Video viewing on mobile devices grew 700% between 2011 and 2013, and didn’t slow down in 2014, according to the Ooyala global video index. Does the conjunction of B2B video and mobile growth matter to B2B video producers? True, most of this viewing was sports and entertainment, and there is still considerably more digital viewing on desktops than on mobile.
But here’s why you should care: as reported on Forbes.com, a survey of 511 executives found that
- 70% use mobile devices to look up product or service information on first hearing about it
- 57% use mobile devices to conduct further research
- More than 33% say they continue referencing information on mobile devices up to the point where they finally make up their minds
Taken together, the stats above seem to support the idea that businesses should be rolling out more videos, because people are so comfortable viewing videos on mobile devices.
The price of human attention
“Attention is the hard currency of cyberspace,” Thomas Mandel and Gerard Van der Leun wrote in The Rules of the Net (1996). A researcher at Harvard Business School, using Super Bowl ads as a proxy, determined that in 2010 the price of an American’s attention was six cents per minute. By 2014, the rate had increased by 20% (The New Yorker, Jan 19, 2015).
Doubtless, the cost of a B2B buyer’s attention is much higher and increasing faster. The implication for B2B video is that you need to spend your money wisely. The consensus seems to be that you have about 20 seconds to get to the point in a video. Corollary: if attention is likely to wander off 8 seconds into the video, we video producers had better think very hard about the first thing we put on the screen.
Micro-moments
Micro-moments — “The Crown Jewel of the Customer Journey” according to ClickZ, are the smallest units of interaction in an online experience — say, reading and responding to a push notification. To online advertisers, micro moments are opportunities to deliver highly relevant consumer offers that can be understood at a glance. They are relevant because they are constructed based on analytics applied to what is known about the consumer, including, ideally, location (e.g., “approaching the home furnishings department”).
This suggests two important factors B2B technology marketers should remember:
- With mobile devices, people are accustomed to taking action based on information presented in short bursts
- If the information is not immediately perceived to be relevant, it will not be consumed
Implications for B2B video
Videos are great for conveying information in short bursts (if not, strictly speaking, in micro moments). Buyers are accustomed to viewing video on mobile devices and are using their mobile devices for research and decision-making. But, as with other mobile marketing, the more relevant and personalized the video, the more effective it will be.
