There’s no denying the power of video in today’s marketing landscape. Over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and it is estimated that by 2022, online video content will make up 82% of global consumer traffic on the Internet.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg:
- 240 exabytes (where one exabyte = 1 billion gigabytes) of video content is expected to be consumed worldwide each month in 2022
- The average user is predicted to spend approximately 100 minutes a day watching online videos by 2021
- Mobile video consumption increases by 100% each year
- There is believed to be around 1 million minutes of video crossing the Internet every second
Of course, as we highlighted in our article on optimising video marketing, the content you use should always lean on the values that underline your company, the nature of your products and services, and the tone that your audiences expect from you as a brand.
But knowing what ideas are out there and experimenting with them is key to discovering which connects with your users and helps you reap the full benefits video can have on building brand awareness and effective lead generation.
Below, we’ve listed 21 standout video marketing ideas that have been proven to help B2C businesses capture clicks and keep their customers’ eyes on their brand.
21 ideas to supercharge your B2C video content
#1 – Share your brand story
First, use video to shout about who your brand is, where you came from, and what you stand for. A great brand positioning video should emphasise your core values and how your company looks to make life better for its customers. This helps viewers visually understand the personality of your brand and, if they feel this connects with their own values and ideals, will compel them to learn more about your company and encourage them to get on board.
#2 – Product demonstrations and explainers
It’s good to tell customers how your products will benefit them through your website or in brochures, but it’s even better to show them first-hand. Product demonstrations and explainers allow viewers to clearly visualise how your offerings work, show transparency and support their understanding of them in a way that writing can’t always communicate.
72% of customers would prefer to learn about a product or service via a video (Hubspot)
#3 – Customer reviews and testimonials
Another way to help consumers to understand your products and the benefits they offer is by showing them other customers that have already experienced them. With 88% of consumers claiming that reviews influence their purchasing decisions, highlighting genuine, authentic stories of people who have used and enjoyed your products will inspire trust in viewers that they will also enjoy a positive experience with them.
#4 – User-generated content
As well as reviews, encourage your audience to get involved in your marketing by harnessing their own footage of customers using your products or services. Of course, it is important to secure their permission before pursuing this, but once you receive this, sharing user-generated content on your social feeds is another powerful indicator that people benefit from your offering, which may then inspire others to feel them too.
#5 – Thought leadership pieces
Modern B2C companies are expected to be more than just product manufacturers and sellers. By sharing your expertise in thought leadership pieces, be these individual interviews or roundtable discussions, you provide your viewers with knowledge and insight that they may not have had before. This increases their understanding of your brand and industry, and might encourage them to learn more through your other channels.
#6 – Live Q&As and webinars
Hosting live Q&As and webinars on a topic that’s important to your brand and your customers is a great way to inspire real-time engagement. These types of videos make the audience part of the process, encouraging them to ask burning questions about the topic at hand to improve their understanding. By fulfilling this and sharing your expertise in the selected area, this increases consumers’ trust in your brand.
The live streaming industry is predicted to be worth over $70 billion by 2021 (Neil Patel)
#7 – Answering FAQs
If you don’t have the capacity to live stream at the moment, then why not make pre-recorded videos answering some of your FAQs? Many websites have static versions of these up on their website. This makes the process more interactive and helps viewers understand your company more and gives them clarity over common issues that you’ve identified among your communities.
#8 – Take nuggets from your blog posts
When you produce a blog post, are you making the most of the content within it? Rather than having it sit on your website, take snippets and key points from it and put them into a short video. Not only will this provide useful information to viewers on the topic of the blog post, but these can be used to link people to the article itself to learn more, boosting the traffic to your website.
#9 – Video lists
Lists typically attract a lot of interest. Constructing a video around ranking particular products in your industry or on the various ways that your customers can use your products in less-than-ordinary ways can be the essence of a quirky, engaging video across your various feeds.
#10 – Behind-the-scenes and making-of videos
A good source of video content could be giving consumers a glimpse into how your products are constructed, or an insight into the development process that was behind the creation of a new product or innovation. This will allow you to explain in detail the reasoning behind your products and how you produce them, which may be of interest to viewers and help them identify your values and personality through these backstage clips.
#11 – Vlogs
Vlogs are among the most popular forms of Internet videos, with hundreds of YouTubers garnering millions of views built around their own personalities and adventures. While it may take a while to reach the status of a Daniel Howell or Lily Singh, having a face for your brand who highlights their role on a day-to-day basis can bring people closer to your brand and give them an understanding of the characters within your team.
87% of marketing professionals use video as a marketing tool (Wyzowl)
#12 – How-to guides and tutorials
Another heavily utilised form of video marketing revolves around tutorials. This doesn’t have to be specific to your line of products, but simply videos connected to your brand values and industry that resolve common pain points among your audience. For instance, if you represented a toy company a how-to guide could present ways to create games for children using household items.
#13 – Whiteboard videos
Popularised by the Whiteboard Friday videos at Moz, whiteboard videos allow industry experts to guide consumers through more complex concepts in a straightforward visual way. This can be powerful in educating consumers about the finer details of your products, or to explain various topics that your brand is passionate about.
#14 – Economist-style clips
You might have caught some of the engaging videos that The Economist have been pulling together on their social media feeds to explain news stories and trends in an aesthetically pleasing way. While this style is journalistic in nature, it can still be effectively applied to other topics to engage audiences on relevant topics to your brand, which may come across as stale or excessive in a written form.
#15 – Influencer videos and collaborations
Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool as long as both of your audiences sync-up in some form. A company that specialises in fishing equipment might not see much benefit from collaborating with a YouTuber known for their beauty tips (although never say never). Ideas like unboxing videos or influencers incorporating products into their own video concepts can be a win-win for both parties and attract a new audience to your brand.
The average business makes $5.20 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing (The Influencer Marketing Hub)
#16 – Mythbusting
There’s a lot of misinformation flowing around the Internet, so why not base a video about busting some of the myths prevalent in your line of work? By using your own expertise and understanding to provide some clarity on a contentious topic, you can present your brand as an authority within your industry and boost the trust your audience has towards you.
#17 – Interviews with employees and industry experts
Harness the expertise and experiences of your team, or take advantage of connections within your industry, to create some truly thought-provoking and compelling interviews. Not only will this demonstrate to viewers that your brand is a thought leader within your industry, but these can also act as enticing recruitment videos – if you demonstrate how learned and satisfied your employees are, top recruits will want a slice of that life as well.
#18 – Parodies and current events videos
While this requires a lot of creativity and thought in a short space of time, the viral potential of a well-crafted parody video or a clip connected with a recent trend or topic can be massive. However, do ensure that this is relevant to your brand or the content is adjusted in a way to make it fit with your core values to ensure it doesn’t feel out of place with what people expect from your brand.
#19 – Timelapse videos
A creative form of video marketing that can express change superbly is timelapse technology. Say you are an interior designer or a furniture storeroom – a timelapse video could illustrate how your team can turn a drab, lifeless environment into a vibrant and attractive one. These types of videos depict the transformative impact of your products and services in a way that worlds or “before/after” imagery can’t always manage.
#20 – Product comparisons
Similarly, use your video content to illustrate the quality and effectiveness of your products over others on your market. This will demonstrate to viewers the unique, additional benefits your offering has over competitors and consequently make them more appealing. Alternatively, you can create similar content with products that aren’t directly connected with your company, but would be relevant to your audiences.
#21 – VR and 360° footage
Especially at a time where movement is limited, VR or 360° videos can immerse a viewer in your brand and the environment you work in. This can be used to provide engaging tours of your offices, create visually stunning product announcements or add a different dimension to demonstrations and company events.
360° video ads result in a 7% higher purchase intent for smartphone users (IPG)
Maximise video content with complete consistency
We hope this has inspired a few ideas of how you can create the most compelling B2C video content for your brand moving forward. The strength of online video is only going to grow year-on-year, and it should now represent an essential element in any content strategy.
However, regardless which of these 21 suggestions you end up experimenting with (or if you come up with completely different concepts), one crucial characteristic you need to demonstrate is consistency.
BAM by Papirfly™ incorporates a beautifully simple video-editing solution that ensures consistent branding and quality output. From the ability to import branded visuals to the start and finish of your content and stylish transitions to weave in-between, to the capacity to add subtitles for your international audiences, we provide the tools that your team needs to make sure your viewers identify your videos with your brand.
For more information about BAM’s video software and its many other features that help companies harness their brand like never before, speak to us today or book your exclusive demo.