More than ever, business buyers are using video for their product research. As you probably know, the buyer’s journey looks pretty different than it did just a few years ago. With all of the resources available to decision-makers, they tend to do a lot more research on their own before reaching out to sales teams. Since these people will learn more about your company than you know about them right off the bat, why not facilitate their research and control your message by providing product videos online?
Executives watch videos
It may surprise you to learn that executives up in the C suite also turn to video for their educational needs. There’s no better way to get a busy executive’s attention than with a short video that truly communicates the value of a product.
According to a report from Forbes Insights and Google, executives watch more videos now that ever before. Eighty percent of the more than 300 C-level and senior executive professionals surveyed said they watch more videos online than they did just a year before. A significant number of the videos these execs watch are business-related.
One of the many benefits of online video is that it’s easy to share. When businesses work together to find a solution to whatever paint point they have, the ability to share resources quickly is a huge plus. That’s why more than half of senior executives reported sharing videos with colleagues on a weekly basis.
Watching videos also drives conversions for these individuals, whether than means visiting the website of the company that produced the video or searching for more information about the brand. Video encourages people to take action and learn more. Kissmetrics reported that website visitors who watch videos are more likely to stay on the site and look around than those who don’t watch.
Align videos to the buying cycle
A well-made video is a great conversion tool, because it can help buyers better understand what your product does and how it could be relevant to them. Video is far more effective than text at getting this point across. Videos, and particularly animated videos, are also versatile and scalable, which means you can easily make a cohesive series. Animation simplifies branding, but it also makes it easy to communicate the ideas that business leaders are most interested in. Mathematical relationships and statistics that seem dry in text come to life in video, and animation can quickly demonstrate value in ways that the printed page still can’t.
It’s evident that prospective buyers are using video to influence their decisions. To stay one step ahead of buyers, you can start designing animated videos that appeal to prospects in different parts of the buyer’s journey. When companies are in the early research stage, make the themes of your video more general. In the beginning, it’s all about raising awareness about your products and services. Then, as buyers become closer to making a decision, start demonstrating the unique attributes that set your business apart from the rest and you can explore the features of your products and services in greater detail. Once your prospects become customers, the journey doesn’t have to end. Creating videos to thank current customers or announce new product features is a great way to inspire continued loyalty.
