As a marketer, your Instagram strategy for B2B clients should include video content to drive audience engagement successfully.
With over one billion active users, Instagram can be a vital marketing channel for your brand and an excellent opportunity to build a loyal following that can help your B2B business grow. But don’t be on Instagram just for the sake of being on Instagram — you need to do it right!
On average, people watch 18 hours of online video per week, making video one of the most successful content mediums. However, an audience’s attention span is only 8-seconds long. This makes it all the more challenging to capture and retain your audience’s attention.
A pivotal part of your B2B Instagram strategy and knowing how to use Instagram for B2B marketing is of course, the content. You’ll need engaging, well-thought-out content to elevate your brand story and help you connect with customers, followers, and employees alike. And based on consumer preference data, we know that when it comes to content — video is king.
By carefully crafting video content that aligns with your company’s goals and your audience’s interests, you can use video to communicate value to your audience.
Keep reading to learn why and how to use video for your Instagram B2B strategy.
1. Instagram B2B videos boost lead generation through education
COVID-19 has heightened the need to do everything from home and look for new, innovative ways of learning. This is where Instagram video comes into play as it offers the perfect format for educational content — with 83% of video marketers agreeing that video helps them with lead generation.
Why not educate your current, and potential, customers with ‘snackable’ videos that help them solve challenges, understand new topics, or accomplish goals related to your area of expertise? Short videos effectively help your target audience quickly gain an understanding of the topic without having to commit a lot of time.
Recent studies show that 84% of people have decided to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video and 79% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy or download a piece of software or app by watching a video.
How do you create engaging content at scale? We took to Instagram with a video that educates those who may be hesitant around how to create effective, short videos:
Remember: B2B decision-makers are people just like you; we all want to buy and learn from people we relate to. So, humanize your brand by gearing your Instagram marketing B2B content’s voice, images, and colors towards people so that it speaks to your target audience.
Video is the perfect way to do this. Sharing authentic glimpses into your company’s culture, values, and employees gives your future customers the chance to understand and know your company on a deeper level and help them form a real connection with your brand.
But you don’t always need to reinvent the wheel — here are some Instagram B2B post ideas on how you can repurpose content to captivate your audience.
2. Your Instagram B2B strategy must take advantage of video’s impressive engagement rates
According to TrackMaven, content shared on Instagram has the highest average engagement rate across most industries. Additionally, there is a strong relationship between the number of followers and audience engagement with B2B social media content.
The time spent on a post increases its engagement rate, too. People are twice as likely to share videos with their friends than any other type of content, making video the best type of Instagram for B2B content to share to ensure the highest rate of audience engagement.
Your Instagram B2B marketing strategy should include different types of videos. But prize quality over quantity, and remember that your followers have an eight-second attention span. The shorter the video, the better, but make full use of those 8 seconds. Equally, your audience will engage better if you create content on a regular basis, so be consistent in publishing new videos.
In 2021, customer testimonials will be one of the most effective tools for marketers. Why not stand out in the crowded digital landscape by turning your text reviews into dynamic, eye-catching videos? By repurposing them into a visual format, you have the opportunity to increase the engagement, particularly with those who prefer to consume content in this format.
Bloomberg turned some key points from their article on methane and fracking into a short video that has been viewed over 100k times — engagements they may have missed with only written content!
Another powerful method to drive engagement is to position your brand as a thought leader (and highlight your brand’s values) by posting content on a specific interest, e.g. social issues such as Pride Month, highlighting female creators for Women’s History Month, or against racism. This also opens up opportunities to include related hashtags to improve the reach of your posts.
The role of video is just as crucial in gaining and maintaining an audience at the top as well as the bottom of the marketing funnel. Read our guide to learn how to impact every stage of the marketing funnel with an Instagram video.
3. Instagram videos influence Gen Z when making business buying decisions
71% of Instagram’s one billion monthly active users are under 35, making it the perfect platform to reach Gen Z (those born between 1996 and 2010). Also known as ‘the E-learning generation’ or ‘iGen,’ this generation grew up using the internet, and most don’t remember a time without it.
iGen’s need for easy-to-consume information means they are used to looking for quick answers online. This leads them to being drawn towards short, well-crafted video content.
Increasing your brand visibility and engagement with Gen Z, who have now fully entered the workforce and are making or influencing buying decisions, can help people relate more to your brand and you as a possible solution.
As a marketer, your brand’s engagement score on Instagram is often more important than your follower count. And the key to increasing engagement is to give your users something to interact with. With Gen Z as your target audience, your Instagram business videos should focus on video content that drives engagement, such as sharing stories and advice, asking questions, or providing calls to action.
One option is real-time content such as live video streaming that is unfiltered and 100% authentic. It highlights the human aspect of your business while allowing potential customers to interact and connect with you and each other.
Gen Z, like everyone else, loves stories. So another option is to share yours! Describe why and how you got started, allow them to ask questions and tailor your responses to them. You could even run a mini quiz and offer a prize to those who get the correct answers.
Develop your B2B Instagram strategy today
Holding off from including video on Instagram in your marketing strategy means you’re missing opportunities, which is why the best approach is to simply get started!
Looking for a few more Instagram tricks to elevate your company’s online presence? Here are 8 Instagram growth hacks everyone should know about.
The most important element to take away is to carefully plan your Instagram B2B strategy. Whether you create How-To videos, use branded hashtags, or implement other approaches with Instagram B2B best practices, remember that video is the most powerful tool to make your Instagram B2B marketing incredibly effective.
Join 15K+ subscribers reading our emails every week!
