User Review
( votes)Videos aren’t strictly for entertainment purposes — consumers are increasingly turning to video to inform their purchasing decisions.
Research from Google has found that 55% of consumers watch online videos to research products while shopping in-store. And more than half have indicated that video has helped them decide which brand or product to buy.
What does this mean for your business?
Video is a must for any marketing strategy. If you’re not using video, you’re losing opportunities to reach your audience and convert more prospects.
Here, we’ll look at how you can use video in your sales funnel and drive measurable results for your business.
What is a Sales Funnel?
A sales funnel is the set of steps that prospects follow before they become customers.
Here’s an example of what this looks like:
Why is this important? Because it allows you to optimize marketing assets like videos to capture and nurture leads down the sales funnel.
Let’s look at an example:
You’re the proud owner of a brick-and-mortar store. But the point of sale (POS) system for your retail business is outdated — the software is painfully slow and it doesn’t support mobile payments.
So you search on Google to see what solutions are available. You click through a result and read through the product page.
You’re not ready to buy yet though. These systems can cost thousands of dollars once you factor in the hardware and software.
So you continue doing more research about the company and other options on the market. You might even subscribe to a few email lists or check out their profiles on Facebook.
After careful consideration, you’ve decided to go with the initial company you researched. They offered more features at a lower price.
This example illustrates the steps that consumers follow before they become customers.
No matter what industry you’re in, utilizing video in your sales funnel can help your business increase revenue and gain a competitive edge.
How to Use Video in Your Sales Funnel
Here’s how you can use video in each stage of the sales funnel:
Awareness
The awareness stage is when a prospect first learns about your business. They’re aware that your product or service exists, but they’re not ready to make a decision. At least not yet.
One way that prospects learn about a new business is through search. In fact, more than half of shoppers say they use Google to discover new brands.
Ontraport offers automation marketing software. Someone thinking about selling their products online might also need software to manage their campaigns.
So Ontraport created a video about selling online, which shows up in the search results for the phrase “how to sell online:”
Prospects are now aware of the brand and might even search the company’s name on Google to learn more about their offer.
You can raise awareness about your brand by creating videos around phrases that are relevant to your products or services. What would someone type in Google to discover your brand?
Maybe you sell health and beauty products? Create an interesting case study on CEOs and sleep health.
Maybe you sell CRM software? Create a massive guide on CRM hacks.
Next, repurpose those into video format to increase visibility. Your videos may even rank in the search engine results with proper optimization, and you can embed them directly into your blog content.
Just remember: The videos you create for this stage is to raise awareness about your brand. You’re not selling anything (yet).
Interest
The interest stage is where prospects have indicated an interest in the products or services that your business offers. An example could be filling out a lead form or following you on social media.
You’ve generated interest, but your job isn’t over yet. Now you want to take this opportunity to keep their interest and build a relationship.
How can you do that?
By providing great content that’s relevant and useful. This does two things — it establishes your company as an industry authority and builds credibility with your audience.
HubSpot creates educational videos and uploads them to its YouTube channel:
HubSpot uses educational content to engage with their prospects.
Think about your target audience. What questions or problems do they have? What do they want to learn more about? Those are topics you can create videos around to keep your prospects interested.
Another way to generate interest is with an explainer video — a short video that explains your company’s product or service. It addresses how it solves a particular problem.
Here’s an example of how Purplepass uses video on one of its landing pages:
Visitors to that page can watch the short clip to learn about their event management software and the features that are available.
If you have a complex product or service, creating an explainer video can help you increase awareness and generate interest.
Decision
The decision stage is when prospects are deciding between a few companies, one of which is hopefully yours. Prospects in this stage are close to converting, but they still need an extra push.
How can you help prospects make a decision?
If you have an online store, you can utilize video in this stage by adding it to your product pages. GILI Sports offers a good example from its inflatable stand up paddleboard product page:
Most eCommerce stores simply add photos to their product pages. But GILI Sports takes it a step further by adding videos that show their products in action.
This is a common form of video production known as product videos, which “seek to establish an emotional connection with potential customers.”
Another way to utilize video in the decision stage is with social proof — the psychological phenomenon in which behaviors are influenced by others.
Adding video testimonials is one of the easiest ways to improve your website and generate more selling power than some of the best sales copy out there.
Testimonials build trust and aren’t salesy. They’re from actual customers who have direct experience with the product or service.
Here’s an example of a customer testimonial that Zoom uploaded to its YouTube channel:
Done right, video testimonials can give prospects that extra nudge they need to take action. Add testimonial videos to your landing pages to help prospects make a decision.
Action
The action stage is at the bottom of the sales funnel — the prospect you’ve spent all this time nurturing has purchased your product or service. They’re a customer.
At this stage, you might think that your job is finally over.
It’s not.
If your business operates on a SaaS model, you can utilize video to onboard new customers and educate them on how to make the most out of your software.
Asana, a company that offers project management software, regularly adds helpful videos to its YouTube channel:
Users can watch these videos to learn how to use the different features in the software instead of figuring things out on their own.
If you sell physical products, you can create videos that explain how to use certain features. Google uploaded short tutorials to its channel that cover different aspects of the Google Pixel Buds:
Customers can watch these videos to learn more about certain features, like how to use Google Assistant and troubleshoot their earbuds. These types of videos would be great to send to your customers after they’ve made a purchase.
Creating Video For Your Sales Funnel
Video is undoubtedly a powerful marketing tool that can generate more sales for your business. But it’s also not something you can just create in an afternoon like an article.
A quality video takes time to create from writing the script to shooting and editing the final product. Don’t let that stop you though from utilizing video in your sales funnel.
Let’s take a look at in-house video production vs. outsourcing:
Hire an In-House Video Production Team
Hiring an in-house team requires more of an upfront investment. It involves bringing on new hires that have experience with video production or shifting the work to your marketing team.
In-house production certainly has its advantages as it gives you greater control over the creative process. But it also means having to manage the entire video production process from start to finish.
Outsource Video Production
Another option is to outsource video production to an agency.
The advantage here is that agencies have their own equipment and professional video editing software as well as a studio. They also have an experienced team who knows how to fully utilize the tools they have to get the results you’re looking for.
Which is right for you?
Both options have their pros and cons, so it’s important to weigh them carefully.
If you’re on a budget, then outsourcing video production is a good place to start. But once you start generating a positive ROI with video marketing, you can consider moving video production in-house.
Conclusion
Video is a valuable marketing tool that can help grow your business. Implement the ideas outlined here and create videos for each stage of the sales funnel to convert more prospects.
Be sure to use CRM to track and nurture your leads. If you don’t yet have a CRM, you can give Nimble a try for free.
