YouTube for B2B

According to B2B media statistics, B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not
(Hubspot, State of InboundMarketing Lead Generation Report, 2010), while 86% of B2B companies are using social media, compared to 82% of B2C companies (White Horse, March 2010)

However, which is the most appropriate social media use for B2B companies and how can public relations contribute to it?

Social media were developed for private communication and sociological reasons not for B2B purposes. As you can understand, a company has to post news all the time in order to maintain its visibility to a network, but let’s face it; a company does not have news about its products, employees or activities so often. To make use of the massive reception, B2B companies have to adopt creative ways of social media communication.

Crimson’s blog caught my attention where he mentions:  

• ‘Videos can engage your audience better than other media
• Studies show decision-makers want to watch, not read
• Studies also show that people who have seen a video are more likely to convert to a lead’

Guess what, the first B2B video sales pitch was filmed in 1957, the protagonist was Milt Grant and the pitch was about selling advertising time on his show to sponsors. Take a pick on this on You Tube (non embeddable).

Nowadays, it is a little bit different from 1957, you need to narrate a story and this is where public relations come along, in my opinion. Each company has corporate responsibility stories, or R&D stories, or crises stories. A pr practitioner has to find an authentic one through people that are close to the work and to customers and narrate about it in an approaching way that combines a good scenario, an offer and entertainment. The concept is always the same you need a protagonist, an obstacle and how he/she accomplishes a goal.

Quoting Tim Washer who served as head of social media video production for IBM, ‘there is still an enhancement to brand equity that happens when you make people laugh. They will listen!’

Take a look at IBM’s successful YouTube series ‘Mainframe: The Art of Sale”

 


or what Kinaxis, a supply chain risk management company, did with their YouTube video



The bottom line is that you need to be truthful and vulnerable. Don't you think that this is the most successful way to gain attention and moerover establish a connection?