Guiding the Buyer Journey With Strategic Video Selections
Video
Sep 22
Anyone who has invested in video marketing in the past few years knows that billions of people use YouTube on a regular basis — a number that is almost too big to even comprehend. But when reframed as “62 percent of global consumers say they use YouTube,” it’s obvious that video marketing is a must.
Video marketing campaigns aren’t limited to YouTube, though. Video is used on landing pages, across social media, in outreach emails, in online resource centers, and pretty much anywhere you might find your target audience online. That’s why it’s imperative to design a video strategy that fits every step of the sales funnel. Keep reading to learn how to do it.
Sales Funnel Stages, Explained
Before diving into video specifics, let’s break down the sales funnel to better understand the customer’s frame of mind on their path to purchase.
The stages can vary slightly depending on your industry, but the generally accepted sales funnel looks like this:
Awareness → Consideration → Decision
Customers won’t necessarily spend the same amount of time in each stage, but the line of thinking will be generally consistent regardless of industry.
Awareness
In this stage, people discover your brand through some form of marketing. Marketing materials in this stage should highlight the who, what, and why of your brand, as well as identify problems or challenges your product or service can solve. Because awareness is at the top of the funnel, campaign tactics should appeal to and reach as much of your target audience as possible.
Consideration
Once people are familiar with a brand and its offerings, they move into the consideration stage. Here, they’re weighing the pros and cons of choosing your brand for what they need. They’re likely comparing your product or service to your competitors, so differentiation is key.
Decision
This is when people are done researching and ready to purchase. In this stage, consumers want reassurance that they’ve made the right choice. They’ll also look for reasons to return to your brand for future purchases; promote complementary products, subscriptions, and other add-on or up-sell items to keep customers happy and interested.
Matching Video Types to Funnel Stages
Creating videos that accurately anticipate customer needs and questions is an important step toward success in ecommerce. Here’s what that looks like in each funnel stage.
Awareness videos: Brand story; industry explainer; educational
The broadest part of the funnel is where to tackle big-picture aspects of your company. The goal: create intrigue and draw new visitors to your site. Illustrate the unique aspects of your brand, then segue into videos explaining what sets you apart from others in the industry. Wistia notes that industry-specific videos are great for building trust because “You’re able to showcase your brand’s expertise without hard selling and provide helpful information to your audience.”
Consideration: Product demo; customer testimonials
People know what the brand is about and they’re ready to learn more. Videos demonstrating a product or service’s general use provide a clearer picture for your audience and help them envision the product in their daily life. Customer testimonials push people along the consideration stage and closer to conversion by providing the type of social proof many customers need when making purchases.
Conversion: How-to; tutorial; product features
Videos in the conversion stage should help the customer maximize their understanding and use of the product. How-to videos and tutorials are highly sought after, especially among Gen Z, with over 50% of both male and female internet users viewing at least one of these types of videos weekly on YouTube. Providing this type of video empowers customers to use the product and affirms that they can rely on your brand for useful information.
How This Strategy Benefits Your Brand
Recent video marketing research from Gartner found that “customers who think that information received from suppliers is helpful are three times more likely to make a bigger purchase with less regret.” This is good news for sales, but the advantages of having a carefully considered video library extend far beyond successfully convincing customers to buy a product.
For instance, video can be reused on a variety of channels to speak to specific audiences and expectations. Not every medium translates as well across multiple platforms, but video’s flexibility means you can reach an even larger audience from the outset of your campaign. Awareness videos created for a homepage can be recut as YouTube or Facebook ads, all with the goal of providing brand discovery opportunities.
Further down the funnel, consideration videos help customers answer questions for themselves and allow people to learn more about the product at their own pace. This helps to drive more product-specific questions with your team, creating a better understanding of how to address common questions or needs in future campaigns.
Customer testimonials might provide the biggest boost because they help your audience picture themselves as satisfied customers. Speaking to this type of emotional response, Gartner reports, “More than 50% of customers cite ‘people like me’ as the most credible source of information about a product, according to Edelman Trust Barometer.”
With the right focus, your video strategy can seamlessly guide customers through a sales journey that ends with them purchasing from your business and benefiting from the experience. Provide high-quality content and relevant information to help customers make the most of their purchases and boost retention.
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