Are you going to let your buyer walk alone through their journey to the purchase phase? I bet you’re answering NO out loud.
I’m sure you know that each stage of the sales funnel has its own specific needs and you must create content that fulfills them. But not any kind of content.
High-quality video is right now one of the strongest, more empathetic and effective types of content. In fact, one-third of online activity is spent watching video. On top of that, 73 percent of B2B marketers say that video positively affects ROI.
However, you need to know how to harness this power. In this blog post we are going to give you some tips about what the best types of videos are for each stage, where to use them and how to use them.
Let’s start from the basics…
1. Know your buyer’s journey
The buyer’s journey is the active process your customers go through before they make a purchase. It starts the second they realize they have a problem that needs to be solved, all the way to actually buying your product.
It has three stages -awareness, consideration and decision- and in each one your audience’s needs change. Let’s review this journey:
2. Leverage educational videos
In the first stage, your prospects are aware they have a problem but they don’t thoroughly understand it or know how to fix it. In the awareness stage, your main aim is to provide them with information about their problem.They will be searching for that kind of content on the web and it doesn’t matter if you’re using YouTube or other video apps, if you leverage your video SEO techniques, your content will be the perfect answer for that query, that’s how you’ll increase leads.
With educational videos you’ll provide information that is related to your business and to your audience’s pain point. Try to avoid being too salesy. For example, in this video, Google explains what machine learning is. In fact, it’s just an introduction to the next chapter in which they explain their own software solution to actually apply this process.
3. Increase brand awareness with commercial ads
If your main goal is to increase brand awareness, this type of video is the best way to engage your future customers. Being the most “salesy”, commercials work great to attract your audience to your brand’s world and create a great first impression. In addition to this they are an awesome choice for YouTube ads because they often have a great ROAS (Return On Advertising Spent).
When combined with a powerful jingle they’re incredibly catchy:
4. Show your product/service with the right type of video
At the consideration stage, your prospect fully understands the problem and is thinking all the options available over to solve it. Let your product or service shine with an attractive video that will push your prospect through your sales funnel. There are several types of videos to do that.
Let’s review the most popular ones:
Explainer videos
This type of video explains how a product or service works and how it fits in with your audience’s life. With a short story and appealing characters, explainer videos engage your audience and show them why your product will help them solve their issue and why it’s better than your competitors’. You can use them on your landing page, email marketing and social media profiles.
Let’s watch an example:
How-to videos
These are extremely popular. As a business owner, I’m sure you have some hands-on experience that you can share with your viewers. Try to think about your client’s pain points and create a step-by-step video explaining the process to solve that problem. Your prospect will watch how your product actually works to solve his/her problem in that video and that will position your brand as an effective solution to the problem. The perfect distribution channel for this video is YouTube.
Product video
Some businesses are more complex and need further explanation. In that case, you can trust product videos to help you show your product’s best features and how they will improve your clients’ life. Bear in mind that 90 percent of customers report that product videos help them make purchase decisions. On top of that, 64% of customers are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it.
Check this example out:
5. Build up brand trust to close sales
At the decision stage, the buyer choses a product/service among many others. With your video you’ll give them that final push to finally make the purchase decision. The best types of video for this stage are:
Company stories
This type of video gives you the chance to build up your brand trust showing them who you are, who is behind your brand and what you stand for. Employees, managers or founders will speak about your company’s values and why you do what you do to establish that precious bond with your leads and ensure conversions.
Let’s watch an example:
Testimonials and case studies
A Testimonial video is one of the most effective types of videos when used in the decision stage. Your happy clients endorsing your brand in front of the camera will boost your brand trust.
When producing testimonial videos, don’t focus on your products features. Remember your prospect has already heard about them in the previous stages. Try to ask the right questions to your client that allow him/her to explain their initial situation and pain point and how your product has helped them.
Publish your testimonial and company story video on: budget emails, emails prior to a sale meeting, contact form page, landing page, home page and social media profiles.
Check this example to know how to create a testimonial video that converts:
Go for it!
Now you’re aware of video content’s benefits and how to leverage them through the whole buyer’s journey. Don’t forget to spread the word and plan a smart video distribution strategy.Always keep in mind that customers nowadays are really picky when it comes to content so you’ll need top-notch quality to keep them watching your video.
In order to ensure that, when hiring a video production company always do your research about their former clients and online reputation.
Don’t wait anymore. Create your next marketing video and boost your sales!
Víctor Blasco is the founder and CEO of the explainer video company Yum Yum Videos. He is also an audiovisual designer and video marketing expert. Aside from running the business, he loves studying Chinese Philosophy and is a real geek for science fiction films and comics. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.