Most early-stage B2B companies hesitate to venture into video marketing since they think it is time consuming and requires a lot of investment. While this is not completely wrong, there are a few ways in which you can make your B2B video marketing efforts lean and much cheaper than you think.

In this article, we dive deep into this topic and discuss some of the tricks and tactics that will help you keep your costs low. We will cover:

• The different types of videos B2B businesses can create

• Hardware and software tools you need to create videos

• Lean video marketing techniques

So let’s start. Shall we?

B2B video marketing – different types of videos

When it comes to the type of videos a B2B business can create, the possibilities are endless. It will also depend on the industry you are in. But broadly speaking, following are the different kinds:

1. Product/solution explainer videos – These videos give an overview of a business’s products or solutions. They talk about features, benefits, and key differentiators that help the solution stand out from the rest. For example, if you are selling a robot, your explainer would cover its functions, intelligence levels, the productivity & convenience it offers, etc. It will also show how the robot performs its intended tasks.
2. Corporate video – This video aims at covering everything about a company including vision, mission, capabilities, differentiators, etc., all in a single short video that is typically under 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Demo video – This is mostly applicable to product companies. Whether you are selling software or hardware products, the demo video will focus on showcasing how the product delivers its benefits in actual use cases or environments.
4. Educational/how-to videos – As the term suggests, these are videos that walk your users through tips, how-to guides, industry trends, or anything of value to your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).
5. Product/solution guides – These are videos that talk about how your customers and prospects can use your solution to the best of their advantage. They can be used as presales or post-sales tools.
6. Webinars, video podcasts, or online events – Sometimes you might want to stream your webinar through platforms like LinkedIn or YouTube which can later be shared with or accessed by users interested in the content.
7. Company culture/BTS (Behind The Scene) videos – From celebrating employee achievements to festivals and key milestones (like funding or new revenue achievements), there is a wide variety of company-related videos you can create.
8. Customer success stories/case studies – Here, you attempt to establish your credibility by sharing how you made a positive business impact on a customer. This could also have one or more of your customers sharing a positive note about you.

Lean video marketing techniques

Why do many of us think that video marketing is expensive? Following are some of the reasons:

• It requires specialized equipment and a professional studio setup.
• You need to have an in-house video editor who comes at a hefty paycheck.
• Licenses for video editing software are expensive. The need for using multiple software can also add to the cost.
• Purchasing stock images, videos, and audio can be expensive.
• Professional voice-over artists charge a bomb.

If you are looking to create a ‘perfect’ video that can compete with TV and brand advertisements, you might need all of the above. But the reality is that you don’t need your videos to look fancy for them to add value to your customers and prospects. As long as your content is valuable, your video marketing efforts will pay off.

This is not to say that you ignore production quality completely. Only that it is possible to do video marketing without a heavy budget.

So, what is the BIG IDEA that I am talking about?

It’s creating long-form content that can be repurposed into smaller bits. This can be done in two ways:

1. Creating your own long-form video content by hosting something like a webinar or a LinkedIn live.
2. By appearing as a guest on other podcasts or events.

The first one is pretty straightforward. You make an effort once in a 2 month or a quarter to create long-form video content in the form of a webinar. You then cut that into smaller snippets and promote them on platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn.

The second tactic is more of an unconventional one (and something I use a lot on Skalegrow’s YouTube channel). You can resort to this method particularly when you don’t have your own podcast or video creation routine. This involves you appearing as a guest on other podcasts and video interviews where you share your thoughts as an expert in your niche. This can be done by your CEO or any senior leader/SME (Subject Matter Expert).

This technique comes with numerous advantages such as:

• You don’t need to have your own show or platform to create content and hence do not have to worry about the logistics behind holding a session or event. The host will take care of all of this for you.
• Your effort is only needed in preparing for the session. All the post-production tasks will be done by the host (You might have to do some editing for it to be used on your channel or social media handles).
• The host or the person you collaborate with will promote the content for himself/herself, which in turn gives you free promotion.
• If you have permission from the host, you can upload the video content on your YouTube channel.

The key here is to start small by trying to collaborate with tier 2 or tier 3 creators who would be excited to have you as a guest. I discuss this method in detail in one of my articles. I strongly recommend that you give it a read. Here is the link:

Micro-Influencers: The Untapped Gem In B2B Marketing

The beauty of this method is that it is easily scalable. Once you create one piece of video content that is 30 to 40 minutes long, you will have enough material to be repurposed into videos as well as shorts. You will be able to create 5 to 6 video snippets and 20+ shorts from a single video. With this, you will never run out of video content ideas.

For further reading refer to this article: Lean B2B Video Marketing – Strategies And Approaches

Lean video marketing tools – hardware and software

The thing with video marketing is that you can do it by spending several hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars or by operating very lean. The former involves setting up a professional studio environment and purchasing expensive equipment and hiring highly experienced people. On the other hand, the latter approach attempts to produce almost the same results at a much lesser cost.

Since the focus of this article is lean video marketing, let us discuss what a lean marketing hardware and software stack would look like.

Hardware for lean B2B video marketing

Following are the different types of equipment you need for lean B2B video marketing:

• Camera: If your laptop has a decent camera, you can use it. However, it is recommended to use a web camera for a slightly better quality (this would cost somewhere around $130).
• Lighting: If you have natural lighting in your workspace that falls on your face, nothing like it. A normal lighting in a room rightly oriented towards you will also work. If not, you can purchase additional lighting for as little as $50 to $100.
• Microphone: A decent headphone with an inbuilt microphone does the job. However, if you wish to go for better audio quality, consider buying something like a Blue Yeti mic that would cost around $130.
• Backdrop: If you can’t set up a  proper backdrop in your room, you can go with a green screen. This would also make post-production editing easier. A good green screen would come at a cost of about $50.

Software for lean video marketing

Videos can be created for cheap using the following tools and software:

• Editing: You can use Canva (the pro version is just $50 per year) for basic editing needs. If you are using a  Macbook, the iMovie app is also a good choice.
• Video recording: To get good quality video, I recommend going with tools like Riverside or Restream. Their pricing starts at $15 per month. You can also consider using their free version if you are tight on budget. But that of course comes with limited features (and mostly a watermark).

In the case of software too, you can slowly scale as you go. For editing, you can use apps like Photoshop or Adobe Premiere Pro. If you want to take your video creation to the next level, you can use AI tools like Descript or Veed.

Is creating repurposed videos enough?

While the method we discussed is scalable, making it big with video marketing will still need dedicated efforts, especially on YouTube. With so much competition and content already out there, relying on one form of content alone will not take you far. At some point, you will have to start focusing on creating more professional videos. However, you can follow the principle of lean video marketing there as well to some extent.

For example, when you create stock-based videos, keep the script and messaging simple. Have a look at the below corporate video of Skalegrow that was created with this idea.

In addition, if you are not creating a high volume of videos, you can consider outsourcing the activity and need not hire a full-time video editor, or even a content writer. If you are outsourcing, you also don’t have to worry about the tools and infrastructure required for video creation.

Lastly, once you are kind of used to making videos in a lean manner and start seeing some traction, that’s when you need to think about creating videos that are more complex and time consuming to make. Go back to the video types section to learn the different types of videos you can create for your B2B business.

Skalegrow – a new age B2B video marketing agency

We are living in a world where attention spans are reducing. Being highly visual in nature, videos are a great way to address this challenge. There was a time when videos were not as important for B2B businesses. Not anymore.

Most successful B2B businesses use video today to communicate their value proposition, talk about their products, educate their audience, and more. Skalegrow specializes in helping B2B companies do these effectively with the following differentiators:

• We focus on understanding your products and solutions first and then convert them into engaging videos.
• We offer a full package including topic ideation & planning, video scripting & storyboarding, video editing, adding professional voice-over & background music, etc.
• We also help with YouTube SEO in addition to providing the video title, description, and hashtags to help your content rank on top on YouTube.

So, if you are looking for a partner to work like your extended marketing team to create compelling videos, check us out. Learn more about our video marketing services here: B2B video marketing services.

About the author

Naseef KPO is the Founder and CEO of Skalegrow. He comes with rich experience across multiple areas of B2B marketing including content marketing, demand generation, SEO, account-based marketing, marketing analytics, revenue attribution, marketing technology, etc. He writes thought-provoking and relevant articles on The Skalegrow Blog and his weekly LinkedIn newsletter Elevate Your Marketing.

Prior to starting Skalegrow, Naseef led large marketing teams in multi-million dollar B2B organizations where he made significant contributions to the topline growth of the business. He has also appeared on numerous podcasts where he shared his thoughts on trending marketing topics such as the application of AI in marketing, startup marketing, ABM, and B2B content marketing, just to name a few. Being the founder of Skalegrow, he is currently focusing on helping its clients stay ahead of their competition by using innovative yet practical marketing tactics.

You can connect with Naseef KPO on LinkedIn.