Marketers of B2B technologies have always dealt with distinct challenges, from the need to clearly—and succinctly—explain complex technical products and services to their customers and partners, to planning for sales cycles that can last years, to preparing for the fact that, by 2020, 85% of the customer’s decision-making will be completed without human interaction.

With its capability to communicate the nuances of complex technology and more readily explain product differentiation, video continues to rise as an appropriate and powerful medium for B2B marketers. Video in B2B environments has succeeded by giving clarity to very technical subject matter and rendering it significantly more accessible to potential buyers. In fact, a Content Marketing Institute report found that 70% of B2B marketing experts named video as more effective than any other form of content when converting qualified leads. In short, buyers are people, and people simply prefer watching something to listening to a wordy salesperson.

Visuals employing animated graphics and overlaid with commentary can break down the complexity of a product. Video can also more dramatically present successful casework and the stories behind real solutions that have been deployed in the field. So too can it more strikingly portray the differentiators between competing solutions. And, video can be delivered as part of a compelling web experience, with segments easy to navigate, playback, and share with others. Utilizing these features can make video into an automatic tool that almost—almost—does a salesperson’s work for them. (Or, less dramatically, can certainly aid in a complex sales cycle.)

But entering into video marketing as a B2B technology provider can be a high stakes proposition, and marketers there should proceed with caution (and a sizable amount of knowledge). A highly produced video can be prohibitively expensive for some B2B-focused businesses, with costs in the range of $5000-$6000 per finished minute when using a professional videographer. Video is also time intensive to script, produce, and edit, and must be kept up-to-date in a rapidly changing technical environment. Manipulating and hosting large quantities of video material also places heavy burdens on web and IT infrastructure.

Given the backdrop created by these realities, the big question becomes this: how do marketers of B2B technologies get the most bang for their buck out of their videos?

Constructing your video content strategy

The goal of any content strategy—video or otherwise—is to engage, inform, and entertain as a means of capturing the audience’s imagination around what a product can offer. Video, though, gives you a medium with the power to tell a great story and put on a show. Strategically, video content can serve marketers well for both outbound and inbound marketing initiatives, improving engagement and conversion by leveraging the eye-grabbing appeal of visual content.

Outbound marketing

Online video execution and promotion has generally become manageable for business of all sizes across paid outbound marketing channels over the past few years. Most marketers should now be making use of rich media advertising, where streaming video is baked into online ads (and perform better than static online ads). Not just for B2C companies and kitten enthusiasts, B2B viral videos are on the rise and can be very effective when well executed. And in a case of a rising tide raising all boats, adding video content can improve the performance of static ads, when a still image from a video – alongside a compelling call to action – is used to intimate that a richer video experience is available by clicking through.

It also often proves valuable to entice B2B-focused tech bloggers to join your marketing cause with the prospect of free and easy-to-use high-quality content. As bloggers push their content to readers and feed subscribers, having your video included in that content can work well to reach a relevant audience. A trusted blogger can even play a role in your video content in cases where bringing them in to provide commentary or their positive opinion makes sense in helping to sway your target buyers or partners.

Inbound marketing

Research by Acquity Group determined that a full 94% of B2B buyers research their purchasing decisions online, while statistics from Google find that 70% of B2B buyers are watching videos throughout their path to purchase. The lesson, boiled down to two words: be findable.

Here’s how you do it. Optimize your videos to naturally grab the attention of search engines. This includes every kind of search engine, from portals like Google and Yahoo! to video-indexing sites that pay special attention to titles, file names, tags and metadata, and even the spoken content of videos. Use your videos to make links to your website more plentiful and compelling (because they now offer the joy of watching something interesting). At the same time, work your videos into your paid search campaigns.

It’s also important that you put your videos in the hands of your customers. Once you earn a champion within the organization of a potential client, strengthening their persuasive powers with your most impressive promotional tools puts them in a good spot to win their business for you. Video is, generally, more of an interesting share than a white paper.

User Experience

The quality of the experience users receive when viewing your videos can be just as important as the content of the videos themselves, and because of this you need a high-quality video delivery platform. For speed, ease of use, and to minimize mistakes, your company video portal should use a single platform where all your videos can be uploaded. The chosen platform should be optimized for mobile, should have multi-language functionality to there’s no need for you to be translating videos in-house, and must support gating videos to guide viewers so that your company’s customer relationship management system can work its magic on them.

By harnessing the power of video, B2B technology marketers can convey complicating concepts with ease, wow customers with emotional storytelling and fantastic visuals, and boost the effectiveness of their outbound and inbound marketing campaigns. By transforming the business’s website into a theater and a blast-off pad for captivating video content, B2B brands can launch their messaging across the web using the format the vast majority of potential customers most prefer.

Fabio Matsui is the chief technology officer of Wire Stone.

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Small business owners wear numerous hats. One minute you’re the CEO, the next minute an assembly line worker, or an end-of-the-day accountant. As a result, your marketing efforts may not get as much attention as you would like. According to the 2017 Small Business Marketing Trends Report created by Infusionsoft, finding time for marketing is the top challenge small businesses will face in 2017.

Someone close to Sinead O’Connor recently reassured fans that the singer, 50, is “safe and not suicidal” after she posted a video about her mental health on Facebook, prompting many to believe that her life was potentially in danger. She said she posted the video because she is “one of millions” living with mental illness.

“I’m now living in the Travelodge motel in the arse-end of New Jersey,” she said. “I’m all by myself. And there’s absolutely nobody in my life except my doctor, my psychiatrist, the sweetest man on Earth, who says I’m his hero, and that’s about the only f–king thing keeping me alive at the moment…and that’s kind of pathetic.”

In the video, she slammed her family, saying, “And the people who are supposed to be loving you and taking care of you are treating you like s–t,” though it appears she’s on good terms with at least one person, who reassured fans that the “Nothing Comes 2 U” singer is not suicidal, despite her troubling message — though it remains unclear who posted the most recent update on Sinead’s wellbeing.

“Hi everybody, I am posting at Sinead’s request, to let everyone who loves her know she is safe, and she is not suicidal. She is surrounded by love and receiving the best of care,” the mysterious, unsigned post declared. “She asked for this to be posted knowing you are concerned for her. I won’t respond to any questions, so please understand. I hope this comforts those of you [who] were concerned.”

MORE: Aaron Hernandez’s Fiancée Reveals What His Prison Letters Were Like

When it comes to her mental health, Sinead has never been shy about sharing her struggle. In a 2007 interview with Oprah, she reveled that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2003, and confessed that she once attempted to take her own life. In a followup interview in 2014, she said that she consulted many other doctors, who didn’t think she was bipolar.

In late 2015, fans became increasingly concerned about her wellbeing after she posted a suicide note online. We hope Sinead finds the peace she so desperately deserves.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255.

For some reason — seriously, we don’t understand it — the Internet is obsessed with watching pimple popping videos, so we managed to track down another one for your viewing pleasure. You’re welcome.

The video below has been viewed nearly 3.5 million times, and it’s so nasty, but clearly, people are into it. One person commented, « Anyone else found themselves salivating towards the end? Anyone?… no? Just me? » Another chimed in, « Wow. This is art. » A third added, « This one was done PERFECTLY. So satisfying. » Gross.

WARNING: The following video may be considered graphic to some.

MUST SEE: This Guy Popped a Really Old Pimple and Honestly Today Is Canceled

MORE: This Man’s Wife Popped His 4-Year-Old Pimple

According to Sandra Lee, MD, a dermatologist in Upland, CA — who goes by the alias Dr. Pimple Popper — « I think watching popping is similar to seeing a scary movie or riding a roller coaster for some, » she told the Huffington Post last year. « You get a rush of euphoria and excitement. » Her YouTube and Instagram accounts each have more 1 million followers, so for those of you who are into watching the puss-y and goopy substances come out of people’s faces, she’s your girl. She posts videos of the gunk she pulls out from her patients.

Unfortunately — while satisfying (to some) — picking, squeezing, and popping can actually cause more harm than good. « In the moment, people feel like they have to do something, » said Amy Wechsler, MD, a dermatologist and psychiatrist in New York City. « The occasional popper or picker thinks they’re making themselves better — they think they’re helping. » In reality, however, people can irritate the skin, open wounds, and cause infections. In other words, STOP MAKING THESE DISGUSTING VIDEOS. Please and thank you.

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Fans were seriously concerned for Sinead O’Connor after seeing her latest Facebook video, where she detailed her struggle with being suicidal and begged her family to reach out to her — though now, according to her account, the singer is « safe. » The 12-minute long video was uploaded on Aug. 3, 2017, and was allegedly filmed inside a New Jersey-based hotel.

“Hi everybody, I am posting at Sinead’s request, to let everyone who loves her know she is safe, and she is not suicidal,” the post read. “She is surrounded by love and receiving the best of care. She asked for this to be posted knowing you are concerned for her. I won’t respond to any questions, so please understand. I hope this comforts those of you were concerned.”

MORE: Blac Chyna Makes a Suicide Confession About Rob Kardashian

Robert Kaiser, the captain of the South Hackensack Police Department, confirmed that Sinead was not in her hotel room when they went to conduct a welfare check. Fans immediately grew worried after she revealed in this video, “If it was just for me I’d be gone. Straight away back to my mum — because I’ve walked this earth alone for two years now as punishment for being mentally f–king ill and getting angry that no one would f–king take care of me.”

Sinead has been open about her struggles with suicidal thoughts in the past. Back in November 2015, Life Style reported that she shared a suicide note on her same Facebook account. Six months later, she went missing while on a bike ride in Chicago, IL. Fortunately, she was found safe by authorities after both of these instances. For her own sake, we hope she is able to reconnect with and lean on her family members.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

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Conversational videos drive traffic, boost engagement, and serve up information better than any other medium. Learn how to stand out in every step of the sales funnel with conversational video marketing when you join our latest interactive VB Live event.

Register here for free.

The video marketing dream is that you go viral and your brand is suddenly a household name. The reality is that B2B videos rarely go viral — but they’re an increasingly powerful marketing toolr that can also promote trust in your brand and your products. But only when done strategically, says Michael Ballard, senior manager of digital marketing at Lenovo.

Video marketing technology allows users to add video strategy to marketing automation platforms, unlocking the ability to reach and track users in the marketer’s favorite, most information-rich way. You can see who’s watching your video, exactly how long, add lead scoring and more.

“We saw a lot of great success not just in the information we can glean from it, but we also saw how highly engaging video is as a medium — how much people love to click the play button, and when they find really engaging content, how they interact with it,” says Ballard. “That’s where I really started to see what we could do with this.”

Users are particularly resonating with personalized video, Ballard says. His team experimented with a video piece in which they inserted each viewer’s name and company name as they watched. Playback graphs usually show that the majority of viewers drop off after the first second, probably because they hit play by accident, and then engagement holds steady throughout the video. Personalization put a kink in that curve.

“About three quarters of the way through — I’ve never seen this before — there was this little increase bump about three quarters of the way through,” Ballard says.

That bump happened in the third, personalized part of the video, showing that people were actually going back and rewatching that part. Further low-risk experimentation with long-lost, dusty parts of their customer database, such as inactive customers, also revealed astonishing results, he says. They used personalization in the video as well as in thumbnails they sent out, so that the first thing viewers saw was their name and a Play button.

“We had 4x the normal engagement rates with it,” Ballard says. “The power of those two things is like a magnet for someone to click on — it was incredible to see. ‘What? My name’s in a video?’ And they go and watch it.”

Another personalized video saw similar results, Ballard says. Within the first couple of weeks of video launch, it exceeded the number-one most-watched video they’d ever had. But they’re careful not to rely on a single personalization strategy.

“I think while it’s slightly gimmicky right now to just change out someone’s name, it’s kind of a fun gimmick and people watch it, but two or three times and then it’s old, ” Ballard explains.

They want to get smart with how they personalize, he says.

“Instead of just inserting someone’s name, why don’t we connect with Salesforce and customize that video content dynamically on the fly to align to that person’s industry, to align with that person’s open opportunities, to the interactions or lack of interactions that they’ve had digitally?” Ballard says. “We can start to dynamically create content that’s still unique and different to everyone, but not gimmicky. It’s actually realigning on the fly to that particular person’s needs, wants, and situation.”

Of course, the reach of video is huge, Ballard says. But nowadays, people pay to not see ads, and it takes a lot of energy and creativity to bust through natural skepticism and get on a customers’ radar, let alone become a worldwide phenomenon. You’ve got to be sharp, engaging, and you only have five seconds before someone hits the Skip Ad button.

How do you nail that tiny window of time, capture customer attention, and put your brand on their must-watch list? Register now for this VB Live event.

Don’t miss out!

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By watching this VB Live event, you’ll:

• Optimize your audience takeaways for video content
• Get tips from the savviest sales and marketing people on their video content strategy
• Focus your energy on the right distribution channels for your adverts
• Personalize video content to lock in the close

Speakers:

• Michael Ballard, Senior Manager Digital Marketing, Lenovo
• Todd Hartley, CEO, Wirebuzz
• Stewart Rogers, Director of Marketing Technology, VentureBeat
  

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This VB Live event is sponsored by Vidyard

According to one ill-informed retailer, nothing says “freedom” and “peace” more than wearing a t-shirt adorned with a bright, white swastika.

KA Designs, a European clothing company, has made it their mission to reclaim the Nazi symbol by marketing clothing with swastikas on them, which — to most people with a moral compass and a general knowledge of European history — was perhaps a poor design and marketing choice.

In a video posted on their Facebook page, the company explained their strategy for rebranding the symbol.

“The Swastika is 5,000 years old, it’s a symbol of peace,” according to text on the video. “It’s a symbol of love, it’s a symbol of life. But one day, Nazism. They took the swastika, rotated it by 45 degrees, and turned it into Hatred, and turned it into Fear, and turned it into War, and turned it into Racism and turned it into Power. They stigmatized the swastika forever. They limited our freedom.”

All of this is true. It is in the next part of the company’s statement, however, that things go awry.

The company argued that the “swastika is coming back, together with Peace, together with Love, together with Respect, together with Freedom.”

Reclaiming racist imagery and rhetoric isn’t a new trend. Following a Supreme Court ruling in June that struck down a law denying trademark protections for racial slurs, some companies requested to trademark the n-word as a way to “reclaim” the meaning of the word. But unfortunately for KA Designs, most people weren’t so willing to jump on the racist symbol reclamation train.

The Israeli Jewish Congress shut down the company’s marketing campaign. “It is obscene and disgusting that Teespring would seek to profit of this in the name of art, trying to turn this irredeemable Nazi symbol of hate and murder, into a symbol of ‘love and peace,’” IJC head Arsen Ostrovsky said on Facebook.

The Auschwitz Memorial Museum even vocalized their aversion to the designs. “You will not escape from the fact that [the] swastika was turned by Nazis into a symbol of racism, hate, antisemitism and mass murder,” the museum said in a statement.

People have even taken to Twitter to express their disgust with the promotion of the swastika.

Holy cow, what a bad idea! Nothing will ever make the swastika okay again, no matter what it used to mean. It’s been forever ruined. https://t.co/We5ryFtDBd

— Bill (@dadonymous) August 7, 2017

This is an offensive use of #Nazi imagery. Fashion can’t reclaim this symbol from #hate: https://t.co/URTrUTfGRe

— ADL (@ADL_National) August 6, 2017

The most jaw-dropping cluelessness I have seen in eons. Simply ghastly. https://t.co/31GFKpC9KZ

— Joel Griffith ن (@Solameanie) August 7, 2017

“We really like the symbol in its shape and aesthetics, and we would love to share the beauty of this symbol detached from the Hatred associated with it,” KA Designs told Dazed.

“The new meanings given to ‘our Swastika’ wouldn’t make any sense if not based on the previous ones. We want to promote love and peace to remind everyone that mankind can be better that what it currently is and was in the past.”

Despite their arguments for reclaiming the symbol, the brand later changed its design to feature a “no” symbol over the swastika just days after the collection was released. The brand’s decision to rework seems rather an absurd reaction to the controversy, seeing as they’re still trying to turn a profit off off of the Nazi-associated symbol.

Phone hype starts early for every brand, and this post’s for you, LG fans. The company employs Joseph Gordon-Levitt to host annual creative competitions that often involve participants filming something with an LG phone. This year, the two entities are collaborating again, and the recent video submissions feature an unreleased device we can only assume is the LG V30, which is likely going to be announced on August 31st. Shout-out to Droid Life for first spotting the phone.

This year’s competition ended on July 31st, and the submissions went live today. The stills match up with the outline of the phone that leaked from its supposed user manual last week. The image above shows off the phone’s dual cameras, like we saw on the V20, and its rear fingerprint sensor.

The key differentiating factor between this new phone and its predecessor is its reported OLED display, as opposed to LCD. We can see the rounded corners and its more minimal bezels below:

These images seem to indicate that the leaks are relatively accurate, even though they’re especially low quality. Congrats to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who got us to watch organic LG marketing materials.

 Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that’s taken over our lives.

The internet has given the world an opportunity to instantly educate itself.

August organizations such as Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com have cemented their website and Twitter presences and are there to help people learn new words. And to put words that emerge from web life into their dictionaries. 

The word sheeple, for example.

On Friday, however, one word moved many to run to Dictionary.com. It was the word fisk.

This verb emerged from a video the National Rifle Association posted to its Twitter account Thursday. 

The clip featured somewhat rightist personality Dana Loesch promising, among other things, that she and the NRA would fisk The New York Times. 

It took awhile to determine whether the word was fisk at all. Many heard a T rather than a K at the end. This was an understandable mishearing, as the hashtag that accompanied the NRA video was #ClenchedFistForTruth. 

Still, by Friday afternoon Dictionary.com reported on Twitter that fisk was its top search. 

Indeed, the trend toward fisk-enlightenment was considerable. « Searches for Fisk were up 7,643 percent week-over-week as of Friday afternoon, » Lauren Sliter, marketing manager for Dictionary.com told me.

Oddly, Loesch’s use of the word isn’t actually Dictionary.com’s first definition. That would be a reference to James Fisk, a 19th century American stock speculator, aka robber baron, sometimes referred to as « Diamond Jim. » 

Loesch’s use was, according to Dictionary.com, slang, meaning « to refute or criticize (a journalistic article or blog) point by point. »

The NRA video was itself subjected to some criticism. Here’s a sample, offered by commenter John Spartan: « I used to be a member of the NRA and shoot at the range in Fairfax. No more. You guys make normal gun owners look nuts with this rhetoric. »

The web too — especially sites like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit — gets criticized, for the way it can foment unpleasantness so swiftly. 

Some might find this video an example of this, though it’s really just a marketing exercise. Gun sales have dropped since President Donald Trump acceded to the presidency. 

I prefer to marvel at the number of people who, thanks to the NRA and Dictionary.com, have learned a new word. 

In bars all over America, people will turn to their friends over a large beer and say: « Let me just fisk your argument for a moment. » 

Just imagine how much better they’ll feel about themselves.

Updated Aug. 6 at 9:30 a.m. PT: To add comment from Dictionary.com.

HUNTINGTON – Barnes Agency, a Huntington-based full-service advertising, marketing and public relations firm, received 11 national Telly Awards in the 38th Annual Telly Awards competition, according to company officials.

With over 12,000 entries from all 50 states in the U.S. and five continents, the Telly Awards honor the very best of advertising film, video and commercials.

Among Barnes Agency’s awards, work produced for Cabell Huntington Hospital received six Bronze Awards in the competition for local market commercials – more than were awarded any other hospital in the nation, according to Jeffrey Barnes, president and CEO of Barnes Agency.

In addition, Barnes Agency received two Silver Awards for work produced for the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce, two Bronze Awards for South Texas Health System and one Bronze Award for West Virginia State University, according to Barnes.

« I am extremely proud of how our agency continues to produce national-quality, award- winning work year after year for the clients we serve, » Barnes said. « While we are most pleased with the growth and brand recognition that those we represent are achieving, it is without question the creative freedom that our clients provide us that allows for recognition such as this. »

Award-winning commercials produced for Cabell Huntington Hospital included three Bronze Tellys for their « Moving Neuroscience in the Right Direction » campaign, two Bronze Tellys for their « Cancer Doesn’t Have Me » campaign and one Bronze Telly for the « ER Pediatrics » commercial from their emergency services campaign.

The agency’s two Silver Telly Awards from the competition were associated with a long-format video produced for the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 125th anniversary celebration. The video, which focused on the Chamber’s 125 years of service to business and industry in Huntington and surrounding communities, was awarded in the non-profit and cinematic categories of the competition.

« This video not only provides a historical marker for our Chamber’s success and longevity, but also showcases the level of talent in video production that we have here in our region, » said Bill Bissett, president and CEO of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce. « It tells our story by incorporating the past, present and future of our organization and was showcased during our annual dinner. We appreciate the good work of Barnes Agency as well as their continued support as an active member of our Chamber. »

A commercial set produced for West Virginia State University was awarded a Bronze Telly in association with their « You’re Going to Love State » campaign.

« The awarding of this year’s bronze Telly during the 38th Annual Telly Awards marks the second consecutive year West Virginia State University’s television commercial has been recognized nationally, » WVSU President Anthony L. Jenkins said. « This recognition spotlights the hard work, dedication and quality Barnes Agency places in their product and their understanding of the businesses they represent. It is especially significant to West Virginia State University as Jeff Barnes . . . is an alumni of the University. »

Work performed for South Texas Health Systems’ Valley Care Physician Group received two Bronze Tellys for commercials spotlighting bariatric and spine surgery.

« We are extremely proud to be associated with Barnes Agency in achieving national recognition for the quality of our work, » said Christopher Sizemore, regional director and central system administrator for South Texas Health Systems’ Valley Care Physician Group Practice. « These awards speak to the culture of excellence in which we strive every day to care for our patients. We are pleased to partner with Barnes Agency as they share the same goal of excellence and quality in all they do. »

Telly Award entries do not compete against each other, but are judged against a high standard of merit, Barnes added.

To find out more about the Telly Awards, please visit www.tellyawards.com.

Barnes Agency is located at 949 Third Avenue in Huntington.

For more information, visit www.thebarnesagency.com online.

Follow reporter Fred Pace at Facebook.com/FredPaceHD and via Twitter at @FredPaceHD.

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