You might have used video content for the odd product launch video or embedded an explainer in your company blog to make it easier to explain the services you provide. But did you know that 60% of major companies use video content at every stage of the marketing funnel?
Seeing how information is being consumed, businesses are recognizing that video is the best marketing medium to support sales and customer retention. They want to make sure that they can win over customers at any point of the buying journey.
This is why we recommend incorporating video at every step of the marketing funnel. It’s easily done, and we can show you how!
Defining the Sales Funnel
The marketing funnel or sales funnel is basically your consumer’s journey from the moment they recognize a need, to when they decide to purchase your product or service to fulfill that need. They must be shown the correct messages at each step to encourage them towards buying your product.
The buyer’s journey has three stages, Awareness, Consideration and Conversion.
Take into account how your audience discovers, compares and buys products to define your own sales funnel. Then, put yourself in your customer’s shoes to get an idea of what they might be thinking at each stage. Your audience research will help you understand what the average customer’s values are and what they expect in their consumer journey.
The Awareness Stage
This is the stage where your audience has a problem and you have a solution they have yet to find. They might not even know they have a problem yet. So, you have to make sure your content is posted everywhere they are likely to be looking. SEO driven videos and promos are an obvious option, social media videos are another great choice.
Social Media Videos
When it comes to awareness at the top of the funnel or TOFU, you need to use videos that attract views and answer questions. These videos should have mass appeal and should focus more on connecting with the audience authentically rather than pushing sales.
A wonderful example of this is Blendtec’s viral Will it Blend? series.
The series attracted millions of views with its fun concept trying to see what kinds of objects their blenders can blend into a fine dust. It also told customers about their product as simply as possible – yes it will blend anything – but they’re not necessarily trying to hard sell it.
It goes without saying that if a brand video is viral or has a lot of reach, people are bound to remember their product when they need it.
Promo Videos
Promo videos are one of the best ways to bring attention to your product, meet search requirements and just hype up your brand. A snazzy promo video used as a pre-roll ad or just all over social media can be the perfect tool to increase awareness. These can even encourage viewers to take action by giving them incentives such as discounts or coupon codes.
We created a similarly eye-catching promo video for Beauty Bakerie
The Consideration Stage
At the middle of the funnel (or MOFU), the audience is actively searching for a solution and comparing options. This is the time to get them to pick you over the competition by highlighting what you do better. They need more detailed information on your product benefits and why your company is trustworthy. For that, give them real information in the form of product videos, explainers, or videos on your company’s ethics and values.
Product Videos
Essentially anything that talks about things that may be important to both your business and your potential customer. Informational product videos are becoming an increasingly popular form of media because content with too much of a sales-y approach can become deterring at this stage. If you empower customers by being a good source of information, they will trust you more and are more likely to choose your company for a purchase.
The brand Dyson does this by producing their product video in the form of a case study. They show their product in use in an environment which shows off its best features and real users talk about how it was successful.
Explainer Videos
Along the lines of product videos, if your product, service or brand philosophy is something unique and a self-explanatory video doesn’t work for you, an explainer video might do the trick. These let people know how innovative your product is or how your service brings a new level of convenience, without taking up too much of their time.
The Conversion Stage
This is the final stage where you need to close the deal and make sure the customer buys your product. Make sure you address any final doubts and questions they might have.
“You can make purchase decisions happen by showing people a closer look at your products that only a video can provide.”
They can be testimonials, demo videos or FAQs. Compelling videos about happy customers and specific features catering to individual needs are helpful in making favorable purchase decisions.
Testimonials
Now that the customer has learnt everything they could about your product, they need to know if it actually does everything they hope it does. People always look to reviews and testimonials to see if others were satisfied with the product’s performance. These are helpful to establish trust and make that final push in the right direction.
RealCare’s age simulation suit enables students to experience the physical effects of aging to train them to care for the elderly. In this testimonial video these healthcare students share how it works and how they improved with it’s help. Hearing positive feedback straight from the mouth of another user is often just what it takes to convince a new buyer.
And there, you have it! You have your whole marketing funnel practically figured out. These kinds of videos accompanying your audience at every step will make your company more memorable and lead to more conversions and happier customers. Now that you know how to plan your videos, let us help you put all these plans into action.