How to increase your ROI with short-form video in B2B marketing

Short-form video is for all marketers – not just B2C marketers

When we think of short-form videos, many of us probably think of TikTok, where the format first gained worldwide attention, or maybe Instagram, where over 2.35 billion people daily interact with Reels (Instagram's short-form video feature). But short-form video can be used by any marketer, whether B2B or B2C, on any social media platform – even LinkedIn.

Whilst LinkedIn doesn’t (yet!) have a feature for short-form video content, such as Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, the format lends itself well to this platform too and can be used in both paid ads and organic posts. After all, marketing, even B2B marketing, is made for people – and people’s psychological response to content doesn’t fundamentally change just because they come across it whilst at work. Even on LinkedIn, video ads get 30% more comments per impression on average than non-video ads.

Our top tips for B2B video ads

So, how do you create a short-form video that engages our audiences and drives results? What do you need to keep in mind? And what should you avoid? To help you through it, we have listed our top tips for video ads.

Know your objectives and set KPIs

It sounds obvious, but before you dive into creating anything, you need to know your objectives and decide what KPIs to track. Do you want your video to spur conversation? Or drive traffic to your website? Or perhaps you want to generate leads? Your objectives will guide what type of video you create.

Do your research

As with all marketing, whether we want to figure out how to create an engaging video or how to write effective social media ad copy, you need to know your audiences. So, do your research. Look into customer behaviour. Study what your competitors do and what works for them. Perhaps you have created videos before? If so, look at these and see if you can draw conclusions around what has worked best in the past.

Keep it – you guessed it – short. And to the point.

As the name suggests, short-form videos should be short. Whilst there’s not necessarily a golden time limit for a video on LinkedIn, we’d normally recommend keeping it under 60 seconds. You can even use micro-stories or videos under 15 seconds to get your message across – it’s all about getting to the point quickly.

Remember, the first five seconds of a video are crucial to draw the viewer in. So avoid lengthy opening sequences where you showcase your logo and a boilerplate on who you are.

Educate, inform, entertain

In a recorded webinar, LinkedIn’s Group Manager Jennifer Bunting shared the three key ingredients to a successful B2B video ad, saying that all B2B videos should aim to educate (address your audience’s pain points and offer a solution), inform (have a clear CTA to let audiences know what to do) and entertain (to make the video more engaging and memorable). We think that sums it up quite well!

Focus on people

For a video to be engaging, we must be able to relate to it. That’s why a video featuring people will probably get more engagement than a video featuring infographics – it allows us to see ourselves in that person’s shoes or makes us feel like we’re talking to an actual person.

So, focus on people. This can be done even with a low budget, as close-ups of a person talking can be done almost anywhere, simply with a phone camera.

Show, don’t tell

Creating a video allows you to show something, rather than describe it with lots of text. So, take that opportunity and keep text to a minimum to engage your audiences and keep their attention. Preferably, if you include text in your video, this should only be a short phrase or sentence. No paragraphs and bullet points – keep it short and snappy.

Always ensure the video can be understood without audio

Did you know that 79% of videos on LinkedIn are consumed with the sound off? Never rely on speech in your video, unless you also provide subtitles. To get your message across, use engaging visuals and, if you feature real people in your video, focus on facial expressions and body language.

Don’t be afraid to use humour (yes, even for a B2B ad!)

Content is made for people. That’s why, even for B2B video ads, humour is a great tool for making the video engaging, relatable and memorable. Many brands are hesitant to bring humour into their content, as they feel that it’s undermining their professionalism. This is not necessarily true. Done right, with the right tone and the right balance, it can be an effective way of humanising your content and connect with your audience.

In short…

Short-form video is one of the most successful ad formats on LinkedIn and, if done well, can help you increase ROI. As we have seen, this comes down to multiple factors, but the main thing to keep in mind is to keep it short, relatable and engaging, showing rather than telling your audience about your business, products or services. You may not get it right on the first try but don’t worry -  with marketing, experimenting is key to success, to help you optimise your ads over time.

⁽¹⁾ https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/short-form-video-trends