Myth: Content Marketing Is Only for B2C Brands, Not Manufacturers
Sure, inbound marketing can be great for B2C companies. Creating interesting content for those companies is a great way to increase leads with...
3 min read
Jenna Orrock Jan 11, 2016
YouTube isn’t just for funny footage of cats. The video platform is the #2 biggest search engine in the world, just behind Google (which owns it!) It processes 3 billion searches monthly: 100 hours of content are uploaded every minute!
YouTube is important for B2B and industrial manufacturing, too: It was listed as the #1 content marketing tactic in 2015’s B2B Manufacturing Content Marketing Report by the Content Management Institute, which reported 87% of manufacturing brands create videos.
With YouTube, you’ll be on the same platform as some of the Internet’s most beloved entertainers. “How’s my B2B content going to be heard over the likes of Epic Rap Battles of History?” you ask. Worry not! You’re not competing with everything on YouTube: You’re using it to tap into your audience!
YouTube isn’t like TV: The audience is enthusiastic, active, and engaged, interacting with content they want when they want it. They’ll mute the ad before your video, sure ... then sit through your informative video with rapt attention.
Why? It all comes back to creating the content your audience wants, then being available when they feel like talking.
There are some people who can post a video like "David After Dentist" to YouTube, and get 100,000,000 likes. In B2B, your challenge is more complex: Your videos are an extension of your brand, so you need to have a plan.
That begins by knowing how your video fits into your strategy.
Are you:
Video content can do all this, but it’s a good idea for a video to have one or two goals. With that in mind, it’s time to look at your buyer personas and delve into how to communicate with your audience.
As a B2B leader, you probably have a good idea who your ideal customer is: Their age, gender, industry, geographical location, and concerns. Once you have your YouTube channel, it provides a nifty Demographics Report for you.
Some of the information in your Demographics Report:
No matter what demographic you’re targeting, your position in B2B gives you a secret weapon for designing your video’s “voice”: The communication style – and maybe even video content – produced by companies most likely to buy from you.
Most B2B decision-makers are looking for concise, informative content to help make choices about important purchases with limited time. But as Forbes notes, B2B content doesn’t have to be boring. Check out their article for great examples of clever videos.
No matter what communication style you use, always start with your buyer’s pain point!
Captain Hook is the pirate with a hook for a hand, and to this day, you probably think of him when you think pirates. There may be imitators, but nothing beats the original. Like him, your videos also have a hook ... usually in a less literal sense. The idea of the hook is to make your video memorable: You only have 15 seconds to convince viewers to watch.
Attention spans are short, so keep these tips in mind:
When people reach your industrial manufacturing or other B2B content on YouTube, they’re already engaged in research. They can pause, rewind, and share content in one click. Your role is to develop something they’ll devote full attention to, even if it’s for 60 seconds!
What metrics should you be tracking to know you’re on the right ... track? Most people start and end with the number of views their video gets, but this is misleading – especially in manufacturing marketing.
YouTube might seem complex, but start with a plan and it can be rocket fuel for your brand! It's one of the biggest manufacturing trends out there.
Learn more about marketing your Manufacturing company with the free eBook below.
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