Video’s Role in Your Marketing: 6 Proven Tactics to Support Lead Gen, Search, Product Launches

When B2B marketers consider using video for a campaign, they tend to think first of TV spots or viral videos. But there is a much broader role for video in marketing strategies.

With careful planning, you can use video to:

o Generate leads
o Support product launches
o Recruit employees
o Raise product and brand awareness

Want to find a new role for video in your marketing campaigns? Here are six ideas from MarketingSherpa Case Studies with proven results.

Six tactics for your video marketing strategy:

Tactic #1. Create “edutainment” videos for lead generation

White papers, webinars and other educational content are key elements of a lead generation campaign. But your prospects may be so overwhelmed with white paper or webinar offers that your content gets lost in the mix.

Grab prospects’ attention with a video that places valuable educational content in an entertaining context. Kristi Kennelly, Director Marketing, Interthinx, created fraud-detection training videos for the mortgage industry that parodied the film “Charlie’s Angels” and the TV franchise “CSI.”

The lighthearted films turned highly technical information into a must-see program for the team’s key prospects in the mortgage industry. A premiere at a trade show generated so much buzz that they received 700 orders even before the DVD set was released, ultimately creating 1,200 qualified leads.

Click here for that Case Study:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30810

Tactic #2. Use streaming video to complement live events

Conferences, seminars or other events don’t have to be done only in person or only online. You can combine a real-world event with a streaming video component to reach a broader audience, generate leads, or support a product launch.

Dan Caron, Product Launch Manager, Strategic Profits, an online training company, did all three with a streaming video campaign. His team invited prospects to watch a webcast of the keynote presentation from a sold-out customer conference. Then, at the end of the presentation, the team made a special offer on a new training program to webcast attendees.

Results:
- Special offer sold out in 6 minutes.
- Product launch generated $2.8 million in sales on the first day.
- 40,000 new names were added to their marketing database through the live-stream event and the archived video on the website.

Click here for their Case Study:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29940

Tactic #3. Test embedded video in email campaigns

Delivering emails with embedded multimedia files can be a challenge. But marketers who’ve overcome the technical hurdles report strong results.

Barbara Shimaitis, Sr. VP, Ad Council, wanted to use email to reach TV station managers with a request to run the council’s public service announcements. They combined a direct-mail campaign, which sent DVDs of the spots, with a follow-up email that reminded managers of the request to run the PSA. The email contained embedded videos of the PSA, which began playing automatically in the email message, or in a new browser window.

The video-emails achieved:
o 47% higher open rate than that of average ones
o 69% higher clickthrough rate
o $1.9 billion worth of air time for their PSAs

Click here for the Case Study:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29985

Tactic #4. Create recruiting videos to attract top job candidates

Kendall Harrell, Manager, Organizational Development, Life Time Fitness, turned to online video to achieve two important goals in his recruiting efforts:
- Giving job candidates a clear, compelling representation of the company’s work environment.
- Giving details on the ideal candidate for a position, to improve the quality of job applications.

Harrell and his team created recruiting videos using real employees describing their jobs and the working environment at the fitness chain. The 2.5 minute videos were unscripted, but edited to convey important messages about the opportunities at the company. Messages stated that trainers were full-time employees, not independent contractors, for instance, and that managers were able to participate in a high-growth organization.

After placing the videos on their website, the team achieved:
o 7%-30% increase in applications for key positions
o 26%-111% increase in the number of applications passing pre-screening qualification

Click here for the Case Study: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30106

Tactic #5. Provide video tours of product/services

A short online video often can give prospects a faster understanding of your product or service than written content, such as data sheets, promotional copy, or FAQs.

Steve Johnson, Director Online Media, Total Training, used video product guides to promote the technical training firm’s new series of online programs. He and his team created:

o General introduction to the service, which provided an overview of the features and functionality of the online training program
o Video summary guides for the scope of the training sessions available in each program.

The introductory overview became one of the most viewed links on the company’s site, and helped boost subscriptions 40%.

Click here for the Case Study:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29842

Tactic #6. Assemble video library on content-sharing sites

You create a piece of video for a specific marketing campaign. Then consider adding that content to a branded channel on a video-sharing site, such as YouTube or Blip.tv.

Third-party sites can act as your video archive, and provide you with a valuable lead generation, brand marketing or search-engine optimization channel. For example Gary Drenik, President & CEO, BIGResearch, offers video newsletters to highlight his team’s research on the retail industry. But they also post that content to video-sharing sites, alongside clips of television appearances by researchers and other video content.

The technique allows them to make the most of their investment in video resources by promoting them on multiple channels.

Click here for the Case Study:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30150

Useful links related to this article:

Executive Summary of MarketingSherpa’s Video Marketing Benchmark Guide
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30948

AdCouncil
http://www.adcouncil.org/

BIGResearch
http://www.bigresearch.com

Interthinx
http://www.interthinx.com

Life Time Fitness
http://www.lifetimefitness.com/

Total Training
http://www.totaltraining.com