In 2022, the question for B2B healthcare technology companies is not whether or not they should launch a video marketing strategy, but when. Video marketing is vital for companies looking to increase brand awareness, lead generation, drive traffic and engagement, and close more deals.
In fact, according to a recent report:
- 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
- 93% of marketers who use video says it’s an integral part of their marketing strategy
Video has traditionally been for consumer-facing brands, but remember, B2B buyers are people too and they also have a desire for content that’s quick and easy to consume—and even entertaining.
How to launch a B2B healthcare video marketing strategy
For many companies, implementing a B2B healthcare video marketing strategy that nets an ROI can seem complicated, time-consuming, and costly.
Yet Emmy award-winning videos aren’t the goal.
In fact, according to HubSpot research, buyers actually prefer lower quality video that’s authentic over higher quality video that seems artificial.
Even better—with a few basic planning steps, your company can launch a video marketing strategy in no time.
1. Define your goals
Your goals may include capturing leads for your email list, or increasing conversions or demo requests. Whatever your goals are, be sure they are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
For example, your goal may be: To increase marketing qualified leads (MQLs) by 15% this quarter by embedding videos on the solutions landing page.
2. Create videos for your target audience
As you create your video marketing strategy, it’s essential that you also clearly define your target audience to ensure every video is designed with your current and future clients in mind.
Ask questions like:
- Who is your ideal client and what are their goals?
- What are the most common questions they’re asking?
- What are their biggest challenges?
- What do they need to know today?
Defining your target audience is easy with the right brand messaging and buyer personas in place.
In your video marketing strategy, it’s also important to include all stages of the buyer’s journey (awareness, consideration, and decision) and the channels that correspond with each video. Your video marketing strategy may include explainer, tutorial, behind the scenes, hype, and interview videos.
Top-of-funnel video content may include thought leadership, educational, or trend videos. In the mid-funnel stage, explainer videos, case studies, and “about us” videos work well. Finally, the bottom of the funnel might include demonstrations and FAQs videos.
3. Prioritize personalization
With Netflix and Amazon, customers have come to expect personalization and B2B buyers are no different. According to Salesforce, 82% of business buyers expect the same experience from vendors that they have when they make personal buying decisions.
Therefore, when you’re building out your video marketing strategy, be sure to include personalization elements. For example, you can create a basic video template but personalize each video with individual contact and company names using a service like Vidyard.
4. Stick to storytelling
You may have pipe dreams about flashy videos you want to create, but stories are what people remember.
As you create your video marketing strategy, take time to think about your brand story and the story you want to tell with each video. Like any good book, your videos should have a protagonist, a conflict, a quest for the solution (yours), and finally, a resolution to the problem.
5. KISS (Keep It Simple and Straightforward)
Your clients are time-strapped like everyone else so they don’t have time to watch a long video or even think.
When creating your B2B healthcare video marketing strategy, plan for short content (1-2 minutes) that is focused on one main idea and is written for your ideal client, not from your company’s perspective.
6. Add emotional elements—and some humor
Video is not only one of the most compelling methods of storytelling, but it’s a great form of emotional marketing, which can encourage your audience to care, remember, and take action.
Appealing to human emotions with the right script, visuals, and music can make a lasting impression about your company, and help you stand apart from your competitors. Also, don’t be hesitant about using some humor—everyone could use a good laugh.
7. Create a schedule
Just as you set deadlines for other marketing campaigns, your video marketing strategy should include a basic schedule to ensure you’re posting videos at a consistent cadence and everyone on your team is on the same page.
Your schedule will depend on the resources you have available. However, you should allocate time to:
- Develop a creative brief
- Write a script
- Shoot the video
- Source B-roll
- Create graphics
- Select music
- Edit footage
- Get approval
- Distribute/post the videos
8. Maintain a budget
Fortunately, with an iPhone or iPad, and free tools like iMovie and Canva, video marketing doesn’t have to be expensive, but you’ll still want to allocate a budget so you can plan appropriately.
Depending on the content and the type of video, you may need to hire a healthcare marketing firm or video production company, purchase stock video, images, royalty-free music, or hire a voiceover artist, for example.
9. Plan a distribution strategy
It doesn’t matter how great your video is if nobody watches it.
How you plan to get the video in front of your target audience shouldn’t be an after thought—it should be an integral part of your strategy.
Here are some questions to consider:
- On what channels will it be shared on social media? Is a 10-15 second teaser needed for social?
- Is this video for sales enablement? If so, where does it fit in the buyer’s journey and how does sales access it?
- If it’s going to live on your company website, what SEO key phrases are on the page to make sure your target audience will find it?
Launch your healthcare video marketing strategy
Need help getting your video marketing strategy off the ground? Partner with a healthcare marketing agency that understands your space.
Check out these healthcare video marketing examples.