95% B2B Buyers Say Videos Play Crucial Role in Their Purchase Decisions

Videos have proved themselves to be one of the most powerful content formats for marketing. Several studies have shown the benefits of using video in marketing efforts, its power to engage the target audience, and the future of video content. But, how powerful are videos specifically in B2B marketing? Ascend2 and Brightcove recently surveyed over 300 professionals responsible for making purchase decisions to understand the power of video marketing in the B2B buyer’s journey. A significant finding from the study was that videos played a critical role in B2B buyers deciding to go ahead with a purchase. Further, most B2B buyers prefer video content over written content.

The following are a few more insights from the study.

See more: 88% of Companies Believe Video Content Output To Increase in Coming Year

B2B Buyers Prefer Video Content Over Written Content

A whopping 95% of the respondents said that video played an important role in them deciding to go ahead with a purchase. Further, buyers prefer B2B content in video format to the written one across the different decision-making stages. Buyers prefer videos to consume information as quickly and efficiently as possible.Â

Further, videos were helpful in multiple ways for B2B buyers when making a purchase decision for the company. The following are some of the ways videos helped.

Ways in which videos are most helpful when making a purchase decision

Source: B2B Video Marketing reportOpens a new window

Videos Help B2B Buyers Identify Business Problems

At the top of the funnel, B2B buyers ranked understanding a problem as an important way video helped them. In fact, about 70% of respondents said that videos had a better impact than other content formats in creating awareness of their business-related problems. Webinars, too, ranked high on the types of content formats (after videos and research reports) that helped recognize a business problem. As such, webinars can be repurposed into videos and distributed to the target audience to provide thought leadership on specific problems in the early stages of the buyer’s journey.

B2B Buyers Prefer Videos When Researching Products and Services

Building valuable relationships with prospective customers is critical if brands have to convert them into leads and, eventually, customers. Brands can do this by delivering personalized experiences that build trust. In the middle of the funnel, videos allow brands to showcase their personality, voice, and values to walk potential customers through their products and services. About 93% of the respondents said that videos are important to build trust in a brand’s offerings.

So, what type of videos are B2B buyers watching while gathering information about the vendor’s offerings? The top two types of videos watched over the last three months were product demos and reviews. These were followed by tutorials and educational videos. Here are a few other types of videos watched during this stage of the buyer’s journey.

Types of videos watched in the last three months

Source: B2B Video Marketing reportOpens a new window

Videos Prime Buyers for Closing the Sale

When making a purchase decision at the bottom of the funnel, videos play a huge role in priming buyers so that they are more receptive to sales communications. About 95% of buyers said they were more likely to be receptive to sales communication after consuming the video content. Further, about 73% of decision-makers who recently watched videos prefer to be introduced to a sales rep via video over written communication.

Having said that, buyers have certain expectations from videos at this stage. For example, about 55% of the respondents valued the speed and load time of the videos. About 52% said that interactivity features mattered most regarding the elements included in business videos. Many buyers also preferred clickable calls to action in the videos they watched.

These interactive elements can accelerate the prospect’s evaluation and final decision. These elements can also provide critical insights into video performance, helping businesses to optimize their video strategy by evaluating the pipeline velocity and identifying key indicators that signal buyer readiness.

See more: 56% of Video Ad Budget in 2021 To Be Allocated to Digital Videos: IAB Report

Videos Enable Customer Retention and Advocacy Post Sales

When it came to post-purchase, the majority of the buyers felt video content and communication were useful. Further, 81% of the respondents preferred videos over written content when learning to use a product/service, and 76% preferred using videos to written content when troubleshooting a product/service. Videos also create customer advocacy. About 43% of respondents felt videos were helpful in sharing information with others who may be interested.

Leverage Videos in the B2B Buyer’s Journey

The study shows that videos play a critical role throughout the B2B buyer’s journey. Further, most decision-makers prefer videos over written content across the different stages of their journey. Videos can help businesses cut through the noise, make difficult concepts simpler, engage prospects better, and move them in a smooth way toward purchase decisions. Hence, have the right video marketing strategies and follow a few best practices to seamlessly move your prospective customers through the marketing and sales funnel.

What video marketing strategies do you have in place to attract more B2B buyers? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .