Finding new and exciting ways to engage your B2B audience is critical if you want your company to stand out. This requires creating content that's interesting and easy to consume.
This is one reason B2B podcasts are on the rise. 60 million people in the U.S. stated that they listened to podcasts weekly, in a 2019 survey (*people over 12), and are a great target market for B2B marketers. That is ample opportunity for you to swoop in with your B2B podcast and educate and entertain these audiences, and convert them to customers.
Now, although audio content is on the rise, you don't want to ignore the use of video. Doing so could mean you’re ignoring certain parts of your audience, leaving something to be desired in your B2B marketing strategy.
If you're not already using video as part of your B2B podcast strategy in some capacity, then it's time to reconsider. Let's review some of the reasons why adding video to your podcasting strategy is a must and how it can positively impact your metrics.
The Why: More People Are Watching Video
Why are 85% of businesses now using video as a marketing tool (up from 61% in 2016)? Simple answer—more people are watching video content. Because of this, 92% of marketers state video is an essential part of their marketing strategy.
Research shows people are watching an average of 16 hours of online video weekly (52% more than the past two years). But what are they watching?
If you're thinking cute cat videos and funny skits, you're off the mark. Both B2B and B2C consumers are readily consuming brand content.
For example, 96% of people watch explainer videos to learn more about products and services. And 84% state brand videos convinced them to make a purchase.
What's more, is 66% of people prefer to learn about products and services via a short video. Then 86% say they'd even like to see more videos from brands.
The question now is, which types of videos should you focus on? Around 36% of people say they want to see more educational/explainer videos, and 14% want product demos.
Then when we look at what marketers are creating, we see:
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- 72% are making explainer videos
- 49% are making presentation videos
- 48% are making testimonial videos
- 42% are making sales videos
- 42% are making video ads
At this point, video content is the #1 form of media marketers are creating (overtaking blog posts and infographics).
The takeaway: Creating a video aspect to your audio podcast will help to drive more traffic, shares, and engagement for your episodes.
Videos Increase Website Traffic
If you're publishing your B2B podcast episodes to your website, then driving traffic here should be a top priority. Did you know video appears in 70% of the top 100 search listings? That's some serious SEO power you can use to improve your ranking and traffic.
This speaks volumes on how effective video content can be as a lead generation tool. B2B marketers who are privy to this are publishing more video content to their company website (second to Facebook).
And in doing so, 87% of video marketers say this is boosting their website traffic. Another 81% say it's increasing the average time people spend on pages.
The takeaway: Use videos to create a multimedia experience on your site and as a way to drum up engagement on your own channels to get more viewers on your site.
Videos Boost Email Opens and Engagement
Email marketing is a must-have in your content marketing strategy. However, getting people to open the emails after they subscribe can be tricky.
One way to increase open rates is to add video content. Studies show including a video in your email can increase email opens by 7% to 13% (and conversions by 21%).
So be sure to add "video" somewhere in the subject to prompt subscribers to open the email.
Once inside, we find click-through rates increase by up to 300% when videos are used (96% higher than emails without video). Plus, it can reduce your unsubscribe rate by 75%.
The takeaway: Don’t let your video podcast live in a silo separate from the rest of your content and marketing initiatives – instead, use email to promote your video podcasts to drive more engagement and conversions.
Videos Grow Social Media Metrics
There's no ignoring social media—at least, not if you want to target your audience on the platforms they frequent. Video content can help your visibility in two ways:
- People are more inclined to stop and watch video content on their feed
- People are twice as likely to share video content
The primary channels video marketers are using today are Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
Being a B2B brand, you'll want to focus your attention on Facebook and LinkedIn (especially the latter). We find 66% of marketers planned to use video on LinkedIn in 2020. And why wouldn't they—in 2019, LinkedIn became the most successful channel for video marketers. In fact, 87% of video marketers already insist it's an effective channel.
The Takeaway: Start taking advantage of the engagement video content offers by using LinkedIn as part of your B2B video podcast strategy through video clips and video and audiograms.
Videos Can Improve Your ROI
Now, you may be wondering if all the video views, engagement, and traffic are translating to a boost in your revenue.
Well, 83% of video marketers claim video helps to generate leads. And 80% say video directly boosted their sales. Overall, 89% of video marketers state video generally delivers a good return on investment.
So it's not surprising 90% of them planned to increase their spending on video in 2020 and beyond.
The Takeaway: Is this hitting home yet? If you want to deliver a multimedia experience that drives better engagement among your audience, use video as part of your B2B podcast to potentially boost your metrics and profits.
The Bottom Line
There's no denying the benefits of adding video content to your B2B marketing strategy. You can convert your B2B podcasts into videos and share them across all of your marketing channels.
For example, you can create in-studio podcast videos, record videos of guests you're interviewing, or do a simple screen share to demonstrate a product or service.
If this sounds like something you want to do, then having a platform to quickly distribute (and track) quality B2B podcast videos is essential. At Casted, we help B2B brands turn their podcasts into marketing gold.
This includes providing a platform to upload your podcast video or audio and promote it across multiple channels. We also offer services that include turning your episodes into content (blog posts, social posts, email clips, audiograms, and more).
Learn more about how our platform can improve your lead generation and revenue. Schedule a demo today!
