“Feelings” in a marketing video? Nearly every B2B marketing video, including many we’ve made, begins by describing the buyer’s problem to be solved, and then goes on to extol the seller’s solution. The underlying feeling, if there is one, usually begins with unhappiness about the status quo. But most people are not eager to risk changing the status quo, either. So it’s worth looking for other emotional strings to pull.
Is marketing something we do to people?
Brian Carroll is a respected advocate of applying empathy in B2B marketing. He poses the question, is marketing is something you do to people, or something you do for them? The truth is that few of us relish being on the receiving end of marketing under any circumstances. But Brian’s question goes the the heart of the matter: we’re apt to market to people, with more consideration for our message than for how the person on the other end feels about it.
A B2B marketing video pleasure principle
Because we all live with video as a pervasive entertainment medium, we’re apt to evaluate any video on the basis of how entertaining we think it is. But who watches B2B marketing videos expecting to be entertained? And how well do B2B marketers understand customers’ entertainment preferences, anyway? All we can be certain of is that viewers don’t click on a video hoping to be bored. Beyond that, they probably expect useful information, not pleasure.
But one of the pleasures video is extremely good at delivering, besides entertainment, is the pleasure of understanding something we didn’t understand a minute ago. You’ve probably had the experience of watching an animation of some elusive scientific concept — space-time continuum, say — and feeling that, at long last, you’ve got a handle on it. That’s fun. And it’s fun that can be delivered in “marketing” content.
Editorial agility: how to make a lot more B2B marketing videos on a flat budget
Focusing on what the customer wants to know is a good way to increase the quantity and quality of the videos you publish — even if the budget remains flat. Why? Because all it takes to make multiple short videos that increase understanding of a product or service — and personalize the pitch — is editorial agility. That’s the ability to recast and tweak your message different ways to fit the different interests of different people. Change up some graphics. Substitute some words. Your videos get shorter and more to the point. And more of them will deliver more “Aha!” moments that make your customer feel smarter.
