Setting up the blocks for your content strategy? Planning to introduce videos to boost social media presence? You have come to the right place!
Content Marketing is all about creating and distributing relevant content that holds value to a clearly defined audience. The primary goal is to attract and retain a said audience by providing them consistent and engaging content, and ultimately to drive profitable customer action. In simple words, it’s about guiding your users through every step of the marketing funnel.
Enter: Video Marketing. With innovations multiplying by the day, video marketing professionals are finding newer and snazzier ways to engage their audiences. However, your goals should always drive your direction. Different kinds of videos are more effective for kinds of goals, and hence guide users through different stages of your funnel.
A Marketing Funnel is the visualization of the different stages your consumers or purchasers travel through to eventually make a buying decision. The funnel helps marketers understand the process of turning leads to customers.
Courtesy: TrackMaven
There are several ways that marketing (and sales) funnel can be depicted. Some start with unknown contacts and all the way into a purchase, others include a “loyalty loop” for re-purchasing and retention like the AARRR Funnel that is often used by startups.
What are the stages of the Marketing Funnel?
Awareness (The top of the funnel) The broadest stage of the funnel. Potential customers are drawn into this stage through marketing campaigns, consumer research and discovery. Lead Generation takes place here using the information that is collected from the users.
Interest (Middle of the funnel) In this stage, the potential customers learn more about the company, its products, services and information & research the company provides. Here is the opportunity for brands to develop a relationship with their potential customers and introduce their positioning.
Consideration (Middle of the funnel) Potential customers turn to prospective customers when they enter this stage. Lead nurturing begins.
Intent (Middle of the funnel) Prospects that show an interest in buying a brand’s product or utilizing their services fall into this stage. Marketers use this opportunity to make a strong case for why their product is the best choice for a buyer.
Evaluation (Bottom of the funnel) Here prospects make a final decision about whether they would want to buy a brand’s product and services, or not. This is the stage where the Salesforce of a company takes over.
Purchase (Bottom of the funnel) This is the last and narrowest stage in the marketing funnel. When a prospect makes the decision to buy he enters this stage, and turns into a customer. A positive experience on the part of the buyer can lead to referrals that fuel the top of the marketing funnel, and the process begins again.
The number of the stages of the funnel, activities in each stage and the approach to each strategy varies from company to company. But the overall structure remains more or less similar.
Including video in your content marketing strategy is an effective way to accelerate the journey of leads in your marketing funnel.
Some points that you need to pay heed to:
Video content should fit into your broader marketing strategy,
It should complement all your content and be in line with your brand tone,
It needs to be timed and distributed right to achieve the best possible results.
Videos for the top of the Marketing Funnel, Goal: Awareness
1. Brand Video
This type of video is used to acquaint your audience with your values, visions and ultimately the core of your brand. Videos are the best medium to develop a brand and inform your audience of what it stands for. Good content marketing makes your brand more human and more alive.
We love to learn new things! Feed this unquenchable thirst for knowledge by making educational videos that offer real value to your audience, which they can apply to their everyday lives. They can literally bypass language barriers and give the viewer the concept of what something is and/or how something is done. The viewer can become proficient in some aspect of the subject in minutes!
3. Explainer Videos
For many brands, the video starts here. This covers questions themed “How to-” and “Hack for-”, which rank high up in search engines. Viewers tend to stay and watch them longer than most other types of videos.
HACK: Think of 1 way you could offer an actionable resource which is relevant to your target audience, and you’ve got yourself a tutorial video (and maybe even a series?).
These can be classified into Whiteboard and Animated Videos.
Whiteboard videos started with capturing a real person with a time-lapse camera while they drew images on the board.
Animated videos, perfect for companies which have complex products and services that can be a little difficult to explain.
Videos for the middle of the Marketing Funnel, Goal: Nurture your leads
Once you are in touch with your potential leads, now is the time to get serious about adding value. Video emails provide a powerful, personal touch. And if you use a proper email marketing automation software you can trigger a series of emails called an email workflow.
Email marketing tools are very affordable these days, so that is not a deal-breaker. If you don’t have your email software selected yet, have a look at these reviews of cheap and free email marketing tools. And they all support the use of video in email or the next best thing which is animated frames that link to the actual page.
So now we know that lead nurturing and video email is a match in heaven, the question is “What does the middle of the funnel look like for you?”
Do your leads know…
what your brand is and what you stand for?
what your products are and what benefits they have?
what the difference is between you and the competition?
Do they have a personal connection with you?
Here are a few video types to nurture the leads, keep in touch and at the same time prepare them to develop a brand preference.
1. Culture Videos
Today, where consumers care just as much about why you do something as what you do, use videos to show off your team and the passion you have for your business. Develop an emotional connection with your viewers by including slice-of-life employee interviews, team-building practices, bloopers, game days, parties, and everything else in between.
These types of videos also go hand in hand with HR and can be used to attract the best and brightest job candidates.
2. Testimonial Videos
Testimonials are a powerful way to establish social proof. The most versatile type of video — Clients sharing how great it’s been to work with you, industry partners who have benefited from your collaboration, your own team talking about what it was like to be part of your latest project.
Testimonial videos are like review videos of your company — they help you build trust & credibility, and they can also be used to showcase the features of your product/service, thus influencing the purchase decisions of your audience.
You can ask these questions to gather genuine, powerful and shareable testimonials from your customers:
What potential deal-breaker would have prevented you from buying our product? When your client mentions what hitches and obstacles could have swayed his decision the other way, you get insights to issues that you may not have considered. You can then make sure your potential customers know how you deal with these issues.
What impact did our product have on you (or your business)? When potential customers get to hear this, they realize that the obstacle discussed earlier is insignificant when compared to the impact your product delivers.
Which feature was our product’s selling point for you? As opposed to a general explanation of what they like, this question will highlight that one feature in explicit richness and detail. Focusing on the entire product gives you a vague response.
What 3 other features appeal to you? Following up the previous question with this helps you get an understanding of the unadvertised features that your potential customers can view as bonuses. Mentioning a number in the question forces your client to prioritize the features and share the most useful ones with you.
What would you say to our potential customers? The best way to persuade potential customers to purchase your product is by asking your current customers to convince them.
3. Product Videos
Product videos are meant to sell someone on the features, but not how to put it together. It demonstrates the value a person gets by having the product or by using the services you provide — it is video content packaged for sale.
Product-Review Videos and Product Videos are 2 sides of the same coin. If you have an audience that trusts you, you can help them by reviewing products that they find useful. They can just rely on your recommendation instead of having to figure things out for themselves.
It is important to note that while you can create product review videos of your competitors (NOT a recommended strategy), making review videos of products not in your line, but still useful to your customers, is a win-win situation for you and your viewers.
4. Video PSAs (Public Service Announcements)
When it comes to evoking an emotional response, nothing does it better than video. Today PSAs provide sharp, shareable content on disputatious and hot-button topics. You can create awareness, influence public attitudes and behavior toward a social issue. Brands use PSAs to gain trust and create a positive image of their company in the minds of their users.
Videos for the bottom of the Marketing Funnel, Goal: Convert
1. FAQ Videos
There is a very high possibility that your potential customers still have a few unanswered questions and queries which is stopping them from a purchase. Use waves of informative videos to their questions and score on the FAQ game just like how McDonald’s Canada.
2. Instructional Videos/Demonstration Videos
Potential customers need to know that you will not abandon them after a purchase. They need to be assured that you will be available for assistance after they buy your product/service.
3. Real-time videos
Highlight real-time events to make a video. A clever and surprise execution is possible if you have a good amount of creativity and the agility of a ninja to subtlety relate the video and the on-going event to your brand.
Pulkit Jain 
