B2B Video and Social Media

Today's B2B marketers realize that the most effective way to develop a digital content strategy is by reaching out to customers on the social media platforms where they actually spend time and providing them with content they need and want. At the top of this list of most wanted and most desired content are videos, including how-to videos, informational videos, product and service videos, and story-based videos.However, social media algorithms are constantly changing, as are search methodologies, so B2B marketers are obliged to stay abreast of such changes in order to continue the effectiveness of their programs. That being the case, it's worthwhile exploring the latest changes in video marketing by the three platforms which are most commonly used by B2B marketers – Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

New developments on Facebook

Facebook was one of the original champions of video in social media. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg famously predicted that by 2021 most of the content which appeared on his platform would be video. This was not a radical prediction, given the engagement metrics from 2016, as well as the fact that video was continually getting higher placement in Facebook's feed algorithm.However, in that same year, it was discovered that there had been a miscalculation in the numbers relative to video viewing, and the platform was even sued by advertisers who claimed they were misled by false statistics. While video undoubtedly retains a lofty position for B2B marketers in terms of reaching their target audience, Mark Zuckerberg himself seems to now be downplaying the role of video, while focusing more on private messaging as an exchange medium for the future.Because private messaging de-emphasizes the news feed, which is a public-facing effort, it is very possible that all those public-facing initiatives like the video will also receive less emphasis. This shouldn't be taken as a signal that video is dying – far from it. Current studies continue to point out the fact that video posts spur more exchange and interaction than any other type on the platform.It's also true that the recent launching of Facebook Premiere will enhance the capabilities of video on the platform by enabling pre-recorded live broadcasts and interactive video polls. However, if you're paying attention to the body language and the public disclosures made by Mark Zuckerberg, it should be clear enough that his platform is slowly moving toward support for more private messaging rather than for public-facing content.

Video Analytics with Twitter

If it sounds like Facebook is slowly moving away from the video, Twitter is doing just the opposite and is fully embracing that type of content. During the past year, Twitter made a concerted effort to support live video and encourage more of it on the platform. Early in 2019, the company also posted a blog which called for the video to be the driving force behind reshaping the entire digital advertising landscape and lauded all the significant capabilities of video.

The platform cited some of its own statistics as evidence of the burgeoning influence and power of video. There were more than 1.2 billion views of video content every day on Twitter during the past year, which more than doubled the number of views from the previous year. Those tweets coupled with video received 10 times the engagement that tweets with no video received, and Promoted Tweets with accompanying videos are known to result in a savings of at least 50% on cost-per-engagement.In the early months of this year, Twitter has made available a number of new tools which are intended to maximize video engagement. One of these helps publishers become more aware of the specific times of day that people are most likely to be engaged with video content. Given the fact that it has historically been difficult to nail down the timing of engagement and viewership on Twitter, this has proven enormously useful to advertisers.While it remains difficult to predict when B2B marketers and members of their target audience might be online, this is at least a step in the right direction provided by the platform. From the moves, Twitter has made during the past year and early in this year, it appears obvious that the platform is deeply committed to promoting video content as a means for marketing and advertising personnel to get their message conveyed to followers.

Video on LinkedIn

Since LinkedIn is the number one social media platform for B2B lead generation, it's very important how the company handles video content. Last summer, LinkedIn made a huge commitment to video by launching its new video feature for brands. Its live streaming video service was made available early this year, emphasizing the platform's commitment to live video.While LinkedIn Live is not yet available to everyone, since it's still in beta test mode, it's safe to say that this new feature will soon be rolled out to the masses, and will enjoy considerable usage. There are, of course, some pros and cons to the real-time video when you're involved with content marketing, but it's hard to beat the authenticity, accessibility, and engagement offered by the feature.It is anticipated that LinkedIn's vision for the video, especially live video, is to have it used extensively for product announcements, major conferences, Q&A sessions, awards ceremonies, earnings calls, and a number of other events organized by mentors and influencers. This is ideal content for B2B audiences, which makes it highly probable that LinkedIn Live will become a very successful feature soon after it is fully rolled out to the general public.

Summing it all up

While it is always difficult for B2B marketers to stay abreast of changes on the social media platforms they do business on, anyone who is conscientious about following specific developments is always better equipped to reach their target audiences. At present, the most significant takeaways regarding video content on social media platforms can be summarized fairly succinctly.On Facebook, a video is still king, but the platform's commitment to private messaging bears watching for the future of video. Twitter is definitely increasing its commitment to video, especially in the wake of its serious promotion of live video last year, and it's the commitment to enhancing the advertiser's toolkit. LinkedIn is going all-in on live video and is offering a wide assortment of intriguing possibilities for B2B content in the very near future.