With brands like Red Bull engaging millions of users on their YouTube channel, many B2B marketers believe that engaging content is better left to B2C. But no matter your intended audience, it’s fully within your grasp to create marketing campaigns and content that drive high engagement and increase conversions. Here are a few tips to set you on a course for success.
Video Is For Everyone
While Red Bull is a little intimidating because 4.5 million people subscribe to their YouTube channel, that doesn’t mean you should shrink from video in your content marketing strategy. After all, 38% of B2B end-user buyers worldwide believe video is most useful form of content when making work purchases via an online channel. And videos increase purchase likelihood by 64%, according to Hubspot. Besides, with video analytics, you have the ability to tell if a user watched the whole thing or not – not true with your average white paper, for example. As the importance of analytics continues to increase, this is a good thing to be able to track.
Humor Isn’t Just For B2C
Just as video is for everyone, so is humor. Users most appreciate content that is both informative and enjoyable to absorb, so don’t think that B2B = boring. It’s all about finding the story you want to tell, being aware of the audience you’re telling it to, and executing in a thought-provoking and entertaining way. If you can inform them of vital information while also tickling their funny bone, conversion is likely. (Note: here are some tips to ensure you’re creating stellar video content in 2015.)
Don’t Be Afraid to Let Customers Engage in New Ways…as Long as You Can Track It
With the explosion of mobile, conversion paths like phone calls are increasing day by day and businesses are looking for ways to capitalize on that growing mobile presence. If consumers are finding your content on social media, search, etc. and using their smartphones to connect with you—and they probably are: 70% of mobile searchers have clicked the call button to connect with a business—don’t freak out. Instead, welcome that new kind of engagement and ensure you have the proper call management tools to handle those leads. One caveat: attribution is absolutely necessary in today’s omnichannel world, so be sure you have the means to track the source of those calls so you don’t end up with gaping holes in your data.
Don’t Engage in Drive-By Marketing
Most marketers already know what this means but are still guilty of it—especially marketing teams who are attempting to make the most of the video content mentioned in point one. In our attempts to engage our audience in new and innovative ways, occasionally we crank out a one-and-done marketing effort and then don’t build proper campaigns around it. A great video is only as great as the campaign that supports it, so don’t fall into the trap of creating a piece of awesome engaging content without also making it multi-channel and cohesive with your other marketing.
Any tips you have for our readers that you’ve found to be effective in driving B2B engagement and conversions? Leave them in the comments! If you want more information about driving engagement, download our guide: B2B Lead Generation for Social Media: Tips for Generating and Tracking Phone Leads.