B2B video blogging – is it the way forwards?

There’s been a huge upsurge in the amount of video blogging in recent years.

Let’s look at the figures:

• Over 75% of all internet traffic is now accounted for by video – though this is probably more a reflection of the file size than the actual usage.
• Over 60% of all B2B marketing collateral includes video.
• Tweets with images and video receive 25% more clicks, 90% more favourites and 150% more retweets.
• The popularity of whitepapers as a B2B content marketing format is declining in comparison to more interactive, easily digestible formats such as video (no figures available).
• The search engines favour video content – in fact google actively encourages it, and a video on Google Plus does wonders for your position on the SERPs!

But let’s look beyond the figures:

• Video blogs are not popular in the office: they may work fine in a teenager’s bedroom, but they don’t come across well in an office – your colleagues will wonder if you are really pulling your weight.
• If you are distracted it’s easy to miss a point, or a whole section, with a video blog. Whereas a written blog stays on the screen and the reader can easily go back and re-read a paragraph.
• Video blogs are normally boring – even mine! You invariably end up with a talking head, unless you have a huge budget. In a world where we are used to seeing action and edited variety sequences on a screen, this can get very monotonous. Of course it’s brilliant if you are demonstrating an application, but most blogs are simpler than that.
• Videos are expensive: you can easily spend more on your video production than on your website

So why do it?

A 5 minute talking head is easier to produce than writing a 1,000 word blog.
As part of an integrated digital marketing strategy it has two main values:It has a huge impact on the SERPs, if linked to your main website.
It gives you access to readers who, despite all the reasons above, would rather watch a video than read a blog.

Therefore the ‘Aye’s have it’

And it’s also true to say that it’ll become increasingly mainstream in the B2B world, so you’d be foolish not to do it.

Make it part of your integrated digital marketing strategy. Start now if you’re not doing it yet!

Special request: be careful not to make the mistake of so many websites, which have a page (ie a ghetto!) called ‘Our Videos’ – these tend to be the least-visited part of a website. Position videos within the content to which they relate.