In this post, I introduce the three types of video needed to market your professional services firm’s expertise and service capability. Meet the promo, the explainer and the testimonial.
Video is a hot topic at Rattleback. So much so that in the last 6 months we’ve been investing in our own video studio and building our video production muscle. The reason is because we believe video is increasingly becoming king when it comes to our preferred consumption experience across all platforms—mobile, desktop, and even broadcast. B2C marketers have known this for a while and have had the budgets to invest in what was a previously expensive medium. However, the advancement of technology has lowered production costs and B2B marketers are beginning to dive in. Why? Well, I believe the answer lies in these statistics I pulled from Digital Information World from 2017:
- 75% of executives watch work-related video at least weekly
- 60% of website visitors will watch video if available before reading any text
- 200-300% lifts in email click through rates when video is available
- 65% of video viewers watch more than 3/4 of a video
- +2 min. increase in website dwell time when video is amply available
Let me paint that data in a different picture — the challenge for B2B marketers is we all compete to get our content in front of busy senior executives. And not just that, we need them to engage with what we have to say. Increasingly, video is your path. The data shows senior leaders seek video over any other content medium. And when they find it, they spend ample time with it before deciding if they should invest more time. When it comes to written content, our client data shows 50% of readers abandon written content before they get 50% of the way through it. And less than 25% will get to the end of your written content. But if you tell the story through video, you’ll get at least 65% of viewers at least three quarters of the way through. That’s impact.
The Three Critical Videos Needed for Marketing Services and Expertise
At Rattleback, you’ll hear us talk a lot about our philosophy on the four stages of buying. As a reminder, those are learning, vetting, discussing, and hiring. The video you produce should line up against the first two of those stages.
#1 – The Promo Video
This video type is short at 30 seconds. It delivers succinct messaging and teases what is coming next. It should be snappy, offer a sense of urgency and quickly get to the core of evoking the emotion you want your prospects to feel (surprise, trust, joy, fear, anger, sadness, or disgust). The purpose of this video is exactly as it sounds. Promote a bigger idea that can be learned about elsewhere. Placement of this video doesn’t belong on your website because that’s a place for learning and vetting. Instead this video type should be used in your digital promotion channels such as rich media advertising, social posts, or on your conversion-focused landing pages.
Promo Video Example:
By Jay Baer Promoting His Article on LinkedIn
#2 – The Explainer Video
Explainer videos can be longer at 2-3 minutes. Their intent is to offer the answer to the bigger questions your prospects are asking. What does your company do? What benefit will this service provide my business? What impact will a particular topic or trend have on my business? This type of video explains what your firm does and its unique approach, or it proves your firm’s expertise on particular topics. It is the type of video that should be saturated throughout your website. Imagine a video introducing each service or solution, a corporate brand video introducing the firm and its overall value, a recruiting video that illustrates your firm’s culture, or an expertise video that supplements a blog post by explaining its key insights so the visitor doesn’t have to read if they don’t want to.
Explainer Video Example:
Blog supplement explaining my recent article, Lead With Your Expertise. Not Services
#3 – The Testimonial Video
These videos can also be longer at 2-3 minutes. Testimonial video should feature your best clients and tell the story of how they used your company to overcome their challenge. This is because nothing is more powerful than social proof. In fact, Nielson reports 84% of people say they trust recommendations from people they know above any type of advertising. And if you can get your prospects to relate to your client by seeing and hearing them, they begin to relate and thus begin to feel they know them. You want your prospect to feel as if they’re watching a mini-story unfold in front of their eyes. And that story should convey what your business does and how it can help the right client succeed.
Testimonial Video Example:
Virgin Money and its partnership with Experian Marketing Services
In Summary:
When you build a video library that includes promo, explainer and testimonial video types, you begin to make your company feel real. Your audience will see the passion and pride in your team’s eyes and hear the struggles and relate to the pain you’ve helped your best clients overcome. Video is the best platform to evoke emotion and keep the viewer hooked longer. Why? Because when it comes to reading, the consumer knows they can put it down and walk away at any time. Video, on the other hand, is a mental commitment because we expect both education and entertainment.