Email teams seeking to move B2B purchasers through the buying process should try video — people prefer it over written content, judging by How Video Influences the B2B Buyer's Journey, a study from Brightcove, conducted by Ascend2.
Of the buyers polled, 93% say video builds trust in a brand’s ability to deliver on promises. And 97% say they would be more receptive to a sales communication after watching a video, 40% extremely so.
In contrast, the lowly white paper seems dead. Indeed, B2B customers prefer these content formats:
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B2B buyers say video helps them in the following ways:
Video can be promoted via search, email, websites and social.
It’s not just about selling a product upfront: 97% say video is useful in the post-purchase states of their buying journey in these ways:
In addition, 81% prefer video over written content when learning to use a product or service.
These include respondents involved in technology (91%), professional services (82%) manufacturers (75%), healthcare & life sciences (72%) and financial services (68%).
These respondents seem to know what they are talking about — 88% have watched a product demo or review video in the last three months. Specifically, they have seen:
Of course, it all depends on the quality of the video and the follow-up. These attributes were deemed most important:
Ascend2 surveyed 305 professionals responsible for purchasing decisions at firms with annual revenue of $50 million or more in the U.S. and UK, from February 10-17, 2022.