7 Tech Brands That Are Pioneering Binge-Worthy Video Series

Today, more people watch video than ever before. The average adult watches 16 hours of online video per week — a 52% increase in just the last two years. And, 86% of people report wanting to see more video from brands in 2020.

For brands, video isn’t just a way to get valuable eyes on content, but also a powerful and proven way to get people to notice and love your brand.

With the proven success of video over the past few years, some brands are even dabbling with media marketing tactics by creating video content that hooks viewers and keeps them engaged through a full series. But creating binge-worthy video content isn’t that easy — it requires hard work, strategy, discipline, and, sometimes, help from outside experts.

Even the most unsuspecting brands, including notable B2B players, have entered the conversation around binge-worthy content. Who is leading the charge in the tech space? Check out these seven video series from tech brands that keep audiences eager for more.

1. Moz’s “Whiteboard Friday”

Most marketers who have been around since the late 2000s have probably heard of Rand Fishkin’s original video series. Since 2007, Whiteboard Friday has successfully engaged Moz’s target audience of beginner and intermediate SEO professionals with content that educates and informs.

The series positions Moz as the leading SEO experts in the industry with valuable tools and tactics that every marketer can use to improve their strategy. Their formula is simple, engaging, and easy-to-repeat. An expert from Moz stands in front of a whiteboard and explains specific SEO topics in easy-to-understand and data-driven language in just 8–20 minutes.

The video is also relatively low-cost and simple to shoot, which means even organizations with small budgets could replicate Moz’s success. Moz even offers a helpful blog post that breaks down how they shoot and produce each episode.

It doesn’t look as though Moz is likely to stop producing the videos anytime soon, either. With each video receiving an average of 5,000 views and a 73% engagement rate, these videos continue to be a way to connect with potential and existing customers.

2. Shopify’s “Make My Space Work”

Shopify has truly embraced the “work from home” movement with its Make My Space Work video series. The show features home decor expert and YouTube and Instagram influencer Alexandra Gater. Together, Alexandra and Shopify gift entrepreneurs with makeovers to make their work from home spaces more elegant and functional.

Each week, Alexandra checks in with a new guest, surveys their space, and then offers recommendations to make their work-from-home experience more pleasant and comfortable. Shopify has really leaned into influencers, featuring guests like Melissa Maker and Shopify super-user Bili Balogun in each episode.

Additionally, the series content is lightly branded and feels very similar to the non-branded content that Alexandra produces, so fans keep coming back for more. So far, users have embraced Shopify’s right mix of influencer strategy with useful topics, with one Instagram post even receiving 17.5K views and 1,321 likes.

3. InVision “Why I Love This App”

InVision, a digital design platform used to create elegant customer experiences, identified their customers’ passions for content inspiration. Then, they found a way to capture this passion and connect to new audiences through the popular Why I Love This App video series.

The video series features design leaders geeking out about the design of their favorite apps and how these platforms influenced their own work. By featuring brand leaders, who are also ostensibly users of InVision’s UX tools, creating the very best digital experiences, InVision benefits from a halo effect. The designers in the videos tie InVision to the very best in the industry, and they, in turn, elevate InVision’s products.

Clearly, the strategy worked. Even after several years, InVision continues to feature the series content in email marketing campaigns, blogs, and social media.

4. Mailchimp’s “Essentials”

Email marketing platform Mailchimp shows that sometimes the key to creating binge-worthy content is tapping into the zeitgeist to create newsworthy content. Its original docuseries, Essentials, in partnership with VICE Video, turns the lens on the small business users who use its platform to see how they are coping with the global pandemic.

Each 10-minute episode portrays these small business owners working to keep their businesses afloat while also keeping their families and employees safe during the ongoing global pandemic. Mailchimp is not afraid to address serious and difficult topics, like keeping a business running while also ensuring family members stay safe.

As a result, the episodes have a news segment feel, so it seems like a natural partnership with VICE. Essentials also lives on the Mailchimp Presents show page. So far, the industry has taken notice of the high-quality work, too, with Ad Age commending Mailchimp for the creative work.

5. Terminus’s “The Roof”

High-energy talk show for marketers or branded video content? Take a cue from Terminus’s The Roof and hook your customers by making what could be dusty (but important) topics exciting. Terminus’s video series pulls back the curtains on glossy marketing concepts and breaks down the messy stories and hot takes that bring great campaigns to life.

The series features various experts across the marketing team at Terminus who share their insight and (sometimes controversial) opinions. Each episode clocks in at just two-minutes long, which keeps the conversation laser-focused and easy to follow.

With catchy episode titles like “Your Data is Useless” and “Toss Those Cookies,” The Roof tackles tough topics that are on many marketers' minds. They clearly understand their audience and have built a binge-worthy content experience to keep folks coming back for more.

6. ProfitWell’s “Pricing Page Teardown”

ProfitWell, the SaaS company that provides subscription analytics, retention, and pricing solutions, educates and engages potential customers with their weekly video series called Pricing Page Teardown. In the series, hosts Patrick Campbell, the CEO of ProfitWell, and Peter Zotto, General Manager of ProfitWell, take a look at the subscription models of different companies, dissect strategies, and recommend improvements.

The setup is simple. The two hosts sit at a small round table and use graphs and slides to emphasize their points. They’ve explored everything from comparing Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal’s subscription models to diving deep into Evernote’s subscription pricing.

The 10-minutes-or-less videos successfully elevate ProfitWell as the expert in subscription models and inform viewers who might be thinking of improving their own subscription model strategies. Additionally, by mentioning startups and brands looking for ways to improve their strategy in the videos and on social media, ProfitWell has found a way to get on these potential clients’ radar with each video they release.

Even better, ProfitWell has made it clear that the production of these videos is actually cheaper and faster than producing an eBook. This is because they’re able to shoot several episodes of one season in a day, giving them lots of content to share over many months.

Says Patrick, “We’ve discovered that the life of an eBook basically lost 80% of its velocity. Very similar to a blog post, you’d have one eBook do really well, and another do really well, and then one kind of do terribly.” The videos, however, continue to generate value over time.

7. Salesforce’s “The Story of Sales”

For the CRM company that helps customers personalize their sales experience, Salesforce’s beautifully shot The Story of Sales documentary is on point. The documentary introduces salespeople from all walks of life to explain what qualities make a great sales leader and explore where sales is going. The content is sliced into chapters, so viewers can watch it in segments or just take a deep dive into the section they are most interested in watching.

The series is notable for shedding light on a profession that isn’t always respected and shows why it should be. By leaning on insights from experts, authors, sales trainers, professors, and salespeople in the trenches, the series is a rich, complex, and comprehensive look at sales. The content helps make Salesforce synonymous with the sales discipline that is their business.

Not only do Salesforce’s customers and potential customers have much to learn from the content, but they are made to feel like real-life heroes whose work is of value. This, in turn, makes customers feel good about doing business with the brand.

The hard work that Salesforce puts into its video content and the respect it gives its customers seem to be paying off. Salesforce saw third-quarter 2020 revenue of $5.42 billion, up 20% year-over-year, and recently announced it was acquiring the popular work messaging platform Slack.

Want Binge-worthy? Think Outside the Box

No matter your budget or audience, video series can be a powerful tool to engage your audience. As these brands demonstrate, the key to creating binge-worthy content isn’t just finding a great hook. It may also mean partnering with influencers, other content creators, and thought leaders to execute it — or even turning the camera on your community to make them the heroes or stars.