Should you be using video?

Video has enormous reach and potential; recently Forrester revealed that a minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. While the traditional media landscape has fragmented across different devices and platforms, the good news for all brands is that the cost of producing high quality video content digitally has reduced significantly with little to no loss of quality. Over the past few years video has moved from bedroom geeks to boardroom level and is used more often for corporate communications. Take for example BA’s CEO Willy Walsh. He now uses video to reach a broader customer base and made video addresses throughout the BA strike and Ash Cloud situation to reassure not only customers but business investors. Capgemini also utilised a video player and suite of analytics tools in order to deliver, measure and capture responses around their campaign to launch a cloud-based IT service. In a world where information flies at us at increasingly fast speeds, it’s important to put a voice and personality to an email, Facebook page, Twitter account, or even a company’s own site. Any kind of edge a brand can get in order to mark themselves out from the competition is vital. A branded video player that can be embedded on multiple platforms should certainly be the way forward for brands.

The answer is yes – but only if it’s appropriate. That statistic alone doesn’t really tell us much – if it read “1 in 5 visits to social media are people watching videos of cats being cute” we wouldn’t necessarily get so excited. And a high percentage of visits to YouTube are driven by social conversations and links being sent around by email that are entirely social in nature and have little bearing on whether or not YouTube is a good place for a brand to be active, let alone for B2B marketing. That said, video is without doubt one of the most engaging forms of content there is – but brand success depends on it being useful, timely or especially relevant or entertaining. Do I have a reason to watch a piece of branded content? Is the brand expecting me to watch something just because it’s there? There isn’t a yes or no answer to whether video is relevant in a B2B context - it’s a decision to make on a case-by-case basis. Video for B2B is often useful for describing a product or operations, but I imagine it’s most likely going to employed as supporting materials in a wider plot, for example sales teams using video to beef up a presentation or as material that can be easily emailed. But a mass B2B acceptance of video as an important channel is not likely – assessing each case for intended targets as well as the intended activity by the recipient will be a more fruitful process than a kneejerk reaction of “Quick! We need video! People are watching stuff”.

Time pressure also means that by watching a two minute video clip I can often digest information that may have taken ten minutes to read. The Chinese Proverb 'Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand' holds true here which is why Webinars have been so useful in B2B. In our environment - software - buyers want to be able to see the product in action which just isn't possible from static screenshots.

Jane's example fits neatly with what Elliot was saying about using video when it is appropriate. If using video helps you communicate a message more effectively or in a more exciting way, you should definitely be including it in your mix. If you're just doing it for the sake of it, it may be a waste of time. Though I would say that, with a bit of creative thought, most businesses could put together a worthwhile video. Measuring direct ROI, however, may not always be the easiest task...

As ever, the answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’; I would not suggest spending a huge amount of money on creative/media for video unless you are already maxing out on the optimal b2b channels; if, however, you are already getting the maximum return on investment and you still have some loose change, after taking me out for a nice dinner and a visit to the theatre, you could definitely do worse than investing in video. Video opportunities at the moment are still a bit of a novelty to many consumers – so content is being consumed at an alarmingly good rate. Pick your opportunities well – pre roll on F1 will hit a lot of the right users but at a high price, and with a lot of wasteage. You might be better off with opportunities on selected apps on ipads, as there is a high per centage of business users versus ‘regular’ consumers, or even leveraging business segments with networks who can target business users. Personally, i’d recommend Ybrant Digital..........

At a time when how we watch television and film is changing rapidly, YouTube is rapidly growing in influence and feeds the public’s growing desire to interact with the content they consume. For these reasons it’s vital that businesses remain up to date with the use of videos online, but many are still unsure how to get involved. When videos are successful, the benefits are manifold. Because they can be embedded on websites they can reach more people, more quickly, than marketing through other channels. The visual impact of videos can be more immediate than other forms of social media while, like Twitter or Facebook, YouTube can help shape a community that facilitates easy communication between businesses. However, it’s as easy for videos to sink without trace as it is for them to ‘go viral’. Once a video is online, it’s difficult to manage its use: many companies have had their videos ‘remixed’, which quickly dilutes or subverts their message. It’s also hard to adapt to using a completely new medium. Creating a video involves a careful balancing act: it must be interesting enough to attract attention, but light-hearted content mustn’t seem unprofessional or irrelevant. Rather than creating content simply to take advantage of the medium’s popularity, companies need to take advantage of its unique qualities: creating ‘how to’ videos, for example, or launching competitions, which encourage interaction. Videos offer a powerful way to engage with other businesses, but they should be used only when the message fits the medium.

Seems like everyone's pretty much sitting on the 'yes' team with regards to whether or not investment in video is the right thing to do. Playing devil's advocate though - what about the idea that B2B marketers really need to make sure they're investing in the basics before they start thinking about trying something new? Video could turn out to be a costly project and what kind of ROI is guaranteed? In a challenging economic climate, I'm sure there are many other areas marketers will be thinking to focus on - and video is way down in the pile somewhere... Anyone agree?

The numbers around digital shortform video (videos under 5 minutes) are astounding. In the UK, 25 million (68% of people online) are now watching short clips every month, adding up to some four billion views a month and according to Comscore, online video views have grown by 259% in the past three years. This has created a major opportunity for advertisers. Online video advertising grew by 80% last year, and this particular platform is set to grow even further. Today, video is a common component of the browsing experience. But by 2015, three-quarters of people expect they will be able to view online video anywhere, anytime thanks to advances in technology, according to Yahoo!’s latest shortform video research, ‘Shortcast’. Technology has already enabled the online experience with wifi, increased broadband, 3G, and a wide array of connected devices. The level of advertising acceptance is also key. Viewers are prepared to watch advertising ahead of a quality clip on a trusted, branded site. They expect it. Elsewhere, they will be less accepting. A key number for advertisers is 22 seconds. That is the length of time those who watch videos believe is optimal for an ad played before the video selected – much like a 30 second TV spot. In fact, digital video advertising has many similarities to TV advertising. We see online as working with TV rather than against. TV advertising, after suffering during the recession, is once again growing. Advertisers have the opportunity to benefit from the ever changing technology landscape: 3-D technology and tablets will allow for video experiences to be more engaging than ever before, and targeting (providing advertising that is relevant) is only set to get better in the future. Patrick Hourihan, Head of Research, Yahoo! UK

I cannot help feel that calls for the charge into video hasn’t sometimes got something of the emperor’s new clothes about it. Given that on-line video has been around for some time now (at least in the relatively compressed timescales of the interweb), this debate shouldn’t really still be a matter of opinion only. There should be lots of case studies and benchmark ROIs about how effective video is for B2B marketing. The only figures that seem to be quoted relate to general on-line video usage globally which naturally produce gob-smacking stats. But what about other facts such as 99% of YouTube views come from 30% of videos? The lack of this hard evidence does make me feel video isn’t always put to the same tests as other forms of marketing. After all, it is quite sexy and great for all involved if they can show off their video to internal stakeholders. And only someone for more cynical than me would suggest that the greatest, loudest and staunches advocates of video in B2B on this and other forums often seem to be from those who can profit directly from more video being commissioned. Looking at viewing figures on YouTube of B2B videos, the only ones that seem to have anything but tiny viewing figures are instructional “how to” videos rather than clever creatives. And of course, B2B videos have some extra barriers to leap in terms of users been given “permission” to watch videos –even if IT allow it may still be frowned on culturally to watch videos in work time. So as others have said, B2B should look to invest in video but apply the same rigour and insight to that decision as they would any other media. Not just do it because it's the everyone else seems to be. And successful B2B video is far more likely to be a relationship value add video rather than one with promotional or sales messages.

Video is the most powerful instrument beside recommendations by customers and personal calls. We tease for videos in social media (with electronic links) and in classical media. Here an example showing things you never could show in a brochure (sorry the language is German, but the pictures show much more than brochures ever can): http://www.rigi.ch/eventfilm

Given that amongst the "hot" topics in marketing now are video and mobile, it'll be interesting to see if the technology can cope with these two trends. BT are already warning of capacity problems with the Olympics for mobile photo and video. If the demand for both does take off, will the technolgy (networks) be able to meet this demand or will integrated campaigns across mobile and video become frustrated for both customers and marketers?

Should B2B brands be making sales videos? Possibly, but only a few. The truth is that we don't really watch ads any more - effectiveness is down to 13% from 18% a few years back. We like to watch entertainment - even B2B people are consumers of content. Un-targeted ads just mess people off, whatever the sector. PVR usage demonstrates how TV is failing to deliver on renting the eyeballs it has aggregated. A solution? There are many. Brands should become channels in their own right. RedBull and Renault have done this along with several others. The frequently updated and good content is what draws audiences - just like it did with TV. But the costs put people off. Well, journalists and bloggers are beginning to create valuable sites through curating good material. Seems there's a lesson in there to add to the one about how to produce good enough content at lower prices by not doing all of the TV workflow.