Remington BeggSince coming onto the DIY marketing scene, video has become one of the most powerful forms of content a brand can use for almost any purpose. More than 51% of marketers say video gets the best ROI of any content and it’s no surprise. When best practices are followed, video can increase your SEO rankings, increase conversions, improve your brand positioning and more.
More than 60% of best-in-class companies now use video through the entire inbound funnel, from awareness through post-sale. (Lights, Camera, Call-to-Action: Trends in Video-based Marketing, Aberdeen)
With video, your brand can achieve a level of authenticity that’s unobtainable in any other medium. Not only are you getting your message out into the world, you’re putting friendly faces to your brand, with the human qualities and flaws we can all relate to.
The inbound funnel gives your video marketing efforts the structure, purpose and intention it needs to succeed. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by a new marketing medium, costing you time and money. Instead, supplement your funnel of content with simple videos.
So, the question isn’t IF you should use video throughout your marketing funnel, it’s HOW. Learn to leverage video in every stage of the inbound funnel with our stage-by-stage breakdown.
Attract
In the top of the inbound funnel, your mission is to get noticed, without selling. Most marketers focus on SEO, social media and blogs to attract new visitors to their website. A video-first marketing strategy uses the same strategies in the top of the funnel, with video incorporated into all of your efforts.
In terms of SEO, websites with embedded video are 53 times more likely to rank first on Google. Blogs featuring video can also supercharge your rankings by offering more diverse content by pairing what you’ve written with a more visually-appealing medium. And finally, it’s impossible to ignore that video content is dominating almost every social media channel with record-shattering engagement stats.
When you’re creating attraction videos for the top of the inbound funnel, don’t focus on your products or yourself. Just like written content in this stage, you should focus on the why. Solve a problem, find a solution, fill a need and show how life is better with you in it.
Don’t rely on buyers in this stage to trust you. They probably don’t know anything about you. So instead of telling them things they’re not likely to believe, show them what you really mean. No other medium is better for showing people things than video.
Be a helpful expert, a friendly guide and an insightful cool kid in your industry. Create a huge video library, one topic at a time, distributed across your marketing channels, to make yourself the ranking thought leader in your industry.
Fill the top of your funnel with video content that includes:
- Helpful how-to videos
- Informational problem solving
- Fun culture videos
- Inspirational, motivating videos
- Video CTAs for long-form content offers behind landing pages
Convert
Welcome to the middle of the funnel, where long-form content is used to convert site visitors into leads. Traditionally, that’s done with a written content offer locked up behind a form on a landing page.
With a video-first marketing mindset, your content offer doesn’t necessarily need to change (although video sure gives you more options). Instead, just think about videos as an addition to what you’re already doing, as CTA’s or to optimize your landing pages. In fact, video on a landing page can increase conversions by more than 80%.
Your challenge here is to drive buyers further down the funnel and convert them into leads by exchanging your valuable content or expertise for their contact information. They’re not ready to actually talk to you, but they’re ready to listen. Take advantage of their quest for knowledge with irresistible premium video content.
For all of your middle of the full content, showcase your different solutions for the buyer’s issue. Your consumers are in research mode, so take time to give them all of the answers and details they’re looking for. Show them exactly why your brand is the right fit for them.
Convert your visitors into leads with video content including:
- In-depth informative videos
- Explainer videos
- Product demos
- Video testimonials
- Video case studies
- Long form video decision-based video content offers
- Landing page CTA videos
Close
The bottom of the funnel is all about nurturing leads into customers. While you’re focusing on the smallest amount of people in this stage, video becomes more important than in any other part of the funnel.
Your leads are serious shoppers looking for a little push to take out their credit cards.
In fact, more than 50% of online consumers look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store.
In this part of the funnel, video comes into play in new and interesting ways. Track video engagement with your automated marketing platform to score leads. Or use videos to trigger targeted email campaigns. Then, use those emails to nurture your high-scoring leads with video content. Including a link to video content in your customized emails can actually increase your click-through rates by 96%.
Close the deal at the bottom of the funnel with videos that include:
- FAQ videos
- Video testimonials
- Product review videos
- Videos that address sales hesitations
- Unboxing videos
- Instructional or in-depth product features guide
- CTAs for purchase-related offers and discounts
Delight
Turn customers into brand advocates with videos created to impress and entertain.
This stage is a great place to experiment, let loose and have fun with your video marketing.
Your big goal here is to make people happy, so happy that they talk about it to more potential customers. Video is perfect for delighting customers because of its increased engagement, fast format, visual appeal, interaction and social media stardom. Unlike written content, video content can go much further outside of the box in this stage.
Have fun and take risks with delight stage videos including:
- Thank you videos
- Customer support videos
- Video product guides
- Sneak peek videos
- Demonstration videos
- Tips, tricks and hack videos
- Brand culture videos
- Live video customer service
- FAQ videos
- Instructional videos instead of user manuals
Start Filming Your Funnel
The only way to miserably fail at video content is by not having any. Don’t overcomplicate it, don’t blow your budget and most of all, don’t hesitate. Even professional marketing videos can be filmed unscripted on an iPhone and edited with free tools available online.
Start understanding just how easy and important video marketing can be to your business with the Impulse Creative Video Marketing Guide and some experimentation.
