Video marketing can be an intimidating frontier.
Examples like Squarespace’s latest ad, featuring big-name actor Keanu Reeves and cinematic production quality, show us that big-budget B2B video can deliver on a grand scale.
However, abundant money and resources are not by any means necessities for creating impactful content in this category.
If you’re concerned that an underfunded video project will result in something amateurish that reflects poorly on your brand, that is totally understandable. But as you’ll see from the following examples, plenty of B2B companies have managed to produce awesome and highly effective video marketing assets without breaking the bank or enlisting Christopher Nolan to direct.
These Low-Cost B2B Videos Earned High Marks
“When American producers see my film, they think that I had a big budget to do it, like 23 million,” said Canadian director Martin Villeneuve in his 2013 TED Talk How I Made an Impossible Film. “But in fact I had 10 percent of that budget. I did 'Mars et Avril' for only 2.3 million.”
Isn’t that the goal? To make viewers believe what they’re watching was far more elaborate and expensive than it really was? Or at least to immerse them so much they don’t notice or care?
Check out these examples of lower-budget B2B videos that hit the mark, and perhaps you’ll uncover inspiration for an economical production that wows your audience:
VeriSign Introduces a Funny Character
Now a decade old, VeriSign’s “Cart Whisperer” campaign endures as a classic in the B2B video genre. This quirky fiction follows a character named Liberty Fillmore whose gift for communicating with shopping carts served to promote the online security company’s ability to reduce abandoned ecommerce carts. There’s nothing fancy about the video; you can almost see the string pulling the cart around. But therein lies the charm.
Risual Plays Up the Small-Budget Angle
This company profile — creatively titled “risual Corporate Video” — required no lavish staging or casting. The footage shows risual’s office and campus, with employees serving as the actors and extras. Snarky script-writing and a cheeky angle made this work a big success. The IT consulting firm not only ventures into the realm of thrifty video production, but fully embraces it. Note the boom mic “accidentally” dropping into view on occasion.
HubSpot Highlights Customer Success
When you’re able to feature customers with a genuine and authentic message, extravagance is unnecessary. HubSpot simply conducted interviews with the CEO and Director of Marketing for client Global Plastic Sheeting and let them tell their story. With a compelling hook out of the gates (“If it weren’t for HubSpot, we wouldn’t be doing this right now because our company would be out of business”) and plenty of reinforcing stats, this video brings persuasive substance without needing any bells and whistles.
Reltio Captures Its Audience Through Customisation
Another seemingly straightforward clip from the data management platform Reltio, but with a twist: Several moments in the video are personalised for its recipient (in this case, Katie Watson at Keyboardly). Considering the proven engagement benefits of tailored content in today’s digital environment, this approach makes plenty of sense, and it’s done here in a scalable way. According to Vidyard, the campaign produced 10 times the clickthrough rate of Reltio’s established norm.
Taulia Tells a Quick Story
In a mere 38 seconds, Taulia illustrates the exaggerated downside of late vendor payments through a series of mishaps that ends with a business exec homeless on the streets. No special effects or high-end editing were required to create this fun bite-sized ad.
Grasshopper Gets Animated
Of course, another option is to eschew real actors and settings entirely. This empathetic and aspirational offering from Grasshopper, a virtual phone system provider, engages viewers through animated text and effects with strong narrative progression. With more than a million views, the content definitely got noticed. There are numerous tools and templates available online that can help you create these kinds of videos more easily than you might expect.
Dissolve Digs Into Its Own Archive
We close out this list with one of our absolute favourites. Entitled “This is a Generic Brand Video,” Dissolve’s clever montage ties together stock footage from its library of licensed clips to demonstrate the utility of its product. It’s funny, interesting, and useful. It’s also a reminder to think about ways you can incorporate your own solutions into your video marketing creation.
B2B Video Marketing Can Succeed On Any Budget
The examples above, and many others, prove that if you’ve got a strong message, a well-conceived script, and enthusiastic participants, you can create stellar B2B video without the need for extensive resources.
So what are you waiting for? Put your marketing in motion and share your next production with a professional audience on LinkedIn. We’ve even got a bunch of B2B video ideas to get you started.
For more guidance on all things B2B video, download our comprehensive guide: How to Stand Out with B2B Video in 2018.
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