Video Content Strategy for B2B SaaS Brands (AI and Featured)

Like it or not, videos are here. 

B2B buyers prefer videos over anything when learning about a new product to understand its value proposition. Because videos show what your offerings can do, they are more engaging, leading to more persuasive power.

If you are a growing brand or part of a lean marketing team that is already stretched thin, you can still produce quality videos that drive conversions.

In this chapter, let’s identify the video types that attract high-intent leads and how you can create them with limited resources.

Videos that generate B2B leads

The philosophy of B2B articles applies here as well. The videos that help your readers accomplish things in their purchase journey will get you prospects. This primarily includes MOFU and BOFU videos.

1. Product feature demo

Show how a functionality works, not from the self-help perspective, but from a valuable use case perspective. For example, if you are selling an accounting tool, show how its features simplify invoice validation from third-party vendors. 

This approach makes the content relatable and actionable for your audience.

You may have to create numerous videos for various use cases for all of your ICPs. Keep this type of video short, typically 3-5 minutes long. The focus should be on completing a task using your product.

Additionally, you can also create long-form videos (10+ minutes) that break down complex things about the workflows around your product. The goal is to demonstrate your platform as a pivotal component in a value-production process.

Parts of these videos can be clipped to create multiple shorts, which will serve the purpose explained above.

Note: The equivalent for service-based B2B businesses in this regard is to create playlists that explain their service approach step-by-step. The video length should remain the same to maintain engagement.

2. Case study interviews

One of the biggest mistakes B2B SaaS brands, especially startups, make is to treat this as an afterthought, while this should be a clear priority. You’ve already done the hard work — building a product, converting a prospect, and satisfying them; so, go after the gains.

The best approach here is to invite them to a video call and follow the template below:

• Ask them to introduce themself and their product. Request a brief and concise explanation of what their product does.

• Talk about your niche first. If you are selling a team communication tool, inquire how important it is for them for smooth operations.

• Discuss the challenges in their business context. Perhaps they are a distributed team that works with enterprise clients. Whatever. Allow the customer to dive into the pain points.

• Learn how they use your product. Let them elaborate on how your solution has enhanced their processes.

• Look for tangible data. Ask them if they can share any numbers related to productivity, quality of work, or revenue that can be attributed to your solution.

• End the video by inquiring about additional challenges they face that you can solve (do NOT ask “which features would you like”) and thank them for their time.

It is better to send this questionnaire early so that they can mentally prepare for it. The whole 1:1 interview shouldn’t take longer than 20-25 minutes. 

The reason I recommend the above approach is that with less than 30 minutes of investment, you have got a ton of content. 

After polishing the video, you upload the whole clip as a podcast, extract short clips to share across social media, convert it into an interview-style article, and write a case study based on it.

3. Brand philosophy (thought leadership)

Every SaaS product has a unique philosophy that led to its creation and evolution. Share the insights via short-form videos.

It could be your realization of a particular pain point and its consequence. Perhaps you’ve understood the root cause of a problem and designed your solution around it. Maybe your goal was to remove friction in the tool’s workflows.

These types of videos add a story behind every feature or product update that is linked to your users’ needs. When your potential audience watches them, they will find your brand more credible and relatable.

A good rule of thumb is to publish one of these for every four videos in the above two categories. While thought leadership videos are great and can generate leads, their value is truly limited in terms of helping your prospects achieve a tangible goal.

B2B SaaS video marketing workflow

1. Start with articles

Medium to long-form articles should be the beginning of all of your video content. This enables you to dive deep into the topic and create comprehensive messaging from your brand’s perspective.

Apart from providing you with original content for your website and social media, MOFU and BOFU articles clearly outline actionable steps and the value proposition, simplifying the next step.

2. Write an actionable script

If you wrote the blog post in a conversational tone, you may not even need to write a full script.

Just a list of bullets that sequentially capture what you will be talking about will be enough.

Here, it’s critical to deliver value as soon as possible. When the video begins, quickly explain what this video is about and who it is for. This sets expectations early on and ensures the right kind of people watch it.

Then, mention the actionable steps that generate the value and highlight the benefits in tangible terms. Basically, this is what the flow should look like:

• Introduction: “Hi, in this video, I will show you how to [achieve something] to improve [workflow] for [user group] with [platform’s name], the best tool for [use case].”

• Steps: Just show the steps. Refrain from explaining what each click of a button does or how the feature works on an operational level. Your goal is to demonstrate that the product works.

• Benefits: First, mention the general advantages, such as time savings or revenue boost. Then, talk about product-specific gains, such as cost-effectiveness or ease of use.

After that, talk about whatever you want to. This includes your tool’s additional capabilities associated with the feature or use case you demoed, the principles that make the steps work, and any tips to maximize its effectiveness. You can ignore it to keep the video short.

Instead, you can ask the viewer to click the link to the full article to get that information.

3. Present yourself instead of using AI

There are plenty of AI video generators to create virtual characters. Their vendors promise that you can use them to create lifelike content for various applications, including product marketing, to get measurable results.

Similarly, there are many self-proclaimed AI gurus who peddle crap courses around these tools that promise fortunes.

The truth is that both of them are dead wrong.

First, AI-generated characters can never present content in a persuasive manner as a seasoned marketer and communicator. 

The inflection in voice, the relatable human element, the emphasis on power words or phrases, and the facial expressions are some of the many complex variables that can’t be produced by machines. Also, I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

Second, think from the perspective of a B2B buyer. These folks are decision-makers and senior executives in companies, big and small. When they encounter a product video featuring a virtual character, they feel disrespected. 

Not only will they scroll past your “AI-ad,” but they will also mentally blacklist your brand for treating its potential customers poorly. You will be perceived as someone who doesn’t want to put the effort in and wants to make money by cutting corners. True story.

Furthermore, ask yourself, when was the last time you purchased something, anything, by watching an AI-generated promotional content, whether it is a photo or a video? 

The best part is that creating simple screen-sharing product videos isn’t that difficult. With a few hours of practice, you can become good enough to produce short-form clips that deliver value to your intended audience.

4. Minimal post-production editing

As long as your video follows a logical flow, gives actionable advice, and justifies the advice through proof, stats, or facts, it’s good to go.

All of the video polishing tips, such as adding background music, inserting transitions, and using special effects, are useless for a B2B SaaS lead. These things may attract their attention, but they certainly won’t do much for conversions.

The only editing you need to do is functional. Remove the awkward pauses, minimize the “ums” and “ahs,” and cut out the irrelevant portions.

Most of the SaaS video marketing workflows get slowed down because content teams spend too much time editing the damn clips.

5. Distribute it in many channels

• Embed them in your website: The article that you started with is the best place to promote your video content. Add the video in the right section to enhance the overall value of the content. You can embed the clip in other relevant pages as well.

• Social media channels: Instagram, X, and LinkedIn are the three primary targets. You can upload them to YouTube, too. Then, you can reshare them using these social platforms’ built-in features to maximize the value. Write an engaging caption.

• Email newsletter: Mention that the email contains a quick video in the subject line to increase open rates. Additionally, avoid sending the same video multiple times to ensure engagement.

Apart from that, you can link to your video content or embed the content itself in guest posts. This can be tricky because third-party publications may reject articles that feature product-led content. 

A workaround is to wrap the product’s messaging in broader educational content that is relevant to the readers of the third-party publication, and creating such clips takes extra effort.

Free and affordable video editing tools for B2B SaaS teams

(All tools recommended work in Windows, macOS, and Linux.)

If you have zero dollars, use Loom. This platform is one of the best for creating screen-sharing videos where you walk your viewers through a set of steps.

The tool works straight from your browser and allows you to create videos up to 5 minutes in length, which is enough for short-form product-based, use-case-led content. After recording, download it, upload it to YouTube/Vimeo, and embed it wherever you need it.

Sharing via Loom’s cloud link isn’t viable in the long run because the free plan only allows 25 videos.

A desktop-based alternative is OBS Studio — a popular video recording, screencasting, and live streaming solution used by amateur and professional creators worldwide. It is better than Loom because you can record in the highest quality with no restrictions on the video’s length.

My suggestion, if you are uploading videos on YouTube before embedding in different places, OBS Studio will be ideal for you.

Then, for editing videos, DaVinci Resolve is a great free option. There are plenty of simple tutorials that will help you nail the basic features of the platform.

If you can shell out a few bucks every month, I will highly recommend Descript. I’ve used this script-based video editing tool extensively for multiple years and can’t say enough good things about it. Just visit their site and watch their 2-minute intro video, and you will understand why.

To put it succinctly, Descript is meant for users who have zero idea about video editing and publishing. Moreover, you edit the video in the script instead of the timeline, accelerating the post-production workflows.

Now, let’s talk about AI character generators. I’ve explained above why you should use them as the last resort, but if you want to do it, you might as well do it right. 

For videos where there is a presenter speaking to the camera with assistive visuals or video overlays, Synthesia and HeyGen are best. If you want to generate more lively characters, use Runway, Kling, or Veo. Currently, Veo’s latest model is the best at producing realistic characters with proper lip-sync.

Speaking of audio, the best one is ElevenLabs. Its free plan packs a punch and can be enough for SaaS companies with limited requirements.

Again, instead of learning so many AI tools, paying for their subscriptions, stitching them together to build a workflow, grappling with AI hallucinations, and producing the final clip, practice creating videos with yourself. The skill is far more valuable in the long run, and you will get much better results in terms of impact.

Looking forward: Marketing knowledge is key

Creating videos, whether they feature you or a virtual character, is a useless skill in itself. It becomes valuable when you use it to send the right message. 

Yes, video marketing is here, especially for B2B SaaS, but venturing into it without nailing the basics will backfire. 100% of the time.

Your initial objective is to gain a thorough understanding of your audience’s pain points, how your product alleviates them, and how your solution is superior compared to others. When you achieve it, then you can automatically get crafty video content ideas that move the needle.

If you were to start SaaS video marketing tomorrow, however, I’d recommend one thing: begin with feature demos that solve your customers’ problems. Show how your product can help your users achieve tangible goals in a few simple steps within minutes.

With time, you will learn more about the art of videography and what your audience responds to well. These insights will help you produce better SaaS product-led marketing videos for a B2B audience.

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Next Chapter: How to Accurately Measure B2B Content Marketing ROI

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Index (with Prologue): Content Marketing 101: For Lean and Agile Teams