The benefits of B2C video marketing have been known for years – consumers love a dynamic experience. However, B2B video marketing only gained popularity in recent years, as marketers began to realize the immense value it brings. SaaS (Software as a Service) companies, in particular, can use video marketing to boost user engagement and drive conversions. Unlike your typical B2C sale, B2B sales typically include multiple decision-makers. Thus, B2B SaaS marketing efforts should collectively speak to the decision-makers and encourage them to convert. Back in 2018, a survey revealed that 62% of B2B marketers considered video as their most preferred format for content marketing. That showcases a pretty firm belief in the potential of video for B2B marketing – but is it a route your SaaS business should take? Let’s find out.

What is B2B video marketing?

B2B video marketing is business jargon for marketing your product or service to businesses with video content. When it comes to marketing SaaS companies, videos can influence buying decisions and sales in multiple ways. Depending on which stage of the recruitment funnel your prospects are at, videos of different types can encourage conversions. For example, a video explaining your product and the pain points it solves is a more direct way of promoting your product. However, a less direct strategy would involve using explainer videos to help customers use your product. In fact, 43% of marketers consider video an asset for reducing support calls, saving business owners both time and human resources.

Why should SaaS companies use B2B video marketing?

Given the momentum B2B video marketing has gained recently, you must have come across SaaS marketers swearing on its potential. Maybe that’s why you’re reading this article – to determine if the hype is actually warranted. So, should your SaaS company use videos in its marketing strategy? To answer this question, let’s see what B2B video marketing brings to the table.

A B2B marketing video aligns with audience preferences

This goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway – communicate to your audiences in the way they want. In a survey, 69% of respondents cited short videos as their preferred mode for learning about a produce or service. For SaaS brands, in particular, a short video can help explain seemingly complicated software.

Video embeds encourage share-ability

While paid advertising is the go-to way to promote your product and pull in some quick conversions, nothing is more valuable to a business than free advertising. Creating content that your audience readily shares paves the way for increased conversions and a potentially lower customer acquisition cost. Some promising stats revealed the likelihood of people sharing video content to be twice as high as any other type of content. Since videos are easy to embed, fellow content creators looking to review or discuss your content don’t have to create their own explainer content. Instead, they can conveniently embed your videos and proceed to discuss your SaaS product.M

B2B video marketing increases measurable results

Wyzowl asked marketers about their success with videos, and 84% said video marketing helped generate leads. Moreover, 83% of the video marketers reported increases in time on page – an important indicator of whether you are attracting the right audience. To top things off, 78% of the queried marketers reported a direct increase in sales thanks to their video marketing efforts.

The verdict: videos for SaaS marketing?

The points we just discussed reveal just some of the many benefits that B2B marketing offers SaaS brands. If you ask us, video marketing is no longer an option, but a necessary part of your business strategy.

How SaaS companies should use B2B video marketing

As with any business practice, video marketing is only beneficial if it’s planned and executed strategically. So here are some ways to use video for your SaaS marketing.

Product explainer videos

Product explainer videos are a direct way to attract your target audience. In general, prospects attracted to these videos are looking to have their pain points solved. Thus, a product explainer video should detail how your SaaS product solves your audience’s problems and what further functionalities it offers.

Host a webinar

Webinars are a more interactive opportunity for marketing SaaS companies, as prospective clients can engage with your business directly. A good webinar should cover the general features of your product, and discuss how it solves your audience’s pain points. Webinars also present the opportunity to give a live demo of your product, through the help of screen-sharing technology. Finally, at the end of the webinar, keeping a few minutes in reserve for a Q&A can help erase any reservations that your audience might have.

How-to and help videos

Product explainer videos are great for moving prospects along the top of the funnel, down to the middle. In the consideration phase, though, your audience may be anxious about the potential learning curve for your SaaS solution. This is where help videos can nudge prospects along their buyer’s journey. By creating an engaging, easy-to-follow knowledge base that details how to use your product, prospects feel more confident in the SaaS solution.

Case study videos

A highly effective strategy for convincing prospects of the value your SaaS solution provides is to showcase its existing success. Take your B2B SaaS marketing up a notch by creating a video detailing a customer success story, and how your software made it happen. Including measurable quantities, such as increases in ROI or even the lifetime value, adds to the credibility of your solution.

Client testimonial videos

What better way to convince your target audience that your SaaS solution will meet all their needs, than to have existing customers tell them as much? Reaching out to your happy customers and asking them to provide video testimonies about your product can help increase conversions. Since B2B consumers trust fellow buyers, sharing your customers’ experiences encourages prospects to come on board.

How to get started with B2B Saas Video Marketing

Are you sold on the benefits of using video for SaaS marketing? If so, then don’t put off your SaaS video marketing any longer. Here’s how you can get started today.

Identify your target audience

When it comes to figuring out your target audience, here are some questions you need answers to:

• What pain points does your product solve?
• Which business owners are currently suffering from these pain points?
• Which audiences are attracted to your competitors’ SaaS products?
• What stage of the funnel is your audience at?

As we discussed earlier, the answer to this last question is vital to deciding what type of B2B saas video marketing to employ.

Start with a demo video

Your first B2B marketing video should be a short, informative demo that walks your audience through the product. Demo videos can address the purpose of the software, including the problems it solves. The video can then cover the general features of the solution and how it works. One way to generate leads is to put your demo video on-demand on the landing page.

Build a repository of case studies and testimonials

After getting your first demo video up, it’s time to invest in client testimonials and case studies to build confidence in your product. Have your happy customers share all about their experience with your SaaS solution, and detail specific features that helped them achieve their business goals.

Pick a platform for sharing your video content

Now that you’ve created some valuable video content for SaaS marketing, it’s time to get it in front of your audience. YouTube, used by 89% of video marketers, is an excellent platform for growing your visibility with video content. Alternatively, social media live streams are another cost-effective option. For conducting high-value webinars, you can use popular and cost-friendly conferencing software like Zoom.

Create a webinar schedule

Conducting a monthly webinar, or even a quarterly one, can act as a powerful lead magnet and boost conversions. The average conversion rate of a marketing webinar is a respectable 39.29%, and you can exceed this amount with the right planning. For example, Adobe Connect’s webinar landing page reportedly boasts a conversion rate as high as 51%.

Pro tips for using video in B2B SaaS marketing

Are you now on your way to start producing video SaaS marketing content? Great! Before you leave, here are some pro tips to help you succeed.

• Keep your video content short – it helps boost engagement.
• Consider adding your demo video to the landing page – this can increase landing page conversions by as much as 80%.
• Try featuring industry experts in your videos. Every industry has well-established authority figures – if one of them is using your platform, reach out and ask them to feature in a video. This helps establish the credibility of your software.
• Strengthen your video content with transcripts. The importance of transcription can’t be overstated – a recent study found captioned videos to enjoy 40% more views than uncaptioned ones. The same study further revealed that the likelihood of viewers watching video content till the end increased by 80% with captions.
• Video captioning is invaluable for webinars in particular, where marketers often struggle to maintain user engagement. You can use live captions for Zoom by Verbit to transcribe your Zoom webinars at high speeds.
• Also, consider organising giveaways once in a while to grow your subscriber list. Check out the Youtuber top selling merch review for merch giveaway inspiration

Conclusion

53% of marketers are already planning to use video in their marketing strategy for 2021, and you should too. Quality video content generates leads, increases conversions and user engagement, and helps build your SaaS brand’s credibility. So if B2B video marketing wasn’t a part of your strategy before, it should be now!