
Your video should follow a logical sequence instead of jumping around from one idea to the next. Using other storytelling techniques like metaphor and conflict development can also help create a narrative that encourages views.
3. Think outside the box
B2B video marketing is getting more and more creative. With the accessibility of graphic design tools and video editing software, it’s easier than ever to record eye-catching videos.
But videos don’t have to be high-budget to make an impact. The Wistia report found that viewers don’t need paid actors and fancy graphics—they’re perfectly fine with B2B marketing videos recorded in front of a webcam.
4. Make your videos accessible
People who are deaf, hard of hearing, or visually impaired may rely on accessibility devices to help them engage with content online. Including synchronized captions in your videos and adding descriptions and transcripts are great ways to make video content accessible to everyone who might watch.
Revolutionize your B2B sales and marketing with Nutshell
B2B videos are a can’t-miss way for your company to connect with viewers, expand its brand presence, and drive more sales. Whether you choose to create an explainer video or product tutorial, B2B videos get you closer to achieving your business goals.
Once you’ve generated new leads using B2B videos, how do you turn them into customers? With a customer relationship management platform (CRM) like Nutshell. Nutshell unites sales and marketing teams and empowers better customer relationships, from first conversation to closing and beyond. With sales pipeline and contact management, email automation, insightful reporting, landing page and web form builders, and other advanced features, Nutshell delivers a comprehensive solution to closing more sales.
Email Marketing plugs directly into your CRM data, so you can create highly targeted audience segments, track the impact of your emails in real-time, and manage all your communications out of a single tool. Get started for free!
