In just a few short years, content marketing has become an imperative for demand generation teams. But continuing to make content engaging and exciting to rise above the noise is a constant challenge. Adding video marketing to the marketing mix is a great way to stand out. Video used to be an expensive, time-consuming media, but platforms such as Vidyard have changed that.
In this episode of DemandGen Radio, David talks with Tyler Lessard, CMO of Vidyard, about how to get started in video creation and the benefits of using a platform such as Vidyard for creating, publishing, personalizing and tracking the impact of your video content.
David: Describe the genesis of Vidyard.
Tyler: We started the company in 2009 as a video production agency helping businesses create and produce video content. We soon noticed our clients had an appetite for analytics and data behind the videos, so we started helping customers understand and prove how content contributes to revenue. We were the first agency selling video production with a guarantee about how many people would watch it, and how that played into the pipeline. So it evolved into a platform for helping businesses generate more value from video content.
David: In the past several years, there’s been a trend toward video adoption. What was the tipping point that made video mainstream?
Tyler: About five or six years ago, video was becoming more popular with B2C companies with the rapid rise of social. But it was still a bit early for B2B companies to look at video as a serious component of the marketing mix. We saw it developing—it was a way to create a better customer experience, and connect with customers on emotional level in the digital age. Now users are demanding video more and more—20 billion videos are played back through YouTube and Facebook every day, and it’s becoming an expected content medium for people in their personal and professional lives. B2B companies are recognizing that they can use video at various points throughout the buying journey, such as bringing people into the funnel or as an education tool for conversion.
David: Why use a video platform such as Vidyard as opposed to public platforms like YouTube?
Tyler: YouTube is an important part of the marketing mix, but when it comes to hosting videos on your website or using it in email marketing, it has some shortcomings. It falls short on the branding experience, for example. Also, there are some videos you might want to keep private or exclusive. In terms of analytics, YouTube gives you insight into the number of viewers, but you don’t know who they are or how to tie them back to corporate initiatives. Platforms such as Vidyard help you understand who is watching your videos and track those viewers back to your marketing and sales systems, to understand how different videos are contributing to the pipeline. Those analytics are important for optimizing the performance of your videos, knowing what’s driving business, and continually improving as you develop new content.
David: How has the Vidyard platform has evolved in the last years?
Tyler: There are three areas I’m excited about because they’re starting to drive incremental value for customers beyond analytics and hosting. The first is creating interactive experiences—we’re embedding interactivity within videos such as survey questions, annotation overlays or forms from Marketo or other systems. This takes video to the next step by tying it directly into lead generation.
The second is personalization—weaving the individual person’s name, company logo and other information into the video itself. Doing so creates an engaging and memorable experience that encourages higher click-through rates to drive real demand generation results. Some of our clients are seeing 5-10X increases in click-throughs on those emails.
The third area is content creation. We have a tool called Viewed It that makes it really simple to record a quick personal video within your email program and send it, then be notified when the recipient watches it. It tells how long they watched it, which provides insight into the level of engagement. That way Sales can prioritize who they call.
David: What’s been working for Vidyard in terms of demand generation programs?
Tyler: Over the last year or two we’ve focused on creating hard-hitting campaigns, the kinds of content campaigns that stand out and get people to react. We sent out a video marketing maturity assessment tool that asked a few questions about how they’re using video, and provided information based on their responses about how they can progress. It helped people understand how they stack up to peers and next steps for moving forward. It was very successful in engaging our audience and qualifying leads.
David: What advice do you have for listeners getting started with video production?
Tyler: Don’t use budget as an excuse not to do it. We started making it simple for Sales reps to record a quick message and sent it to a client via email—talking to clients instead of typing it in. Seeing and hearing the actual person helps create empathy with the recipient. You don’t have to develop a big campaign—you can start with a quick whiteboard video, for example. Those can be powerful and useful, but don’t require special equipment or take more than an hour to produce. The goal is to engage customers and prospects with experiential, multisensory content. Until recently, marketers have relied a lot on automation and we’ve lost the human connection. Video content is a way to get that back.
About DemandGen Radio
DemandGen’s PodCast Series features interviews with top industry experts, thought leaders, authors, marketing technology firms and senior marketing leaders from around the world about their methods and technologies for high-performance marketing. A replay of the full podcast with Tyler Lessard at www.DemandGenRadio.com.
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