Did You Know? There is a Type of Video Content for Every Marketing Objective!

2018 is the year in which you should be paying attention to your video marketing plan. If you are still uncertain about how video can boost your marketing strategy, take a look at the facts:

• 52% of marketing professionals state that video is the type of content with the best return on investment.
• When both video and text are available on the same page, 72% of people stated they would prefer video to learn about a product or service.
• Cisco estimated that by 2019, a video will make up 80% of all consumer internet traffic.

Once you understand the importance of video marketing, you need to get started right away! But the question is: how? There are lots of different video types that serve several objectives, and each one fits into the sales funnel in a different way. If you want to learn more about the diverse world of video content, you’ve come to the right place!

1. Educational Videos

Have you ever thought about how we undergo a learning process each time we buy a new product or service? As consumers, we’re always trying to make the most satisfying decision for our money.

Therefore, educating your audience on the subject you know best will be very well received. Knowledge is power and you can help your prospects make a better decision by educating them.

This is the reason why an educational video can be superb for the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey. In this phase, people are looking for information, data, opinions and valuable insight into what your product or service is about: they are discovering their pain points and need to learn more about them.

Another great asset that educational videos provide is awareness. As they are easier to distribute and share than other types of marketing videos, they usually receive more social engagement, which helps spread knowledge and awareness of your brand. Blog posts, guest blogging, and social media are suitable spots for educational videos. They are also great for video SEO, and get great organic ranking on YouTube and Google.

While we’re on the subject of educational videos, here’s a video that explains the buyer’s journey and the inbound marketing process, and can help you set up a great marketing strategy.

2. Explainer Videos

When it comes to online behavior, the stats are clear: people are restless. Did you know the average online attention span is 8.25 seconds? This is the reason why you need engaging and interesting content to keep your users on your landing page or website.

Explainer videos can be great: they are an excellent resource to explain how a product or service works in seconds. An interesting explainer video will keep your visitors on your website, which will significantly lower your bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who enter the site and then leave (“bounce”) rather than staying to view other pages.) And it can reduce it by 34%!

An explainer video is best used in the middle of the sales funnel, where your prospects will start evaluating the options that can offer a solution to their problem. Once you have your prospects interested with an awareness stage video, you need to tell them what your business is all about through an explainer video, which will help them understand that your solution might be the right one for them.

3. Product Videos

Product videos are a great option when you need to explain in detail what your product or service can do. As opposed to explainer videos, product videos are thorough in the explanation of the features, and they don’t leave out any details. A product video can be great for prospects who want to know more about your business after watching an explainer video.

It is a known fact that 85% of website visitors who watch a product video are more likely to buy. The reason is simple. These videos help interested prospects grasp a clear picture of exactly what you are offering. Besides increasing sales, product videos enhance trust in your business because they help customers better understand how you sustain your brand promise.

The last stage (decision stage) of your sales funnel is best for a product video because product videos are specially designed to convince people to buy your product or service.

4.  Company Story Videos (aka Culture Videos)

The objective of company story videos is showing people the magic behind the product: the company that makes it possible! Every organization is made up of people who have distinct personalities, values, missions and a vision that sustains their culture. In a company video, you show and share these with your prospects.

People love feeling empathetic, and company videos make it easy for customers to get in contact with the human side of your company. For this reason, company videos help you boost engagement because they connect on an emotional level with the viewers. In turn, they will improve brand trust and awareness.

As with product videos, company videos work best in the decision stage of the sales funnel. They build a bond with your brand, which is super important to help potential customers make the ultimate purchase decision.

5.  FAQ Videos

Instead of listing your customer’s frequently asked questions, an FAQ video lets you address this audiovisually. The benefit of an FAQ video is that it will let you resolve the most typical questions your customers have before they even contact a sales rep. As a result, sales are accelerated, because your prospects will be better educated beforehand.

💡Tip: An FAQ video can be broken down into several mini videos, delivered via email marketing or a series of social media posts. You can also create a YouTube playlist!

6. Customer Testimonial Videos

When dealing with a purchase decision, people love listening to other customers’ opinions. Why? Because they are perceived as unbiased, and people can relate to them. The great thing about customer testimonials is that 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations!

A testimonial video will show customers talking about their personal experience with your product or service. As opposed to other types of testimonials, a video testimonial is super transparent, which enhances brand trust: if you can see people on camera,  speaking in their own words about their experience, you are more likely to feel that the testimonial is a reliable source of information. Actually, the best customer testimonial videos feel natural and are not heavily edited, and this helps keep them honest.

Customer testimonials are awesome in the decision stage of your marketing funnel, where you need to close the deal! At this stage, your potential clients will be looking for referrals as they start the process of making up their minds between the different products available that can solve their problem.

7. How-To Videos

The typical how-to video presents task-focused content, which aims to help viewers follow a process step by step. Who hasn’t learned to do something after a Google search? Having your own how-to video is a wonderful way to make this space your own for your prospects to gain awareness about what you can offer.

What we love about how-to videos is that they are versatile. You can give your how-to video a more educational approach, which will help enhance brand awareness. But you can also make it about your product solving a problem. In this case, it will help with sales more directly.

Whichever focus you give to your how-to video, it will definitely help establish your brand as an authority.

8. Social Media Videos

Social media is where people are! So you definitely shouldn’t leave it behind when planning your video content. Although the topics might vary, what you should consider before making a social media video is your specific audience who lives on that platform. Taking a regular look at your analytics is the best way to ensure optimum performance. For instance, people on Facebook are tolerant of videos that feature text, whereas Instagram users prefer a cleaner look.

In your buyer’s journey, social media videos cover every stage. If you are targeting new customers via a paid video post, you should focus on the initial stages of the journey to plan your content. But you can also target your long-time followers with post-sales support, showing them how they can best benefit from their purchase of your product or service.

9. Commercials

The most popular type of marketing videos, commercials were born in the classic era of advertising. Commercials are effective because they are directly focused on creating sales. However,  the problem with commercials is that their content is usually not very useful to the audience.

For this reason, commercials work only if you invest heavy resources in advertising them: as soon as you stop investing, they stop working. This is why it is super important to keep an eye on the ROI of your commercials in the short term. As long as you see that it’s profitable, go for it!

With video, the sky’s the limit! Now you know you can combine different types of videos to enhance the results along with your entire sales funnel. Get creative and define a plan that best suits the goals and budget of your business.

Good luck!