YouTube for B2B brands: 7 successful examples

B2C VS B2B-MERKEN ON YOUTUBE

Recently I shared 9 successful brands in a previous blog, but I received several responses that these were only business to consumer (B2C) brands. That’s correct, so here is a special second edition with only business to business (B2B) examples.

WHY WOULD YOU, AS A B2B BRAND, WANT TO BE ACTIVE ON YOUTUBE?

There are several reasons why you, as a B2B brand, may want to invest in your YouTube presence.

Reason 1: YouTube influences purchase decisions, also for B2B products

The impact of YouTube goes beyond views, viewing time and clicks. The video platform plays an increasingly important role in the online purchasing process, also in business situations. The number of B2B buyers watching a product-related video continues to grow. Research by i-motus (pdf) shows that more than half of all B2B decision-makers consume more than 30 minutes of video before making a purchase decision. Video is therefore an excellent way of convincing your potential customer.

Reason 2: YouTube improves visibility in search engines

Videos are increasingly appearing in Google search results. But videos on websites also have a positive influence on search traffic on the own website. A large-scale analysis by one of our clients showed that landing pages with a video generate 22% more traffic than landing pages without a video. And the landing pages with video had a 33% higher Traffic Value (visits * average CPC). Research by Trust Radius indicates that investing in SEO is one of the most effective strategies for B2B brands. Video plays an increasingly important role in SEO.

Reason 3: Long-term effect

Whereas a typical social media post has a lifespan of a few hours to a day at most, the right YouTube videos can score thousands of views over the years. Think of YouTube as a blog in video form rather than a social network. You don’t have to post something every day, but quality content has the chance to score years of successful reach.

Reason 4: Video can also lead to budget savings

YouTube can help not only to win new customers who are actively looking for a new product, but also to help existing customers better and faster. This can lead to lower costs. The cost of watching a video is much lower than having phone calls or emails handled by your customer service. The customer is happy too, because they get a faster and often better answer. A majority of people would rather watch a video to solve a product or service related problem than contact customer service.

TWO EFFECTIVE CONTENT STRATEGIES FOR B2B BRANDS

But which videos are best to produce as a B2B brand? There are two very simple yet effective B2B content strategies on YouTube:

• Share your knowledge: share your content knowledge in order to help your target group and establish yourself as thought leadership. It was recently pointed out on Marketingfacts that thought leadership has a positive influence on brand performance in the B2B world.
• Show, don’t tell: Don’t just talk about your products and services, show what they are. Research by Trust Radius shows that product demos are the most important source of information for B2B decision-makers. YouTube and video are excellent for this purpose.

SUCCESS ON YOUTUBE BY SHARING KNOWLEDGE

There are several successful examples of both YouTube strategies, both in the Netherlands and internationally. Of the Share-your-knowledge strategy, I would like to highlight one Dutch example in particular: Charlotte’s Law.

Charlotte Meindersma: how giving legal advice on YouTube leads to business
One Dutch expert who uses YouTube successfully is Charlotte Meindersma. She posts several videos on YouTube every month. Her videos deal with current legal topics and practical problems. These videos offer a lot of practical value to those who search for them. In terms of reach and views, you might conclude that her efforts yield little with hundreds to a few thousand views per video, but nothing could be further from the truth. Her channel is in a niche and if you have legal issues, sooner or later you will come to her. In her own words, her conversion rate is fantastic and her YouTube channel generates more orders than the 30,000-plus unique visitors to her website.

Other examples that successfully apply this content strategy are Van Gelderen Arbeidsrechtadvocaten, who also provide legal assistance. Ahrefs actively helps you to achieve more success with SEO, the Dutch Growth Tribe does all kinds of growth marketing. Furthermore, I like to share Moz who has been positioning themselves as an authority within their niche for years through their famous ‘Whiteboard Friday’ videos. In the past, these were presented by founder Rand Fishkin, but after his departure from the company, this is now done by several employees.

SHOW, DON’T TELL. AND GENERATE SALES THAT WAY

As indicated earlier, product demos are the most important source of information for B2B decision-makers. Is there a better channel than YouTube for product demos? The Dutch company PPT Solutions, which specialises in PowerPoint, shows how to apply this strategy effectively. On their YouTube channel, they show how a company can get more out of PowerPoint presentations. And with success.

For example, their video in which they show a very nice company presentation of the NS has been viewed more than 135,000 times. “That is a lot by B2B standards; the first days after we published the video, the phone was ringing off the hook. To this day, I still hear people talking about the NS video,” says Ferry Pereboom, one of the owners of the company. “YouTube is a very important marketing channel for us and brings in new customers.”

An international example of a company that applies this strategy well is Other Level’s. They make visually very attractive Excel dashboards. The video below, about dynamic dashboards and interactive dashboards, has been viewed more than 1.6 million (!) times in one year.

LOOKING FOR A DISTINCTIVE AND EFFECTIVE MARKETING CHANNEL?

Brands that are now serious about their YouTube presence are still often first in their industry. This is already true for B2C brands, but even more so for their B2B counterparts. This gives you a chance to get ahead of your competitors and stand out. Inspired by these examples? I was, and this year we are going to work as an YouTube agency to use YouTube successfully for ourselves.

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT YOUTUBE CAN MEAN FOR YOUR BRAND?

Want to know more about YouTube and what YouTube can mean for you as a brand? Download our free Whitepaper YouTube for Brands!

Born and raised on YouTube, we’ve developed a unique, data-driven approach to create effective videos. As the second-largest global search engine, tapping into YouTube’s full potential requires more than just uploading videos. A specialized YouTube agency can efficiently navigate this complex platform, ensuring your marketing investment translates into measurable results. Click here to learn more about a YouTube marketing agency.