Entering the video game can sometimes feel like a big play — but don't let it overwhelm you! Why not start off with bite-sized video tactics you can use across the customer journey? Plus, what if we told you that you already probably have a ton of videos you can start with right now?

Lindsay McGuire, Goldcast's Associate Director of Content and Campaigns, talked with Ramli "RJ" John, former Content Director at Appcues and current Founder of Delight Path, about the power of video and how B2B brands can maximize the value of their videos to reach folks across the customer journey.

The key takeaways from this convo include:

• Why video, why now?
• How to create a video strategy
• Remix your existing videos for maximum value
• Don't forget to tap into your team's talent
• Where to look for video topic ideas
• 10 Short-Form Videos To Try and Real-Life Examples

Plus, you can view the entire on-demand video below, if that's more your speed!

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RJ and Lindsay both attended HubSpot INBOUND 2024, where they noticed that a ton of the sessions centered around AI. That's not exactly surprising because AI has really taken the marketing world (and many others) by storm, streamlining tasks and making some jobs much easier.

Because of the onslaught of AI-powered written content, video has become a solid way to stand out on social and grab attention. This doesn't apply only to ToFu content, either, where you want people to notice you and pay attention to your offer. Try video with your current customers, too!

For example, if your customer success teams aren't getting a reply back from customers, you could try sending a personalized video snippet and see if that increases the reply rate. Video really encapsulates your brand and your specific culture in a way that other mediums can't, and people respond to that.

PS: Getting started with video doesn't have to require a huge investment. Use your phone to start and focus on the concept and story instead of the technical equipment! Plus, lean on repurposing to get the most value out of your existing content as well (more on that shortly).

How formal does a video strategy need to be? What if you're just getting started — do you even need a strategy at all?

First, do a pulse check with your leadership team around this. How invested are they in your video content? If they're not fully signed off on video yet, a couple of ideas:

1. Start out with a free tool like Goldcast Content Lab and play around with it to create videos, share them, and then start tracking results so you can present the ROI to company leaders. Starting small allows you to dip your toe in the video waters without committing a huge budget and a ton of resources to making videos.
2. Look at what your competitors are doing in the space, and present that information, as well as any observable results. If you can see that a competitor is putting out videos that are killing it on LinkedIn, communicate that! That's a good indication it's at least worth trying.

Next, think about your goal. Are you trying to boost sales, connect with prospects, reach out to customers, or something else? Where in the customer journey are you trying to grab attention?

Depending on your answer, you have different video options. For ToFu content, it's much harder to do 1:1 videos — just try to imagine sending a personalized, from-scratch video for every single email subscriber on your list. Not scalable! In these situations, you'll need to think broadly. 

However, the deeper you go into the funnel, the more personalized you can be. You can spend that extra time crafting a video in which you call someone out by name or offer a tip just for them. People love to feel special, and as you approach the bottom of the funnel, you can do that.

If you're already creating videos and want to make the most use out of them, time to play DJ and remix it up! (Note: If you're hosting any kind of events, you're already creating videos, whether you think of it that way or not. Repurpose them with these tips!)

LinkedIn is currently prioritizing vertical videos in a TikTok style feed in an effort to get folks more engaged on the platform. Capitalize on that! Take your webinar or event videos and slice them up into different formats like vertical and square videos that take up valuable real estate on social feeds.

Look for the important moments in a longer-form video. Cutting 15-60 second clips can really pique people's interest and get them interested in checking out the full version, whether that's a webinar replay or a podcast recording.

If you could use some inspo on which moments *hit* right, check out your fave comedians. They're performing in clubs or other venues, doing one-hour sets — but they're also pulling at least one interesting joke from that set and pushing it on Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, and other channels. That way, people discover the clip and start to go look for more info, whether that's tour info, the full video, or something else.

It's easy to think you need to add video experts and producers to your team in order to get video right — but it's far from the truth. It's possible you have a roster of talent that you aren't even aware of!

Lean into your team members' skill sets. If you have people who are great writers and it turns out they can write video skit scripts, let them do that. If there are others who are great at hosting webinars or podcasts, awesome! Allow them to use those talents.

When RJ worked at Appcues, he learned this firsthand. The team experimented with having folks share "talking head" style videos from members of the team, and they discovered that one staffer was a cosmetic YouTuber on the side. Another had a full-on side hustle as a video editor!

Simply asking what people are interested in and what other skills they have outside of the ones their job requires can reveal a lot and help you create more videos, faster.

RJ recommends looking two places for creative video ideas:

1. Ask your team. Ask people for their ideas! When Appcues launched a Mother's Day campaign, they started by asking the team what they should do to celebrate their audience. Someone suggested asking AI to write a song for the holiday and then having the team sing or rap it to the top 10 customers before posting on social.
2. Find inspiration outside of B2B. We know that many B2B brands are getting more creative, but there are still lots of ideas you can find elsewhere. It might be the shows you stream, your favorite YouTube channel, TikTok feeds, or something else — but check out what videos are speaking to you, and think about how you can recreate that for your customers.

Here are some brands that we recommend looking at for great video ideas:

• Clay
• HubSpot
• ClickUp
• Liquid Death
• Duolingo

Seeing how other companies fuel their content strategy can help start to get the wheels turning for you about how you can do the same. Liquid Death recently took all of their bad reviews and put them in a rap song. (We're sensing a trend here … do we all need to release rap videos 🤔) Unexpected, fun, and attention-grabbing, right? Exactly what you want your videos to be.

From "man on the street" chats to screen recordings, there are tons of short-form videos for you to try! Check out 10 of Lindsay's recs:

Now let's take a look at how videos can be used at different stages throughout the customer lifecycle. No better way to demonstrate good video content than to share videos!

A great way to get people's initial awareness is by making them laugh. In this video, RJ applied a video of a plane taking off to make fun of some companies' convoluted onboarding processes.

If you don't want to share a meme, another tip is to find videos online and reshare them with your own caption to make your own point. Or try GIFs! You don't have to create your own, either — just be sure to share with credit when relevant.

Here's a movie trailer style example from us:

And here's one we created using Content Lab to repurpose webinar content!

RJ shared the following video featuring Andrew Capland, a leader in the space, explaining why product adoption is so important:

Talking head videos like this are relatively easy to make and serve as powerful social proof. Because these videos don't take a lot of editing, they can be a great place to start!

Here's another Goldcast example explaining what multimodal content means and how it can help you reach your audience across platforms:

Here at Goldcast, multimodal is what we're all about, so providing video content around it helps nurture leads right along!

Let's look at some sales examples. Here's a video RJ created for a prospect. In the video, he's reviewing Patreon and giving some tips on how to improve the onboarding experience:

Again, these videos don't take a long time to make. If you dedicate an hour or so to doing them, you could potentially spin up 10+ in no time!

A screenshare is a good option for your post-sale customer phase. Many people prefer watching a simple walkthrough video versus reading a blog or having to contact customer service. So give them that helpful visual!

In this video, Ricky introduces new customers to Appcues. Adding that human touch to the welcome video can make a strong impression on customers and get them excited about using your product or service.

Want to see all of the video examples we covered in this talk? Watch the full replay below, and get ready to take notes on the fun, bite-sized videos you're going to create soon!

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