Best Type of Video for your ABM Strategy

Videos are an excellent way to increase engagement and conversions. But with so many types of videos to choose from, how do you know which is best for your strategy?

Probably by considering your target audience. And you might be surprised that nearly every audience does want to watch video. Humans are instinctively drawn to moving images. We interpret them in less than 13 milliseconds. Even 59% of senior executives say they would rather watch a video than read a website or presentation.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about the best videos for ABM and how you can overcome short attention spans and build an emotional connection with your leads.

Brand Videos

Hoping to create brand awareness? This is where brand videos excel. After all, 80% of internet users recall a video ad they’ve watched within the past 30 days. According to Forrester, a video is worth 1.8 million words:

This math may be a little silly—Is a picture really worth 1000 words? Does every frame really count?—but there’s little doubt that you can communicate a huge amount within a relatively short video. When people read text, they remember 10% of the message three days later. When you pair that information with images, this rises to 65%. Include the text in a video, and viewers retain 95% of the message. That’s because 90% of the information transmitted to our brains is visual.

But it’s not just about information. Images that cause an emotional response encourage our brains to release oxytocin. Oxytocin helps humans feel empathy, building emotional connections and trust. In one study, participants given oxytocin were 80% more generous when splitting money with a stranger compared to those given a placebo. There’s a reason so many commercials feature babies and puppies.

Brand stories work best for ABM if you have a great origin story, a social mission, or a meaningful reason why you’re in business. Of course, customers can spot inauthenticity a mile away. That’s why it’s so important to avoid jargon and generalizations. Instead, tell your story with honesty and transparency.

Since emotions drive decisions, it’s easy to see why brand videos make it much more likely that your audience will watch, remember, and engage with your message.

Video Case Studies

Case studies can often be boring, especially for B2B organizations. They’re jam-packed with numbers and charts. Video case studies overcome this boredom factor and increase engagement.

You’ve probably read a yawn-worthy case study that focuses on a product or service recently. Can you remember any of the data from this case study? Did the data shock, surprise, or create any kind of emotion in you? If you’re anything like most people, the answer is no.

Realistically, endless tables, charts, and analytics can do more harm than good when it comes to your ABM strategy. Data overkill can weaken your message, turn off your target audience, and still fail to convince them of the benefits of your product. This is where so many case studies go wrong.

An abstract statistic like “we reduced storage costs by 23%” may not stick in someone’s mind by itself. But what if this statistic is paired with a video of someone explaining why it was so important to reduce costs, how the storage costs were reduced, and why it worked? All of a sudden the statistic becomes persuasive and memorable.

A good case study demonstrates how a business solved a customer’s problem. A great case study tells the customer’s story. People are more likely to purchase your product if they get the experience of what it can do for someone like them.

Video case studies give you this social proof. They help you overcome any objections your target market may have, demonstrating real-life results to remove skepticism. But most importantly, it’s the story story. Your potential customers are 22 times more likely to remember a statistic or fact if it goes with a story.

Storytelling Testimonial Videos

As we just mentioned, storytelling is hugely effective in marketing. It helps you build strong relationships with potential clients. Testimonials are stories. They help you convert prospects who are on the fence to paying customers.

88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a recommendation from a family member or friend. When paired with a story, these reviews are a powerful way to inspire trust.

Researchers have found that a number of cognitive processes occur when humans immerse themselves in a story. This experience is known as transportation. And when potential customers are transported by a narrative, they view the subject much more favorably. They’re also more likely to embrace the beliefs that story represents.

It’s easy to see why storytelling testimonials are so powerful. Our brains process narratives differently then non-narrative accounts. When customers take in straight information, they reach for their own existing opinions and knowledge to analyze that information.

When they’re reading or watching a story, however, they absorb that story entirely—without taking time to analyze it. When they’re truly swept away by a narrative, they’re more likely to embrace the messages it promotes.

You can also see the power of storytelling in this infographic from Adweek:

Of course, even the most well-crafted story won’t convert if it doesn’t have anything to do with your target audience. Your ABM strategy needs to include solid research into your prospects so you can understand their problems and the things they care about.

This doesn’t mean that you change your story based on your audience. But it does mean that you highlight the points that interest them and develop the story based on them as the main character.

Animated Explainer Videos

By 2019, more than 80% of all internet traffic will be video. If you’re in the process of creating an ABM strategy, it makes sense to benefit from the higher reach, effectiveness, engagement, and ROI from video.

Animated explainer videos cut through noise and remove confusion. These are particularly helpful if you have a complex product or service. Viewers are up to 85% more likely to purchase after watching a product explainer video.

There’s a reason why companies of all sizes are using animated explainer videos. Since you can be much more creative with animations than you can with people, you can tell any story you want, any way you want. You can do this with eye-catching visuals and interesting voices to trigger strong emotions in your prospects. Most importantly, you can make complex information easy to understand.

Dropbox is one of the best examples of how an explainer video can make a massive difference to your bottom line. In 2009, no one had any idea what Dropbox was. The company placed a cut-out animation explainer video on its homepage to showcase exactly what its services could do. This video cost less than $50,000 to produce but led to a 10% increase of conversions, earning $48,000,000. Not a bad ROI at all.

Animated explainer videos compress your offering into a 1–2 minute explanation. This means that you need to quickly grab attention and clearly communicate the benefits of your product. While the average customer has an attention span of 8 seconds, a video can hold their attention for 2.7 minutes. If you have an animated explainer video on your home page or product page, visitors are more likely to understand your product’s value, giving you a much greater chance of converting them into customers.

And an animated explainer video is a great conversion tool. You might have your prospect’s attention, but they’re still considering whether or not they need your product. Giving them essential information in an easy-to-understand format can help overcome whatever objections or hesitations they might have.

As mentioned above, explainer videos do particularly well on home pages and product pages. But you can also send them in emails, incorporate them in blog posts, and share them on your social media channels.

Have You Created Your Video?

Now that you know the best videos for your ABM strategy, you simply need to pick the right video for your target market. If you’d like to learn more about how to make this happen, we’d love to help.