What is your brand about? What does it sell?
Would you believe me if I told you that, in a video marketing sense, it doesn’t really matter? Regardless of who you are or what you’re selling — there’s a type of video that can help you boost sales.
You see, as online marketing started to take center stage a few years back, and video became a huge part of it, marketers had a chance to refine a number of styles in our search for the best ones.
So, where once commercial ads held sway over all others, other — now popular — styles rose to become heavy contestants and dethrone the reigning champion. Explainer videos, tutorials, company culture videos, educational pieces… the list goes on — each one excelling at a given type of marketing goal.
Ask any high-tier video company out there, “Which one’s the best?” and each will tell you the same thing: It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your marketing push. And their effectiveness is closely tied to how you implement them through the buyer’s journey.
The key to boosting sales using video pieces lies in understanding these relations, so you can use the right tool for the appropriate job.
And that’s what we are here to talk about today!
First things first: The awareness stage
Let’s talk about Charlie. Charlie is a good guy, works in finances, and during the summer, he’s planning to go camping with his friends. He doesn’t own a tent or know anything about camping really, but it is an opportunity that he’d like to pursue.
Charlie is now in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey.
He’ll need to buy a lot of things, starting with a tent and a sleeping bag! But he’s not thinking about this just yet — he’ll be doing some research, and he’ll eventually become aware of the fact that he has some needs that have to be solved before he goes camping.
He’s a classic prospective buyer that’s becoming aware of a certain problem, pain point, or opportunity. For prospects like Charlie, we need to create videos helpful for them specifically — providing information relevant to these needs and interests.
Educational videos
Educating audiences is an excellent way for any brand to become a go-to reference in their field by providing the answers their potential customers are looking for. Nowadays, reputation and perceived brand value are two crucial marketing goals that should never be ignored.
Providing educational content for your audience is important, especially during the awareness stage, but not just any type of content will do the trick. Length, focus, depth, and language are all important ingredients to be mixed for an educational video that works.
Do it right, and educational videos become incredibly powerful marketing pieces — keeping your viewers entertained as well as informed.
How-Tos
“How to…” — finish that phrase. “How to build a boat,” “how to invest in stocks”… “How-to” searches are the main reason why people use the Internet. In today’s world, people need answers, and they need them fast.
These searches are not happening exclusively on Google, either! They happen mostly on YouTube — video gives people a quick and visual answer to all their needs.
“In fact, 86% of viewers say they often use YouTube to learn new things.”
According to 2and2/Google, “The Values of YouTube” Study, Oct. 2017
And you can use this advantage of video in your favor by being the one that provides these answers to your audience.
Commercials
Commercial ads have thrived since the beginning of television, and they stand strong today — although they look quite different — because they’re effective.
They present a brand in a way that’s catchy and memorable — meant to stay with your audience during the rest of their passing through the buyer’s journey.
Done well, a good commercial will keep your brand present on your potential customers’ minds as they navigate into the consideration stage. When the time to make a choice rolls around, commercials make it much more likely they’ll choose you over competitors.
Consideration stage
Perfect. Now Charlie has seen educational videos about camping, and it’s time for him to decide what he needs to acquire in order to go camping with his friends. Is it a large tent? An inflatable igloo? A couple of sticks with a big leaf on top?
Whatever it is, Charlie is getting ready to take action.
And that’s what happens with prospects at the consideration stage. They’ve given a name to their problem or to the opportunity they want to pursue, and now that they’ve identified it, they’re ready to move forward with their road to the purchase.
For this, they’ll be doing research and evaluating possible options that can help them, and that’s your cue to go in!
You have a solution to offer — your product. It’s time to present it as the best one by using an imaginative approach through video content.
Explainer videos
A must-have for most marketers, explainer videos turn any complex topic into an interesting video piece that’s short, sweet, engaging, and shareable.
Explainers have the power to deliver a lot of information in a way that’s easily understandable to viewers, and do so by using storytelling and animation that makes the content immediately appealing to the audience it’s tailored to.
The kicker? Explainer videos can subtly move a prospect from the consideration stage into the decision one, proposing your solution as the best alternative out there.
That’s why they make such great pieces for presenting the core concepts of a brand and its products.
Product videos
Product videos are a way to show details about what your company offers, tastefully, and informatively. They won’t be selling a product shamelessly like an infomercial — they instead showcase a product’s benefits and its value proposition.
This means exhibiting the tangible benefits of a product, their unique features, and how your audience can use your product as a solution for their problems.
A good product video doesn’t have to be elaborate or bombastic. On the contrary, when it comes to marketing, as long as you are clear with showcasing value, you can often do more with less.
Decision stage
And now, the moment that everyone has been waiting for…The stage in which prospects become actual leads and customers!
Our friend Charlie decided to buy himself a nice tent, with room for him and two of his friends. But he’s not 100% sure which brand he should choose. He just needs a final push to make the purchase, and that push is trust.
He, just like any other lead during this stage, needs to feel like he trusts the brand he’s going to go for. Choosing a tent is a big deal — he wants one that’s reliable and durable, and preferably within his budget.
And what’s the best way to help them clear all his doubts (and choose your brand) using video?
Testimonials
People will purchase if they trust what they’re buying, and this is where testimonials excel. These videos show real people, real customers, telling their success stories with your product.
For the people that are sitting on the fence about buying, these testimonials will come in handy. Your viewers will listen to stories and identify with the past struggles of your customers, which will make your prospects trust these people when they say your product is the best.
FAQ videos
Another way to build trust with your audience is to address and eliminate any possible doubts that they may have.
You can tackle these questions individually, or group them up into longer videos. However you go about it, answer your most frequently asked questions with a video (or a series of videos), and you’ll have content there to overcome those last-minute resistances most customers get before converting into buyers.
It’s a recipe you can bank on.
To sum it up
Video content has the power to boost sales in a very organic way. That’s why it’s so smart to learn about the buyer’s journey — so that you can understand which videos to create for specific sales stages.
The next time that you’re planning a video strategy to increase your sales, bear this in mind and design your sales funnel with appropriate pieces of video to the type of customer you are after.
It’s the best way to get the most out of your video investment and get the financial results you expected as you worked on the content.
