Even though YouTube has a global presence which continues to grow, surprisingly, there still seem to be B2B companies that aren’t on it. However, there are major companies that have found a place on YouTube. Major industry players like UPS, Cisco, HP, and more are grabbing their part of the pie and building a strong presence on there.
When it comes to opinions on this matter, views vary. Take, for example, the organization B2BMarketing, who views YouTube as a great asset and questions why more are not jumping all over this opportunity. On the flipside, others like MagnetVideo, find that YouTube has no place in B2B and give their reasons why.
Therefore, we will explore both sides of the argument and look at what both sides have to say. While not all agree, the companies that are jumping on YouTube are gaining from all it has to offer B2B marketers. In addition, it is another area for B2B freelancers to find client work.
YouTube For B2B … A Positive Stance
The organization eMarketer reports a lot of support for the growth in video investment. For example, they say online video is expected to grow 55% this year, and is the top format for content marketing. Given this, it is easy to see why B2B should consider moving in this direction.
In my own experience, I have an industrial machine supplier client that is on YouTube and reaping the benefits of it. However, let’s not stop there. Here are some general YouTube facts worth taking a look at:
- Over 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month
- Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
- More than 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
- 80% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the U.S.
- YouTube is localized in 43 countries and across 61 languages
- 100 million people take a social action on YouTube (Likes, shares, comments, etc.) every week
In light of the above statistics, you can be sure that a percentage of all this action is and can be grabbed up by the B2B arena.
A clear proof point of this is that according to a recent Forbes Magazine study, 65% of all business executives visit a company website after watching a video.
This an “earth-moving” statistic. It’s showing us that executives are, in fact, watching these videos. Furthermore, they are often visiting the website after viewing the video in hopes of getting more valuable information. There could not be a better statistic than this to clearly illustrate that YouTube is an effective marketing tool. In all, this is good news for B2B companies. Furthermore, it is also good news for B2B freelance copywriters, since it can translate into B2B writing jobs for companies and their YouTube presence.
The Flipside … A Negative Stance
In spite of the good points mentioned above, there are several points on the flipside to consider. One point is the issue of “corporate blocking” of YouTube. This was even a topic before the scandal with Procter & Gamble employees downloading 50,000 videos unrelated to work.
So “corporate blocking” is a real issue, but then think of the corporate executive who gets an email with a video link. She is out at lunch or perhaps on business travel, so she checks the video via her smartphone or personal tablet device. Again, a wall does exist in the corporate world, but it’s one that can be worked around.
Another issue to consider isproblems with streaming performance. If there are any connection difficulties or if a prospect is on a tablet device, again consider the lunch break scenario, and Wi-Fi is not available, then your marketing efforts will fall short since the video can’t be viewed.
If you aren’t spending significant money on YouTube, then you might findalack of support from YouTube when problems occur. Again, this can create a barrier in a company getting full benefits from their YouTube marketing efforts. However, this is not to say that all efforts will fall flat. If that were truly the case, then major companies would not be building a strong YouTube presence like they are.
While there is some validity to the drawbacks, the positives far outweigh these negative points.There are pluses and minuses in all walks of life; ultimately, it is all about how you optimize it.
Given this insight into YouTube for B2B, if you step in as a freelance copywriter with know-how and ideas, you will soar in this space.
What This All Means For You … The B2B Copywriter
As just stated above, there are pros and cons in all aspects of business and life. While there are good sides and bad sides to the idea of B2B companies building a YouTube presence, there are already companies that are ignoring the “bad” and diving in to the “good.”
This means that for you, the B2B copywriter, there is yet another place for you to prosper in client work, and that is helping companies with their YouTube presence. And, it is very clear that being the “go-to” copywriter for those who have yet to jump on the YouTube B2B train could be a fantastic opportunity and a fast-track option to B2B copy success. Or even growing your already existing business and taking it to the next level.
To further clarify this as a reality, in my own experience, I reached out to a video marketing agency with ideas and it INSTANTLY led to a variety of client work. Especially marketing communications work to help support already existing videos.
In short … move forward with confidence.
Plan, research, and take action … then thrive in the B2B YouTube space.
