Video marketing content is key to spreading online brand awareness. Integrating different types of video marketing with your existing SEO strategies can generate leads, increase conversions, and boost sales.
An astonishing 81% of brands are already using video marketing, and 99% of those brands plan to continue using it. 1 Of the 19% that aren’t currently utilizing video marketing strategies, 65% plan to by the end of 2018.
What Is Video Marketing?
There are three main reasons video content performs so well — it’s easily accessible, effective, and evokes emotion.
Video marketing is fairly simple to understand. It involves the use of video content for marketing purposes. This type of marketing comes in many types, including explainer videos, whiteboard animations, social ads, and more. Any strong online marketing campaign will include video content. Some of the most effective forms of video marketing include customer testimonials and how-to videos.
Consumers take to the internet for many reasons, with one of the most popular being to learn how to do something. Step-by-step how-to videos, also commonly referred to as explainer videos, appeal to consumers because they provide instructions in a visual format. Humans are hardwired to learn visually.
A person who reads a blog post and watches a video on the same day will remember 65% of the video three days later and only about 10% of what he or she reads in the blog post.
9 Types of Video Marketing Content
There are various platforms that consumers use to watch video ads, with four out of the top six being social media platforms, like Facebook and YouTube. Within the next five years, Facebook is expected to be nothing but video content.
The exact type of video content you need to use will depend on where the customer is at in the marketing funnel — the awareness, consideration, or decision stage. Keep reading to learn about the most valuable types of video marketing content that you should combine with your online marketing efforts to increase conversion rates.
Awareness Stage Types of Video Marketing Content
At the top of the funnel is the awareness stage. This is when consumers are being made aware of a problem they have. They may already know they have a problem, but they don’t yet understand that your brand can provide a solution. Awareness stage video content is not overly-promotional. You’re simply making the viewers – your potential customers – aware of the problem they have and letting them know that a solution is available.
Animation Videos
Animation videos are great for the awareness stage. They bring a new dimension to your online marketing efforts, and when curated carefully, they will do an awesome job at evoking emotion. Bite-sized video animations that are fun and quirky tend to perform the best. One of the neatest aspects of animated videos is that they can be created in the form of whiteboard animations or explainer videos.
Explainer Videos
95% of people have gone online to watch an explainer video to help them make a purchasing decision.
Explainer videos are essential to the awareness stage because they are concise and to the point regarding a problem the viewer has. These videos can be extremely short, but it’s imperative to make them long enough that they clearly convey a message. When used strategically, explainer videos will simplify extremely complex messages.
You can be very creative with explainer videos, like including jokes in the script, integrating animation features, showcasing graphs and charts, and much more. To top it off, explainer videos can be used just about anywhere, including on a home page, landing page, blog post, social media post, etc. You can even use them in emails! This Hilton case study shows you the true power of explainer videos.
Educational Videos
Must like explainer videos, educational video content is meant to be very informational. Educational videos are crucial to the awareness stage because they educate the audience on a specific problem. At the top of the funnel, consumers are searching for information regarding a certain issue they are facing. Engaging them with educational content shows that you are a thought leader and that you have a true concern for helping them overcome the problem at hand.
Many brands even start their own YouTube channel as a platform that is strictly devoted to educational video marketing content. Followers know they can turn to the channel to learn valuable information on a specific topic. Imagine if you were to become the go-to source for a massive audience on a particular subject. You would become a valuable brand that can improve the lives of others, and this is sure to generate leads and transform your existing client base into loyal, returning customers.
Three ways to ensure educational videos are engaging and powerful include using narrated slides, screencasting, and animations.
Consideration Stage Types of Video Marketing Content
The consideration stage is found in the middle of the funnel, and this is where you are going to make extra efforts to nurture your leads. These leads will have stemmed from the top of the funnel. You’ll also want to pay close attention to the existing relationships that you have with customers. After all, you already have their attention, so why not use video content to get them to consider to make another purchase?
Video Emails
If you put the word video in the subject line of an email, you can increase open rates by 19%. 2 Click-through rates are boosted by 65% when video content is included in an email, and unsubscribes are slashed by 26%.
Video emails, much like explainer videos, should be short and to the point. Many people check their emails on the go and don’t have time to devote more than 30 to 90 seconds to watch a video.
Email marketing is an especially effective digital marketing tool in nurturing leads. At the end of each video, make sure to include a specific call to action, such as subscribing for a webinar or downloading an ebook. This will work exceptionally well in converting your leads.
Product Videos
Product videos are another form of video content that is ideal to use during the awareness stage. When creating videos, you can focus on product demonstrations and product reviews to get your audience to consider purchasing from you. The key here is to thoroughly show the audience how your product or service will alleviate one of their pain points and how it benefits them.
Product videos must explain how your product simplifies the user’s life. You can talk all day about the 20 different features your product has, but what does this mean for the user?
Take for example you are selling accounting software that boasts automation and legacy system integration. Sure, these features are awesome — they allow the user to automate invoices and easily integrate the software with their existing systems. The true benefits, however, stem from the fact that invoice automation means less human error and an increase in productivity. Legacy integration means the transition into using the new software can be completely seamlessly without aggravation and minimal downtime. These are the benefits you want to highlight more so than the actual features themselves, and product videos give you an optimal opportunity to do just that.
Testimonial Videos
Testimonial videos are like a goldmine to your online marketing efforts. You can structure them in the form of traditional testimonials or case studies with a customer review strategically integrated. Not only can these videos be used to highlight your trust and credibility, but you can also use them to point out the various features of your product that have truly helped existing customers. Even better, you can acquire footage for these videos during in-store events, at product launches, and at tradeshows.
Don’t be afraid to put together a long video for testimonials. You don’t want the customer who is giving a review to feel like they’re running short on time. If they do, they might leave out an important piece of information regarding how well they loved the product or service.
After curating a testimonial video, you can go back in and edit it to ensure it’s not too long. Viewers of the video will want as much information as possible, and most importantly, they will want to see that the testimonial is coming from an honest, existing customer. Don’t ask the reviewer to say something if it’s not true.
Comparison Videos
A comparison video is where you get to brag on your brand, increasing brand awareness. Is there a certain competitor that’s dominating your industry but you know your product is way better? If so, then create a comparison video highlighting what it is about your product that makes it better than your competitor’s. Even if your product costs more, consumers are typically willing to pay the difference if they know for sure that your product can better meet their needs. Remember, your customer has a pain point, aka a problem. A comparison video is your chance to show how and why your product can solve the problem much better than the competitor’s product.
Decision Stage Types of Video Marketing Content
Congratulations! You’ve successfully moved some of your leads to the bottom of the funnel, and now it’s time work even harder to ensure they decide to buy from your brand. Once leads have made their way to the bottom of the funnel, they are dangling on the fence of whether to make a purchase. Many of them have already decided to buy a product or service, they just don’t know which brand to buy from. All it takes is a slight push once they’re in the decision stage in order to get them to buy from you. A special promotion or discount are key to getting them to choose your brand.
FAQ Videos
There’s a good chance your leads have a few remaining questions they would like answered before they make a purchase. It’s your job to pinpoint these questions and then create a video that answers them.
Behind-the-Scenes Videos
What better way to engage your audience than through behind-the-scenes videos? Your behind-the-scenes footage helps consumers see your brand from an angle they normally don’t see. There are all kinds of behind-the-scenes topic ideas to choose from. You can show your product in action, your product being built, your company partaking in trade shows and community events, and much more.
Behind-the-scenes videos focusing on your employees are always a great way to appeal to your audience from a humanistic standpoint. Unless you show them the people working for you, they’re just going to look at your company as a traditional brand. Humanizing your brand with behind-the-scenes footage helps you connect on an emotional level and it gives leads that slight push they need to buy from you.
The Takeaway
No matter the types of video marketing content you are creating, don’t hold back from being as creative as possible. You need to differentiate your videos from all others out there. 3D animations are a great way to do this.
The majority of brands know they need to integrate video content marketing into their overall online content marketing efforts, but if you’re like most of them, you don’t have knowledge or resources to create videos. Teaming up with an agency that excels in video creation is an excellent way to overcome this problem. You simply tell the agency what your goal is and a team of professionals will take care of everything else.
There’s a ton of work that goes into creating videos. From the creation of storyboards to scripts to voiceovers, animations and more, it takes a lot of work from start to finish to create a video that engages the audience. An agency will know the specifics of how to create video marketing content for your business that resonates with your audience and moves them through the buyer’s journey to make a purchase from your brand.
Contact IGW today to get started on the creation of various types of video marketing content for your online marketing campaigns.
Leverage Video Marketing To Increase Conversions Today
Sources
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/state-of-video-marketing-new-data
http://syndacast.com/video-marketing-statistics-trends-2015/
