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If you work in marketing, it’s easy to see the value-added from all your content strategies. A defined and well-executed video marketing strategy is no exception. However, in other departments—and especially at the executive level—some of the benefits might be harder to discern. But executive buy-in is important for long-term strategy and business goals, and yet it’s also not the easiest to achieve.

So, how do you convert your C-level suite to true believers in the power of your video marketing strategy?

Benefits of Executive Buy-In

Like any area of company strategy, your marketing goals can’t go it alone. Getting executives to buy into your video marketing makes it easier for you to grow, expand, and execute this important area of content.

With executive buy-in, you will also get much more support—from your team and for your team. From your team because everyone likes to know they’re working on something that’s been approved from the top down. For your team because with the right buy-in, your marketing department will have access to greater resources and institutional investment.

Another benefit? Insights into top-level strategy and what’s going on at the C-level. This means you can be assured your video content strategy fits in nicely with the company’s overall goals. Never a bad thing when different departments can coordinate their strategies!

What does all this buy-in lead to? A higher-quality end product and maximized ROI.

What Gets in the Way of Executive Buy-In?

It might seem confusing: With video marketing services and an agency presenting you opens so many opportunities for business growth, increased leads, and greater conversions, why wouldn’t your executives immediately be in support? Why do you need to search for buy-in at all? Here are three of the biggest stumbling blocks that can get in the way:

1. Different roles, different goals.
   Consider that a marketer’s role—and goals—within a company, are very different than someone in an executive position. Your goals might sometimes conflict. Whereas the marketing department seeks to increase customer leads and the company’s overall visibility, your CEO is much more concerned on a day-to-day basis with the bottom line, ensuring the company is optimized for profitability.
2. Video marketing is expensive.
   Of the many tools in the marketer’s arsenal, video marketing is among the most costly up-front. It requires a whole host of new roles that either need to be hired in-house or contracted, not to mention hours of filming and editing.
3. Hard-to-measure ROI.
   Here’s a tough truth: After you’ve made all that video content, after you’ve disseminated it, your executives will still have to wait months or even years to understand its true ROI. From this perspective, you can see why executives could be hesitant to buy in.

What does this all mean? What it definitely doesn’t mean is that video marketing is a waste of time or money. Rather, it’s an investment in the future of the company, a smart way to cultivate brand awareness, and a piece of marketing with an excellent ROI. To show an executive that, you’ll just have to speak their language.

How to Get Executive Buy-In

An executive is going to be interested in the numbers—much, much more than your creative vision. So meet them on their terms.

The best way to get executive buy-in is to use published data, hard numbers, case studies, and other quantified metrics that demonstrate your video marketing strategy is something that will benefit C-level goals.

Presenting this information can be a bit challenging. On the one hand, you’re probably brimming with ideas, but know that an executive will be most interested in the big picture and top-level items. Try not to get stuck in the weeds and details. Yes, it’s hard, but save that for hyping up your team. It also doesn’t hurt to present this information in a convenient and easy to review format, such as a presentation. Your executives are busy, so go easy on them.

It also never hurts to invite them to be involved in the process. That doesn’t mean they’ll take you up on the offer, but they’ll certainly appreciate the offer.

The sky’s the limit with executive buy-in

Executive buy-in opens a lot of doors when it comes to your video marketing strategy. It means you’ll have a greater pool of resources, institutional support, and a way to ensure your strategies are synchronized across departments. It might take a little convincing, but with executive buy-in for your video content, you’ll be able to increase brand visibility and drive conversions in a way that traditional marketing simply can’t achieve.

Ready to see how high your company can take video marketing? Secure executive buy-in to be sure that you’re delivering high-quality video collateral. The eye-catching kind of content that will win over new customers and grow your business—exactly the kind of thing your executives will want to hear.