Leveraging Video Content for B2B Customer Engagement and Relationship Building: Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities

Abstract

In today’s hyper-connected B2B landscape, where purchase decisions are complex and trust is paramount, video content has emerged as a uniquely powerful tool to engage, educate, and influence professional audiences. Yet despite its growing presence in digital ecosystems, the strategic application of video in business-to-business (B2B) social media marketing remains significantly underexplored. This thesis addresses that critical gap by investigating how video can support customer engagement and relationship-building in B2B contexts, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) navigating limited resources and fragmented digital strategies. The research is grounded in a qualitative methodology, combining a robust literature review with expert interviews from nine professionals across marketing and videography. By applying theoretical frameworks such as Media Richness Theory, Content Marketing Theory, and Relationship Marketing, the study uncovers the mechanisms through which video enhances communication clarity, emotional resonance, and relational depth across the B2B customer journey. From product explainers and testimonials to employee-generated content and behind-the-scenes footage, the thesis reveals how specific video formats fulfill distinct strategic functions—from building brand awareness to deepening post-sale trust. Key insights highlight video’s ability to simplify complex offerings, foster credibility, and create a human connection in otherwise abstract or technical domains. Yet, the research also exposes widespread obstacles to effective video integration. These include high production costs, lack of in-house expertise, unclear strategic alignment, and an overreliance on vanity metrics like views and likes rather than actionable KPIs such as lead quality, client retention, or sales conversion. These challenges are especially acute in SMEs, where limited time and budget often inhibit long-term video planning and professional execution. Moreover, platform selection and adaptation emerged as critical factors. The study emphasizes that video strategies must be platform-specific—leveraging YouTube for in-depth demonstrations, LinkedIn for thought leadership and relationship marketing, and newer channels like TikTok for experimental storytelling and brand authenticity. Simply repurposing content across platforms without tailoring format, tone, or narrative structure results in diluted performance and missed opportunities for audience engagement. Looking ahead, the thesis identifies a clear need for B2B marketers to move beyond ad hoc video efforts and instead adopt structured, goal-driven strategies that align video production with both customer journey stages and measurable business outcomes. In conclusion, this research positions video not as a creative accessory but as a strategic asset in the digital B2B toolkit. When thoughtfully integrated into social media strategies, video content can bridge the gap between complexity and clarity, visibility and trust, reach and relationship. For firms willing to invest in platform-sensitive, audience-centric, and analytics-driven approaches, video offers a transformative opportunity to elevate brand presence, improve customer understanding, and build durable business relationships in an increasingly competitive digital age

Date of Award	2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Christian Stadlmann (Supervisor)