When it comes to funnel marketing, video content is important. Video is flexible, inspiring, engaging, and modern. You can use videos at every stage of your funnel to communicate your brand’s values, your products and services, your culture, and your benefits.
Video has become important on every platform and channel, so you need a video marketing strategy to keep up with your competitors and stay relevant to your audience. It is especially central to your social strategy.
According to HubSpot, four of the six top channels where consumers watch video are social channels. So, while video dominates, it’s important not to fall behind.
Creating video content may cause you to fret. Don’t. Simplicity and authenticity are at the heart of what matters to the modern audience, so you don’t need to spend hours refining your content or be a master visual editor.
Video production can be very cost-effective with most smartphones including high-quality, 4K video capture.
Your focus needs to be on sending the right messages at the right stage of your funnel. Let’s unpack this now.
Simple Video Content Marketing
The marketing funnel is the steps your audience take from recognising they have a problem to buying from you to solve that problem.
The funnel works by sharing the right messages at the right stage of the funnel, and this will lead to a sale. You can use videos to deliver those messages in a bright and appealing way, through the entire buyer’s journey. This is called Video Content Marketing.
Follow our 4 easy steps to guide your audience from their first introduction to your brand to the final sale.
Step 1 – Plan your funnel
Whether your funnel is simple with a few stages, or complex with many stages and lots of interaction with your audience, you can use video to communicate.
A simple funnel may have 3 stages – and this is a good foundation to work from:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Decision
There are many funnel theories and models out there so do some research to find out how to define your specific funnel.
The above model represents how your leads will discover you, compare their options between you and your competitors, and ultimately make the decision to buy from you.
Step 2 – Think like your customer
At each stage of your funnel, work out what state of mind your leads are in. What do they think about you and your values? What information do they need to get to the next stage? What’s stopping them from buying and how can you get them past that obstacle? Your target audience research will give you a solid understanding of your audience and your values.
This step is crucial. You should already understand the profile of your audience and have data to back your findings.
There are simple ways you can find the information you need to produce your video content:
- Speak to your audience about their needs.
- See if they subscribe to your blog or buy from you.
- Ask your sales team to use certain questions.
- Put pop-up surveys on your website.
- What are the most common questions asked by leads during the sales process?
This first-hand data is invaluable. Once you think like your audience, you can sell to them.
Step 3 – How can your leads find you?
Consider this question, where will your leads watch your videos? Where do they spend most of their viewing time?
Distribute your videos mindfully to reach the greatest number of your target audience. This will be different for each stage of the funnel. If we take the simple model above, your video placement might look like this:
- Awareness stage – your videos may be found by organic searches, or you may need to use paid ads and social media as your platforms.
- Consideration stage – you will have contact information for your leads now, so share your videos through email and on your website.
- Decision stage – your leads are in direct contact with you, so your videos can be shared directly.
You should know the right channel or platform to use from your audience research.
Step 4 – What kinds of video should you use at each stage?
This is the juicy bit. Here you can use your creativity and have fun, and cleverly create content that will work at each stage of the funnel.
At the Awareness stage, you want to make your audience aware of your brand and how you can help them. Employ these three tactics – Amaze, Appeal and Answer.
- Amaze – draw your audience in. Wow them! Focus on your values and how you can share these with your audience. This message might be communicated as a big, bold film or a documentary about topics your audience care about.
- Appeal – these are inspirational videos. Make your audience feel good and share on social media to promote the benefits of your product or service.
- Answer – well, this is easy. Answer the questions your audience has. (You know this from your audience research.) Create educational videos that give advice. Explainer videos work well at this stage.
At the Consideration stage, your leads are actively considering the solutions in front of them. Create videos that establish trust. Educate them on the benefits of your company and how you stand out from your competitors.
Instructional and educational videos are best because they create social proof. You can also communicate information about your team and your company culture to evidence your brand’s values.
The Decision stage is where your leads are making a choice between you and your competitors. So, answer any final questions you know they have.
Create instructional videos that show your audience how to use your product or service. Even short FAQ videos create a nice touch. Or try a highly personalised video about individual needs and stories for the final push.
Right Message, Right Stage
The main takeaway, when it comes to video content marketing, is to communicate the right message at the right stage of the funnel. This will make all your video efforts and budgets worthwhile.
The above steps outline a comprehensive video content marketing plan. Above all, your audience research will frame your video content and keep your plan on track.
Contact Future Marketing for advice on how to take your audience from discovery to sales through video content marketing within your funnel.
