7 Video Distribution Channels for B2B Brands

When it comes to video marketing, where you place your videos is just as important as actually creating them. After all, people won’t be able to watch your content if they have no idea where to find it. Worse yet, you might be missing out on key benefits by omitting certain channels from your video marketing strategy.

That’s why you need a video distribution strategy. This type of plan essentially comes down to choosing a handful of distribution channels that you believe will collectively benefit your business. Mapping out your distribution plan will also allow you to align the right video content with the right audience.

Choosing your business’s video distribution channels should be based on a combined consideration of lead potential and overall engagement. We’ve put together a list of seven channels that can help you with both.

Website video distribution channels

Your website should serve as the epicenter of all your content distribution efforts because it helps generate leads with greater efficacy than other channels. The video content on your site only relates to your brand, and there are search engine optimization (SEO) benefits to consider.

Optimize your videos properly for search to drive video traffic to your own website instead of a third-party video distribution platform. Once on your site, users should be met with different types of video content that speaks directly to the various pages they’re navigating and builds more interest around further exploring your brand.

1. Homepage

Your homepage video should clearly and succinctly illustrate what your business actually does. Visitors shouldn’t have to jump to other pages of your site to find out what you’re about. Create a one- to two-minute video explaining the key features of your product or service and how it resolves issues your audience is facing.

In terms of the actual video format, you’ve got options. Some businesses include an autoplay function for their homepage video, which can look good — but it can also cause your site to slow down. For us here at Wistia, our experience running an autoplay video on our homepage yielded less-than-favorable results.

Without an autoplay homepage video, we saw a 53% increase in organic traffic to the homepage, a 7% increase in sign-ups, and a 4% improvement in exit rate. While every business’s experience with homepage videos is different, sticking to a video that needs to be clicked to play has worked well for us.

2. Blog

When the word “blog” comes up, many marketers automatically default to thinking “written content.” We would never want to throw that idea away, but we do want to add to it and explore how we can mix things up by using video.

Adding video to your blog posts brings more of those juicy SEO benefits, and it boosts the overall value of your written content by adding visuals. Instead of simply replacing written content, video should complement it. For example, a written article about HTML coding basics can be paired with a video that shows the coding in practice.

“Adding video to your blog posts brings more of those juicy SEO benefits, and it boosts the overall value of your written content by adding visuals.”

Your videos don’t always have to be in-depth explanations. You can repurpose short B-roll montage videos, announcement videos, gifs, or “pull quote” videos into the mix of your blog posts. Videos of this nature can help increase engagement while not diverting too much time or attention away from your written content.

3. Help Center

Most B2B businesses have a help center page on their website that users can visit if they’re having trouble with something. However, in many cases, the written explanations that serve as solutions can be just as difficult for end-users to make sense of as the original issue they’re having.

Instead, embrace a “show, don’t tell” approach with your help center content by adding video. Embed explainer videos alongside common customer inquiries and issues and show customers how to solve a problem step-by-step. Think of it as setting them up with a personal tutor who takes the time to show the process and break down all the pieces. These video explanations are often a much faster and more effective way to help struggling customers.

“Embrace a “show, don’t tell” approach with your help center content by adding video.”

Here’s an example of how we’ve embedded explainer videos in our help center at Wistia:

Direct marketing video distribution channels

People voluntarily sign up to your email subscriber list or engage in conversations with your brand chatbot. Considering this willingness, these channels are a prime opportunity to use video to boost conversions and click-through rates (CTRs).

4. Email

To drive lead generation through your email marketing campaigns, it isn’t enough to include a video that simply plays within one of your emails. If you really want to get more eyes on what your business is doing, link the video to your website, so users are directed to watch the video there when they click. Afterward, viewers can check out other content on your site — including product pages and your blog.

To draw an email subscriber’s attention, include a compelling video thumbnail in your message. By clicking it, recipients can view the full video on your site. Wistia even gives you the ability to A/B test those thumbnails to see how effective they actually are.

5. Chatbot

With more businesses investing in conversational marketing tools, implementing video resources within a brand chatbot is a great way to pique users’ interest in your product or service.

Whether you host your chatbot directly on your site or on a social network, set up your bot to share video resources when answering inquiries. One way to do this might be to have your bot send users a video showing all your product features instead of simply listing them out when a user asks about them.

“Set up your bot to share video resources when answering inquiries.”

The same principle applies to using chatbots to troubleshoot user issues. Send over a video from your help center to solve a problem for the user within the chat itself. Including the visual demonstration video will likely reduce the resolution time and leave the customer feeling satisfied.

Social media video distribution channels

Hosting videos on your business’s social media pages can help drive overall brand awareness and reach. For B2B brands, you need to be especially selective about the social media video distribution channels you choose. Focus on social media platforms that have the biggest potential to bring in new business because of their built-in audience or overall reach.

For B2B brands, you need to be especially selective about the social media video distribution channels you choose.

6. LinkedIn

Want to share videos that are specifically tied to your business’s field of expertise? LinkedIn is the best place to do so.

LinkedIn is a great social media channel to post product-related videos since there are so many different company stakeholders on the platform who may need your product. Underlining your product’s value in a short one-to-two-minute video can grab a stakeholder’s attention and potentially generate a lead.

Company culture videos on LinkedIn can also get viewers to notice your brand and see how it stands out from competitors. LinkedIn users tend to share workplace culture content on their personal pages, so the platform is especially ideal for sharing that type of information.

7. YouTube

As the largest and most universally recognized video platform on the Internet, YouTube will get your videos the widest potential audience exposure of any distribution channel.

If your business already has a loyal YouTube channel following, leverage your success and create actionable video content that ties back to your website. Add Calls to Action (CTAs) with website links in the video description and promote other site-based content within your video.

Remember, there are some fundamental limitations when using YouTube to host your business’s videos. The platform is inundated with video ads that divert attention away from your video, and you won’t be able to pull in-depth subscriber data. This contrasts with a platform like Wistia, where you can get access to a viewer’s email address and other key subscriber metrics to create more targeted videos in the future.

To make the most of YouTube’s reach while also supporting your brand goals, use the video platform for short clips, recaps, or teasers. This will put your content in front of a hungry audience and also entice searchers to go to your owned properties for the full content experience.

Measure and grow your brand-owned video distribution channels

Using these seven distribution channels is a great start. However, the best scenario is always one in which you actually own the distribution channels you’re using. This allows you to clearly and accurately measure your business’s video performance over time.

To maximize lead generation, lean on your brand-owned channels for video distribution. Wistia can help you reach your target audience and give you all the tools you need to make video content marketing efforts on your brand-owned channels a success.