Plan Smart, Tell a Good Story

Video is now a key component of any marketing strategy for B2B organizations. Published in 2021, Wyzowl’s seventh annual State of Video Marketing survey shows that 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 93% of marketers who use video say that it is an important part of their marketing strategy. This remains true for building materials manufacturers (BMMs) as well. BMMs can rely on video to market their products and services, showcase their people and culture, offer product installation training, show behind-the-scenes production and manufacturing, and much more.

Want to ensure your videos drive engagement? At the beginning, formulate a plan that is engineered to produce the right kind of video assets. The resulting final product must speak to your customers in a compelling way.

Focus on Purpose

Before you hire a camera crew or sketch out a production plan, you need to clearly define the goal of the video.

Why should the viewer even spend time watching it?

Is it so they can learn more about your product? Are you hoping they take away a sense of your brand and what it represents? Do you seek to impart the true culture of the people that move the needle within your organization?

It might be a relatively simple endeavor. Are you highlighting a singular product as part of a new product launch? The early planning might encompass defining the product’s most beneficial attributes for building and construction audiences, then zeroing in on how to deliver that in a compelling 45-second animated video.

If you are aiming to tell a broader and more encompassing story about your building materials brand, the planning and videography process will look much different. Regardless, defining the purpose of your video and staying connected to that vision throughout pre-production planning will ensure that the core message comes through in the final product. Without that clarity of a well-defined purpose, your message is at risk of getting lost along the way.

Talk to People, Not Businesses

One of the powers of successful videos is that they appeal to our emotions. Your videos should be a direct reflection of your business as a BMM as you engage and interact with other business entities. You are informing, persuading, and communicating with people.

According to an article published in Entrepreneur titled “The Ultimate B2B Video Marketing Guide 2021,” having an emotional appeal to your videos is a key contributor to attracting viewers and keeping them hooked until the end. Many organizations think that “rationality rules” in B2B marketing, but in order for your videos have maximum impact, they must connect with your audience on an emotional level.

According to that same Entrepreneur article, this emotional connection plays a key role in the way people perceive and engage with your brand. Your video marketing assets are an extension of your organization. Settling on the right tone and message in them can increase trust, familiarity, and comfort with your brand.

Lights, Camera, Action

Technology has advanced such that we have seen entire movies filmed on an iPhone. At the same time, if you want your message to truly impact your target audiences, it is important to have videos with high production value.

This typically means a professional lighting package for certain scenarios, top-level camera equipment, and hiring professionals to capture all of that critical, main footage as well as b-roll to fill in the gaps.

Once the filming is wrapped, post-production begins. It is important to have an experienced video editing team to take the hours of footage captured on site and stitch together a compelling story. That might mean piecing together interview sound bites with inspirational music and full-screen graphics. Maybe it is splicing together all the right shots that showcase the expert manufacturing process of your company’s products at a production facility. Regardless, having an experienced post-production team to deliver a polished and professional final product is vital in keeping your audience captivated once they click play.

From the Big Screen to the Bottom Line

According to the Wyzowl study:

• 86% of video marketers say video has increased traffic to their website.
• 78% of video marketers say video has directly helped increase sales.
• 87% of video marketers say video, in general, gives them a good return on their investment.

These numbers are on the rise, too. In fact, in the same survey conducted back in 2015, Wyzowl reported that just 33% of respondents felt that video gave them a positive return on investment. This significant increase may be attributed to a more widespread use of video marketing in general as well as a greater emphasis on reporting key metrics and KPIs associated with video.

Like any good marketing strategy, video should be one of many components that make up your digital marketing plan. For example, you might notice an increase in the amount of time users are spending on your website or landing page that features a video. In addition, video content might help you generate leads by doing some of the upfront selling for your sales team. In fact, the Wyzowl report states that 43% of video marketers say video has reduced the number of support calls they’ve received. These are positive indicators that, in the end, can help elevate your bottom line.

BLD Marketing can help from ideation through execution and completion of your company’s next big video endeavor. We can also help create a series of animated videos for your newest products or services. With a team of experienced writers, videographers, and video editors, BLD has the expertise to deliver well-planned, compelling video assets that will keep your audiences engaged, connected with you, and informed.

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