B2B marketers prefers video marketing to create brand awareness

BANGALORE, INDIA: A recent survey on Video Marketing and Advertising by Regalix reveals that although marketers use video marketing for a variety of goals, some objectives are prioritized more than the others:

· The survey featured that the topmost objective for video marketing by B2B Marketers is creation of brand awareness, as reported by 83 percent of respondents

· This is followed by triggering customer engagement (77 percent) and building credibility and trust (71 percent) as the goals pursued by marketers with respect to video marketing

Vikas Sharan, CEO, Regalix, said, "Video marketing has grown rapidly in the past few years and 2014 will experience a dramatic upsurge. With video being a great visual tool coupled with new technologies and practices will definitely help companies and brand in a positive way."

Regalix surveyed some of the top marketing executives and professionals to understand the current trends in video marketing and measurement, designed to help B2B marketers enhance the effectiveness of video marketing.

The top findings of the report include:

• 78 percent of marketers engage in video marketing
• 94 percent marketers believe that video marketing is an effective sales and marketing tactic
• 84 percent of marketers reported an increasing demand for videos and other visually rich marketing material
• 77 percent marketers claimed that their customers prefer visually rich marketing material over static/text-based material
• 50 percent marketers allocate 10-25 percent of their creative budget towards video marketing
• 83 percent marketers use video marketing for branding or to increase awareness around their brand
• 94 percent marketers use tactics to enhance discoverability and shareability of their videos

Video Marketing Usage

The survey demonstrated that B2B marketers are now embracing video marketing in a big way:

· The survey showed that 78 percent of marketers use video marketing advance customers further along in their purchasing journey

· 84 percent of respondents reported that there is a neutral to high demand for visually rich and interactive material by their customers

· 77 percent of respondents reported that their customers prefer visually rich marketing material over static or text-based material

· 23 percent of survey respondents reported not engaging in video marketing, even though 89 percent of them uphold that video marketing is an effective sales and marketing tactic

Metrics and Measurement

The survey demonstrated that the leading metrics for measurement of video marketing performance correlated directly with the objectives set for the exercise

· 85 percent of the survey respondents reported using number of video views as the top most metric used to analyze branding campaigns' performance

· Views were followed by click rates and Google analytics event tracking (registrations) as a leading metric for analyzing video engagement and overall performance; as reported by 62 percent of the survey respondents

Challenges Encountered

· Difficulty in measurement of ROI was cited by 73 percent of respondents as the biggest challenge faced by them in execution of video marketing

· The second biggest challenge preventing video marketing success was found to be lack of budgets for video production and distribution, according to 73 percent of survey respondents

· Other challenges include lack of in-house expertise in video scripting and production, difficulty in converting viewers into buyers etc

Video Marketing and the Buying Cycle

The most popular video types used by B2B marketers in their marketing mix were found to be Corporate videos (77 percent), Product demos (71 percent) and webinars (69 percent). However, the effectiveness and usage of video types differs from one stage of the buyer's purchase cycle to the other:

· The top three types of videos to create brand awareness were found to be corporate videos (92 percent), viral videos (69 percent) and on-location/at-event videos (57 percent)

· In the consideration phase, the most effective videos were found to be webinars (71 percent), testimonials (67 percent) and chalk-talks/expert-talks videos (64 percent)

· During the intent to purchase phase, product demos (88 percent), case studies (75 percent) and webinars (63 percent) were found to be used the most

· When the prospect is taking the decision to purchase, marketers reported using how-to-tutorials (41 percent), product demos (40 percent) and case studies (25 percent)

· The survey showed that video types such as testimonials (40 percent), how-to-tutorials (35 percent) and case studies (29 percent) are used by marketers to create a positive impression and reaffirm the purchase decision of the buyers

· The survey found that in order to promote engagement and spark interactions with clients, marketers use webinars (79 percent), vlogs (67 percent), vine( 67 percent), presentation (67 percent), and interview videos (67 percent)

· The survey also found that in order to encourage customers to repurchase solutions, 63 percent marketers reported using videos such as behind the scenes/documentary to make the customers come back for more

· To win customers' loyalty, marketers use case studies (43 percent), user testimonials (30 percent) at-event videos (25 percent), documentaries (25 percent) and presentations (25 percent)

· To ensure that buyers become brand advocates and spread the brand's message on its behalf, marketers use good old case studies (43 percent), testimonials (35 percent) and documentaries (38 percent)