A common discussion amongst marketers usually revolves around which piece of content is most effective. Not exactly sparkling dinner conversation, but certainly a valid question. Understanding the power and conversion potential of your content is essential to marketing, and revenue, success. Useful, impactful, content can be used across email campaigns, social media conversations, presentations, blogs, and in other 1:1 communications. This content can establish thought leadership, educate, and build relationships. So, what is that one silver bullet content asset? It depends, of course, but behavior and analytics would suggest that in manufacturing, video may be it.
Tonya Goldbach, Digital Media Manager at Balluff has recognized the video of impact. As one of the world's leading sensor manufacturers, Balluff leveraged video to educate its audience on its new Smart Light product (watch it here:Balluff Smart Light via Distributed Modular I/O - YouTube).
As Tonya explained "We kept it short and visual, and had text only with a hip soundtrack ("Light em up" by Fall Out Boy). It was engaging because it was current and different than all of the other videos - it was fun, and generated lots of leads! Funny story, someone from QVC saw the video and wanted to sell our product on TV as DJ equipment - we got a kick out of that! We also ended up creating an entire playlist for the product and how to use it based off questions we were getting from the video. Our other top performers, were short videos about the basic technology of our products. We've found that "back to the basics" blog posts and videos seem to generate a lot of attention. These were videos likeBasic Functionality of Inductive Proximity Sensors by Balluff - YouTube and What's the Difference between Shielded and Non-shielded Inductive Proximity Sensors? - YouTube. I think we assumed that our content was geared toward engineers, but by bringing back the basics we've seen our numbers double, and more activity. We can't forget about the younger generation of engineers seeking knowledge online and turning toward learning from videos. Also, our Markie nominated email featured a funny video as well that doubled our normal open rate and tripled our clickthrough rate."
Schneider Electric has a very impressive video channel. Videos are categorized by “Who We Are”, “Buildings”, “Data Center”, “Energy and Infrastructure”, “Industry”, and “Residential”. They also provide information on "Most Watched" and "Most Recently Viewed". Schneider Electric’s YouTube videos are product centric but they have a great focus on the environment. In a matter of 10 days Schneider gained 310 new YouTube followers.
Avid’s YouTube channel contains product features and customer stories and are available in 7 languages. Avid’s organic content drives visitors to their blogs, video, and apps page. Their content is focused on “how to” and leveraging the "pros" that use their equipment. During that same 10 day period Avid gained 547 new YouTube followers. Leveraging video across their social channels also contributed to a 61.7% lift in Google+ followers.
While video provides a fantastic opportunity to engage, you also need to convert. Organize and categorize your videos. Your videos should be easy to navigate and guide the viewer through a story. Make sure to incorporate a secondary call to action. These can be additional content offers like blog posts, eBooks, or other videos. Consider incorporating forms into the secondary call to action. Test where the secondary call to action is placed. Placement of CTAs at the beginning, middle, and end of the video will convert differently, as will the length of the form. You should also measure the engagement of your videos. With tools like Vidyard you can measure engagement beyond "views" and begin to understand the behavior of the individual.
Videos deliver great results, but don't let that opportunity vanish. Convert video engagement, analyze the audience behavior, and use this insight to deliver continued education. Doing this will lead to stronger relationships, thought leadership, and potentially revenue.