How to Generate B2B Leads, and Achieve ROI, From Your Web Video

Posted by JasonB on July 20, 2009

As Web Video has become the #1 tool used in social media, we’ve seen many companies invest thousands this past year in creating a video of their own.   Unfortunately, we’ve also seen companies have a difficult time achieving ROI on their video, or generating leads with it.

To have your video pay for itself many times over, and more importantly, generate leads  for your organization, consider the following prior to production:

Who’s Watching?

“Who is your target audience?” is a standard question when developing a video.  However, a common mistake when creating a video is to address an industry as a whole, but not necessarily the interests of the key decision-makers that you’re trying to attract.   If a “key point” relative to the interest of your audience isn’t highlighted within the first 30 seconds of the video, it’s very likely the viewer will move on before the video is complete. If your audience, for example, are CFOs then try to stress the financial benefits that they’ll gain from your solution within the first 5-12 seconds of the video.

No Offense, But You’re Not Brad Pitt…

Here is the truth….95% of the time, professional talent can do a better job of professionally, enthusiastically and effectively conveying your message than someone at your organization.   I’m sure you can find published stats to support this, but Gateway has produced a lot of videos.   Many years ago, we used to invite clients to star in them themselves.  Bad idea. 

Although coming across with a strong conviction about your organizations abilities, far too often a CEO, VP of Sales, or your star-salesperson will can not successfully “jump off the screen”, which is absolutely needed to grab attention.   You’ve heard the phrase “the camera adds on 15 pounds”.  I’m not sure that’s true, but the camera does reduce your perceived enthusiasm by a good bit.   Professional spokespeople know how to exaggerate the right key points, using words and gestures, which come across in a memorable and effective manner on screen.  

For a few hundred dollars, invest in a spokesperson that will make your message shine.   It will be worth it in the end.   We know from experience.  Much like your company is an expert at what you do, professional talent is the same. 

Give Targets a “Heads Up”

Here are two interesting stats:  Email containing video is clicked-through 2-3 times more than standard email.  And (drum roll), video-email that is preceded by a phone call is opened 4 times more than email alone. 

Ideally, you should be only sending an email to a qualified key decision maker.   That being said, a prospect is rarely “really qualified” without an investigatory phone call.  Why not kill two birds with one stone?  At Gateway, we call every prospect on behalf of our clients.  We quickly, politely insure they are in fact the decision maker, and exit the call by asking them to keep their eyes out for an email containing a video.  This call takes just a few minutes, and can make a tremendous impact in your response rates. 

What About Prospects That You Don’t Know Exist?

Your prospect list consists of the targets that you know exist.  What about the hundreds or thousands of companies that you don’t know exist, but are a fit for your product or service?   How do you get your video in front of prospects that aren’t looking for your company?

Without overcomplicating this, find industry blogs and forums that your target audience uses to discuss their daily issues.   Comment on these sites.  Provide a link to your video in support of your comment, or as a resource for other readers.   Or, when the comment form asks for your web site address, use the URL where your video is hosted (this will now be the link attached to your name, a common place people click if they find your comment interesting).

Commenting on industry blogs and forums and providing a link to your video (also known as “link building”) is a proactive way to drive viewers to your video.

Finally, Don’t Be a Spammer

In short, when sending a video to a prospect via email, send a link to the video, not a video file.  This is worth mentioning because we still see companies make this mistake.  A video file coming across a company’s server appears to MOST spam blockers like a gallon of gasoline in a carry-on bag.    Just don’t do it.   The accepted standard is to send a screenshot of your video in the email, linked to the video hosted on a URL.

Hopefully this post will help your company place an exciting message in front of the right decision maker.

If you need help producing a video, or getting it into the hands of hundreds of decision makers, give us a call today.