B2B video marketing trends 2017
My favorite video marketing advice for the New Year is this: “Video Will Account for 79% of Global Internet Traffic by 2020 (So Increase Your Video Marketing Budget NOW).” Cisco is the source of the percentage forecast. Tubular Insights (formerly ReelSEO) is the source of the conclusion inferred from it — and I hope marketing managers can convince […]
Can technology marketing videos have empathy?
There’s little doubt that video as a medium can have empathy. Reality TV shows may increase empathy and bring out the best in us. But let’s consider the kind of videos I know best, technology marketing videos. These are mostly short, high-level solution overviews for lead generation or account management. What is empathy in marketing? The production of […]
Make a better tech marketing explainer video. Start with a diagram.
In a previous blog post, I recommended diagramming the structure of your tech marketing explainer video using a tool built into Microsoft Office. That was about putting across all the essential messages. Another good way to come up with a story about a technology solution is to find the diagram that tells the story and extract what you need. […]
Tell B2B video viewers you take them seriously
Malcolm Gladwell has said that, for him, the key to a good live presentation is to keep in mind that the audience wants to be taken seriously. This struck me as pertinent to the development and production of B2B video for inbound marketing and sales engagement. We imagine the audience browsing our collection of marketing content like bees collecting nectar. […]
Five webinar worst practices to avoid. Please.
I’m no expert on producing webinars, but I’ve sat in on lots of them. We use them to collect background info for technology solution webinars as background for the marketing videos we create. We sign up for webinars to video trends in general. So, maybe these are just pet peeves, but I think there are […]
Videos for lead nurturing? They can do a lot more than you think.
I’m talking about actual nurturing here, not creating leads or tipping them over the lip of the sales funnel. According to SiriusDecisions, 80% of unqualified leads today — understandably ignored by sales — will go on to buy from someone within the next 24 months. According to Jeff Cohen, a blogger for Oracle Marketing Cloud, […]
Don’t miss out on this new kind of video for business development
In tech companies, business development goes hand-in-hand with innovation. It’s about getting people to try something new, namely your tech solution. Usually, a video helps to launch a tech solution. Is that enough video for business development? Business development for technology solutions is often a drawn-out process where you’re trying to nurture a group of buyers. […]
Marketing video’s big fail. And how interactive web video succeeds.
Explainer videos explain. Marketing videos create awareness. And then what? What do viewers actually do after they click the “Play” button? Who knows? This is marketing video’s big fail — an impersonal user experience that captures no user data. The big opportunity is interactive web video. This used to be specialist technology. It didn’t really scale. It didn’t work on […]
5 questions you should ask about explainer video animation
“Animation” means breathing life into something. Explainer video animation is popular because just about any subject can be explained — without the need for actors, crews, and cameras. But what style of animation is best? Here are five must-ask questions to help guide your choice. What is the hook? If your video is chiefly about your brand, or […]
Men vs. women? Which is the best explainer video narrator
We’re often asked whether there’s any reason to prefer a male or female explainer video narrator for tech-oriented videos. Our answer has always been “not really.” However, Ben Lebay, a researcher at ConversionXL.com, has published a nice study of the perceived “trustworthiness” of male and female narrators, professional and non-professional. It’s called Which Type of Voice Actor Should You Use […]
