lights, camera, call to action - trends in video marketing

This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group's methodologies provide for objective fact-based research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by Aberdeen Group, Inc.

September 2012

Lights, Camera, Call-to-Action: Trends in Video Marketing

The media theorist Marshall McLuhan famously noted, “the medium is the message.” He meant that new forms of media have their own set of rules, and that content is ultimately developed that takes advantage of these rules. McLuhan’s maxim still holds true today as marketers come to terms with the powerful medium of video to engage with buyers through digital channels. Between May and July 2012, Aberdeen surveyed over 100 marketing and sales professionals about the use of Rich Media in external prospect and customer communications, including video. We found that Best-in-Class companies are more likely to use video in their content-based marketing efforts. This research brief considers the best practices these companies are adopting to get their message heard in Technicolor.

Business Context: Of Medium and Message The challenge to be heard above the noise is in many ways the essence of promotional marketing. Today’s competitive markets and multitude of channels offer no refuge, and as seen in Figure 1, difficulty in differentiating in a “noisy” market is the top-most cited pressure by study respondents. The other top pressures are in many ways typical marketing and sales concerns; budgetary pressure (i.e. the need to do more with less), lead conversion, and market segmentation. Adoption of video-based marketing can serve to address many, if not all, of these pressures in various ways.

Figure 1: Top Pressures driving adoption of Rich Media in sales and Marketing

30%

37%

38%

54%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Not effective enough inidentifying the best prospects

We are not effective enoughin converting leads to sales

Marketing / sales budgetsstretched too thinly

Competitive “noise” in our target market; difficult to differentiate our solution

Percentage of Respondents, n = 110

All Respondents

Source: Aberdeen Group, July 2012

Research Brief

Aberdeen’s Research Briefs provide a detailed exploration of a key finding from a primary research study, including key performance indicators, Best-in-Class insight, and vendor insight.

Research Definition: Rich Media for Sales and Marketing

Rich media is the use of visual, audio, video, and interactive communications mediums, including video, audio, online chat, web meetings and screen sharing, and web events.

Lights, Camera, Call-to-Action: Trends in Video-based Marketing

© 2012 Aberdeen Group. Telephone: 617 854 5200 www.aberdeen.com Fax: 617 723 7897

Of course, video has been used in marketing since the earliest days of TV and its effectiveness as a means of broadcast communications is self-evident. What’s changed now is the accessibility of video, both for creators and consumers. Today, many of us carry a high-definition video camera around in our pocket at all times in the form of a smartphone. Sophisticated, pro- or near pro-grade camera equipment and editing software is now relatively cheap and easy to use; in other words it’s never been easier to generate video of respectable visual quality. In the meantime, among online consumers, watching video content on computers has become just as common as watching video on television, over half of global online consumers (56%) watch that video content on a mobile device at least once a month.1 As high-speed mobile internet access becomes ubiquitous, consumers can practically create and watch video anywhere, anytime.

The accessibility of video opens new possibilities for marketing to address the key pressures noted above by cutting through the noise, differentiating (sometimes by the very use of video), and generating marketing conversions.

Video-based Marketing Drives Conversions Best-in-Class companies (see sidebar for definition of the Rich Media for Sales and Marketing Best-in-Class) are 38% more likely than all other companies to use video in their external communications (55% vs. 40%). Marketing’s contribution to sales-forecasted pipeline for Best-in-Class companies was over twice that of all other companies (40% vs. 17%) and customer retention for the Best-in-Class was 89% compared with 48% for all others. Additionally (and tellingly), Best-in-Class companies achieved twice the website conversion rate of all other companies (4% vs. 2%).

1 The Nielsen Global Survey of Multi-Screen Media Usage; http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/global-report-multi-screen-media-usage/

Defining the Rich Media for Sales and Marketing Best-in-Class

Aberdeen used four key performance criteria to distinguish the Best-in-Class (top 20% of aggregate performers) from the Industry Average (middle 50%) and Laggard (bottom 30%) organizations. The metrics used to define the Best-in-Class among these firms are: √ 89% customer retention

rate, compared with 62% and 21% among Industry Average and Laggard firms.

√ 28.4% year-over-year increase in total company revenue, vs. 7.4% for Industry Average companies and a 1.4% decline among Laggards.

√ 11.8% year-over-year increase in Marketing’s contribution to Sales-forecasted pipeline; Industry Average and Laggard companies reported a 2.3% increase and a 0.1% decline, respectively.

√ The average sales cycle was shorted by the Best-in-Class by 7.4%, and by Industry Average firms by 0.2%; Laggards report an average lengthening of the sales cycle of 6.2%.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/global-report-multi-screen-media-usage/



Figure 2: Video-based Marketing Adoption Rates

55%

40%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Use video-based medium for externalcommunications

Per

cent

age

of R

espo

nden

ts

n = 110

Best-in-Class

All Others


While marketing awareness is the most prevalent use case for video-based marketing, Best-in-Class companies are not only more likely to use video, they’re increasingly more likely to utilize video throughout the buyer’s journey from awareness, to consideration (i.e. mid-funnel), through to post-sales.

For example, 60% of Best-in-Class companies are using video as a means of driving marketing conversion, either by gating the video content itself, or using video together with a call-to-action, compared with 48% of other companies. Video is less often used during the active sales cycle when one-to-one rather than one-to-many conversations are the rule, but here again Best-in-Class companies are more likely to utilize video during the sales cycle. For example, video can be used to either start the conversation with a prospect (i.e. secure initial call or meeting), or to increase prospect / customer intimacy via personalized videos recorded with a webcam. The post sales use case is also compelling, with companies using video to provide instructional support. Several hardware providers are shipping equipment with QR codes that launch how-to and other instructional videos when scanned with a smartphone; a video “Read Me” if you will.

Sector Definition: Video Marketing

Video-based marketing is the use of pre-recorded video, animations, or presentations with audio that are used for external prospect and customer communications. Videos can be used on third party sites, like video sharing sites and social networks, as part of the external web experience, or shared directly with prospects and customers.



Figure 3: Video Throughout the Buyer Journey

18%

12%

30%

36%

48%

55%

33%

33%

47%

53%

60%

67%

0% 25% 50% 75%

Post Sales

Sales Closing

Sales Qualified

MarketingNurturing

MarketingConversion

MarketingAwareness


Best-in-Class

All Others


Horses for Courses Along with the mix of uses for video comes a mix of capture and production approaches. Figure 4 below show the adoption rate of various modes of video capture and creation. The most popular mode is screen capture with audio, as this requires little to no additional hardware beyond a typical laptop and easy-to-use, often free software. However, the Best-in-Class are more likely to utilize professional-grade production (both in-house and outsourced). The important thing to note is that these modes aren’t mutually exclusive: a company may use professional resources to produce a corporate or product introduction video, or video for use at an event or conference, while using screen capture to share demos or short presentations with prospects and customers.



Figure 4: Horses for Sources – Pro-grade and DIY Video Production Both in Use

16%

22%

35%

26%

42%

25%

25%

29%

38%

38%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Webcam

Professional-gradeproduction (outsourced)

Personal-grade equipmentand production (camcorder, etc.)

Professional-gradeproduction (in-house)

Screen capture with audio


Best in Class

All Others


Best-in-Class Video Marketing Capabilities Video comes with some of its own rules, while adhering to some of the ‘old’ rules as well. Best-in-Class companies deploy a number of video-based marketing capabilities at a higher rate than other companies.

Shoot Once, Show Everywhere Keeping in mind that marketing awareness is the number one use case for video, marketers need to be able to get their videos where they can be viewed and shared, namely video sharing sites and social networks, including of course YouTube and Facebook. By a 91% margin as seen in Figure 5, Best-in-Class companies are more likely to have the ability upload videos to these sites without additional transcoding / format conversion. But as noted above, Best-in-Class companies are more likely to use video for more than just awareness; it’s a vehicle for conversion, prospect engagement, and customer intimacy. As such, 60% of the Best-in-Class have the ability to select and distribute video assets on both public and private channels, compared with 38% of all companies.

Video is also mobile. It’s now commonplace to access everything from short clips to entire movies on a smartphone or tablet. Call it the last mile of deliverability; Best-in-Class companies are 33% more likely than all others to ensure delivery across multiple hardware platforms, and mobile and social networks (53% vs. 40%). As a marketer, you simply don’t know what device your buyer will be using to access your content; Best-in-Class companies

Video for Marketing Fast Fact

√ The average length of a corporate video is 3.5 minutes

√ Best-in-Class companies are 50% more likely than all others to host video on their web site (81% vs. 53%)



are less likely to take the risk that they won’t be able to see what you’re showing them.

Figure 5: Shoot once, distribute anywhere

67%

60%

53%

35%38% 40%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Ability to upload to video sharing

sites without additional transcoding (i.e. “one-click” posting

to social networks)

Ability to selectand distributevideo assets

on both public andprivate channels

Cross-device delivery /distribution / syndication

to multiple hardwareplatforms, mobile,

and social networks

Per

cent

age

of R

espo

nden

ts

n = 110

Best in Class All Others


There are also significant differences between Best-in-Class and other companies when it comes to the video-based marketing experience. Several capabilities shown in Figure 6 suggest the importance of interactivity. Fifty percent (50%) of Best-in-Class companies have the ability to make video content interactive and 47% are incorporating ‘click-to-action’ links within the video (i.e. hyperlinks placed within the video content), compared with 33% and 27% of all other companies, respectively. But regardless of whether companies are using interactive video or embedded links, they should be thinking about what they want the viewer (i.e. the buyer) to do next. In other words they need to think in terms of call-to-action.



Figure 6: Lights, camera, call-to-action: Content rules still apply

50%47%

33%

25%

33%

27%

15%

21%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Ability to makevideo content

interactive

Integrated click-to-action links

embedded in video

QR codes used tolaunch videos

Ability to auto-generate

recommendationsfor next action or

content for viewers

Per

cent

age

of R

espo

nden

ts

n = 110

Best in Class

All Others


Performance Management Best-in-Class companies are more than twice as likely as all others to capture user-level utilization information about video assets, such as opens, length of view, and next actions (60% vs. 29%). This capability can significantly boost the value of video as a marketing asset by serving as a proxy for engagement and interest. This data can be incorporated into lead scoring or prioritization within the marketing automation or CRM system. This is also consistent with broader trends we see in performance management of content-based marketing; 67% of Best-in-Class companies say their rich media deployments provide extensive visibility into content engagement and 58% track the performance of individual rich media assets compared with 37% and 35% of all other companies, respectively.

Technology Aberdeen’s study did not consider the equipment and software used to capture and edit video content, focusing instead on management of video from a marketing and sales perspective. In this area Best-in-Class companies are five and a half times more likely than all others to use an enterprise video management platform as seen in Figure 7 below. Such platforms automate many of the capabilities discussed above. While many organizations are leveraging traditional enterprise content management (ECM) systems to manage video, enterprise video management platforms have emerged to address the unique requirements and opportunities associated with video content management. They are particularly effective at several stages of video lifecycle:

• Distribution and management. As noted above, video introduces several unique distribution requirements, including the



need to distribute assets on third party channels (i.e. social). Video also introduces unique content search and access challenges. Search metadata must be carefully managed to ensure findabillity and search engine optimization.

• Reporting and analytics. Video also introduces unique reporting and analytics requirements. Within the enterprise, the ability to track the percentage of individuals viewing videos to completion is often critical in learning applications for compliance purposes. As noted above, this same capability gives marketing and sales valuable insight about viewer engagement that can be used to score and / or prioritize leads.

Figure 7: Enterprise Video Management Platforms Meet Unique Content Management Requirements

73%

13%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Enterprise videomanagement platform

Per

cent

age

of R

espo

nden

ts

n = 110

Best-in-Class

All Others


Summary and Recommendations Every marketer knows how difficult it can be to rise above the noise, even with the most well-developed messaging and creative. Your buyer is inundated with information and offers, the majority of which never get viewed. That’s why so many Best-in-Class marketers are incorporating video into their content-based marketing repertoire.

Video presents new rules in terms of content development. Firms should think more about the story with video and keep content concise; the average length of a corporate video is 3.5 minutes. Marketers should also align the means of video capture with the use case. Sometimes time-to-deliver trumps production value, or as the saying goes, perfect can be the enemy of good. For example, if you’re using video to capture the buzz at your customer event or trade show, desktop video editing may prove to be

Demographics

Of the 110 responding organizations, demographics include the following:

• Job title: Manager (26%); Senior Management (23%); EVP / SVP / VP (18%); Director (12%); General Manager / Managing Director / Principal (7%); Other (14%)

• Department / function: Marketing (49%); Business Development / Sales (27%); Corporate Management (7%); Other (17%)

• Segment: Software (27%); IT Consulting / Services (18%); Media / Marketing Services (14%); Financial Services / Insurance (7%); Industrials (7%); Computer / Telecom Equipment & Services (5%); Other (22%)

• Geography: Americas (80%); APAC region (8%); and EMEA (11%)

• Company size: Large enterprises (annual revenues above US $1 billion)- 11%; midsize enterprises (annual revenues between $50 million and $1 billion)- 21%; and small businesses (annual revenues of $50 million or less)- 70%



“good enough” to include the video in your daily wrap up blog post. In other cases, a professional-grade video is more appropriate, such as when it will be used on the web site or at marketing events.

When it comes to use cases, Aberdeen’s data shows that videos go beyond awareness to drive marketing conversions through the funnel, for engagement during the sales cycle, and in post-sales customer engagement and support.

But some (relatively) old rules of content-based marketing still apply. Videos used in the marketing funnel should include a call to action or next step, either implicitly or explicitly – keep the end in mind. Marketers should also establish practices to track the utilization and performance of video assets (as they should do with other marketing assets). Not only is this key to understanding what content is working and which is not, but it can be used to gain insight into buyer engagement.

For more information on this or other research topics, please visit www.aberdeen.com.

Related Research Marketing Lead Management: From the Top of the Funnel to the Top Line; July 2012 Web Experience Management: From Content to Customer; June 2012

Revenue Performance Management Demystified; June 2012 B2B Social Media Marketing: Are We There Yet?; March 2012 Sales and Marketing Alignment: The New Power Couple; December 2011

Author: Trip Kucera, Sr. Research Analyst, Marketing Effectiveness ([email protected]) LinkedIn @TripKucera

For more than two decades, Aberdeen's research has been helping corporations worldwide become Best-in-Class. Having benchmarked the performance of more than 644,000 companies, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to provide organizations with the facts that matter — the facts that enable companies to get ahead and drive results. That's why our research is relied on by more than 2.5 million readers in over 40 countries, 90% of the Fortune 1,000, and 93% of the Technology 500.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen’s research provides insight and analysis to the Harte-Hanks community of local, regional, national and international marketing executives. Combined, we help our customers leverage the power of insight to deliver innovative multichannel marketing programs that drive business-changing results. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

This document is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen Group. Aberdeen Group's methodologies provide for objective fact-based research and represent the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen Group, Inc. and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by Aberdeen Group, Inc. (2011a)

http://www.aberdeen.com/

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7603/RA-marketing-lead-management.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7603/RA-marketing-lead-management.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7597/RA-web-experience-management.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7597/RA-web-experience-management.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7970/RB-revenue-performance-management.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7970/RB-revenue-performance-management.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7635/RA-social-media-marketing.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7635/RA-social-media-marketing.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7002/RA-sales-marketing-alignment.aspx

http://aberdeen.com/Aberdeen-Library/7002/RA-sales-marketing-alignment.aspx

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lights, camera, call to action - trends in video marketing

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