More smart industrial marketers are recognizing the power of online video marketing. The benefits are numerous, not the least of which is a significant leap for your website in terms of SEO. What use to be a marketing tool reserved for the BtoC space has finally migrated over to manufacturing and other industrial companies as they seek new ways to engage with their online audience.
Perhaps surprisingly, there is really not a huge difference in how an industrial company should approach a video marketing campaign as opposed to a retail business. Of course there will be a shift in the creative approach and the viral marketing strategy. Industrial business video content will no doubt be much more conservative and few industrial companies can depend on social media sites like Facebook to spread their video virally. This is where the differences end, however.
Just as with any other marketing initiative, the core fundamentals of establishing goals and objectives will ensure a more successful outcome and provide insight into ROI. Remember that goals are the end results you are predicting you will achieve. For example, a goal might be "improve brand image and credibility." Objectives are the steps you must take that will enable you to achieve your goals. They are generally short-term and might include items like "post one new video per month on all social media sites and website," or "obtain 15 specific online mentions per video each month."
Begin with this process and your efforts will be much more purposeful:
1.Establish goals that, if achieved, will be worth the investment you're making.
2.Establish objectives that will enable you to achieve the goals.
3.Measure the achieved goals against your investment to determine ROI.
Just remember that whether BtoC or BtoB, the videos you produce must appeal to YOUR consumer. You may be selling to businesses, but the video will be viewed by individuals within those businesses. Understanding their interests, needs, and problems will allow you to provide videos that get watched, commented on, and shared.
In Part II we will discuss specific strategies for content, viral marketing, and SEO for industrial videos.