Gartner’s 2023 Global Software Buying Trends (free download with registration) touches on several issues that will interest sales and marketing teams looking for a competitive edge from the marketing videos they share.
Why buy new software?
Not surprisingly, improving productivity was the top motivation, cited by 37% of business leaders surveyed. But other reasons, (> 25%) were meeting growing technology needs, addressing security and cyberattacks, expanding product offerings, and targeting new customers.
Content that demonstrates awareness of these motivations, and documents your solutions’ strengths, will be useful at the awareness stage of the buying cycle.
How buyers research and compare software
At the consideration phase of the buying cycle buyers rely heavily on customer reviews, but they also attend personalized product demonstrations and review product documentation and training. Video is widely used in these areas, though most companies will probably agree that there’s plenty of room for improvement.
A frequently overlooked marketing opportunity here is repurposing (shortening and anonymizing) personal demos to highlight use-cases.
Software evaluation
The report found that ease of use and security are top factors buyers consider when shortlisting software, followed by product features and functionalities.
Ease of use, including details about features and functionalities, are what the buyer is looking for in the consideration phase, not a short explainer video. However, tutorial videos that have been repurposed to show “how easy it is to accomplish X” could be persuasive for some members of the buying team.
Gartner also notes that most buyers opt for customized solutions versus off-the-shelf products. So, it makes sense to highlight custom and integration options in marketing content.
IT Influence
A buying team made of half a dozen technical, financial, and functional stakeholders is not making decisions based on marketing videos. However, IT stakeholders are usually the most influential in software purchases, and their biggest concerns are the learning curve and potential downtime.
Demonstrating quality in training resources and implementation guides can make or break a deal.
Help buyers make purchase decisions faster
Another key finding in the Gartner report is that businesses are making purchase decisions faster. (Also, they are evaluating more software providers.)
It follows that providers gain an advantage by explaining their solutions efficiently and effectively. In many cases, that will be a visual explanation, and that’s a good way to think about video: an efficient tool for creating visual explanations. A good video team will be able to come up with several cost-effective options for quickly explaining something that’s hard to explain.
