Meet Your Digital Marketing Funnel’s Secret Weapon: Video

Marketers are putting more and more emphasis on building and strengthening their digital marketing funnel, and with good reason. Funnels provide a predictable and scalable system to convert traffic to leads, leads to customers, and customers to loyal fans that will happily provide you with referrals.

In most digital marketing funnels, content acts as the fuel that drives prospects into your funnel and begins the process of converting them to a customer. This content can be blog posts that you distribute on social media, e-books and whitepapers that you promote on your website, or testimonials that you email to your prospect database.

Lately however, one form of content in particular has taken the lead at the most effective way to attract your target audience into your funnel: video.

Cisco has predicted that in 2019, video will account for 80% of global internet traffic. Whether you’re trying to unclog a sink, figure out the features of your new smart thermostat, or demoing a new accounting software, chances are you’re watching a video to help you do it.

Smart marketers are harnessing the power of video to supercharge their sales and marketing funnels at every stage, from awareness to acquisition to retention. If you’re not incorporating video assets into your digital mix, you run the risk of losing out on leads to your competitors that do.

The good news is that launching a video marketing strategy has never been easier or more cost effective. We’ve listed a few of our most successful video-based tactics in this post, and highlighted where they can be integrated into your digital funnel.

Building awareness with video

The top of your funnel is filled with prospects that are aware of:

1. Your company
2. Your products and services
3. The problem you can help solve

You build that awareness with traffic sources, such as social media posts, Google ads, and SEO campaigns. When you add video to these traffic sources, you introduce your company, products and solutions in a personal way that builds trust and authority.

Here’s an example of an animated video for our content marketing services at BroadBased:

This video explains the service in a much more interesting way than a text-heavy webpage. It can be incorporated directly into targeted Facebook ads, and be used on landing pages for email and search campaigns.

At this early stage in the funnel, it’s critical that your prospects are aware of the services you offer, and how they work. Video gives you a visual away to create this awareness and move them through to the next phase: Evaluation.

Take the lead over your competitors

Now that your ideal prospects know who you are, it’s time to separate yourself from the pack. Chances are, they’re also evaluating your competition during this phase, so it’s critical that you showcase your most powerful value propositions.

This is where a higher-end video can really help you shine, like the one below we helped Episcopal School of Jacksonville create. Featuring aerial footage shot via drone camera, as well as interior and exterior landscapes of their stunning riverfront campus, the video serves as the centerpiece of their website.

Video allows your prospects to see for themselves why you’re the best choice while they’re in the evaluation phase, and creates an experience vs. a sales pitch. While these types of videos tend to have a higher price tag, it can be justified based on how effective they are at moving prospects down the funnel to the next phase: Conversion.

Get some Face Time to close the sale

Face-to-face is the most effective form of selling, and it’s also the most difficult to scale. That is, until you mix in video.

Video allows you to add a personal touch the same way a face-to-face meeting does, but instead of meeting with just one interested prospect, you can meet with virtually all of them.

At this point in the funnel, your prospect has become aware of your company, evaluated you as a potential fit, and is ready to convert. Here are some examples of a conversion depending on your business model and goals:

• A website visitor submitting their email address to download an e-book or helpful guide
• A social media user ‘Liking’ your Facebook page
• A shopper purchasing a product on your e-commerce website
• A B2B lead booking a consultation or demo

Whatever a conversion is to your business, your chances of success skyrocket when you incorporate video.

• 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching branded social videos (biteable)
• 59% of executives agree that if both text and video are available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video.
• Video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80% or more (eyeviewdigital.com)

Here’s an example of a video that provides that face-to-face feel to help build trust and drive conversion:

This video features of our clients talking about her experience using one of our digital marketing services. When a prospect has already evaluated your services and is in the process of making a final decision, these types of testimonial-style videos can push them over the top in your favor. They really help “paint the picture” about what it’s like to work with your company, and what results they can expect. They also show that you have the relevant experience and expertise in a personal way in a natural way that’s not overly “salesy”.