Awesome Video Marketing Tips for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey

As the expression goes time flies; especially when we look at the rapid impact of video on the world of digital marketing. 2005 singled the launch of the first social media video channel, YouTube, which caused ripples to turn into waves.

However, in the early 2000s, the video's role as an important part of a digital marketing strategy was still a decade-plus away. Today, video is no longer 'the kid trying to gain acceptance by his or her peer group, it is a part of the in-crowd; a true staple of any marketing strategy.

Here's how video can impact your business at every stage of the buyers' journey.

So why video; what video do you share; and when

According to Hubspot, using video as a part of your marketing strategy will boost your conversion rate by up to 65%. It is also increasingly common for businesses to have a video on their landing page, shared as part of a post on social media, as part of a blog, product demo, customer testimonial, or case study.

But, what type of video is appropriate for your customers' buyers' journey. The video you'll use at the awareness stage will be different from the video you'll use at the decision stage.

The Buyer’s Journey

A great way to picture the buyer’s journey is to imagine a funnel, at the top of the funnel is the awareness stage. At this phase, you'll need to create video content that will help customers define and acknowledge their problem.

Moving on to the consideration stage; at this buyer's journey stage, the customer has defined their problem; the goal here is to help your customers commit to research all possible solutions.

When your customers have arrived at the decision stage, it is up to you to showcase what differentiates your brand, product, or service from your competitors.

An example of a video used in the Awareness stage

Your goal of creating videos in the awareness stage is to be informative, educational in answering your customers' questions, helping them to define and clarify their problem. Ideally, these types of videos should “bring a customers problem alive, while only hinting at a solution”.

How-to Videos

How-to videos are great to show your audience how they can solve a specific problem that they are struggling with. Depending on the complexity of your product offering, you may consider creating a series of videos.

FAQ Videos

Jessica Mira writing for Yum Yum videos suggests FAQ videos. Every business has customers that have similar questions but don’t have access to a company expert in that niche. Why not record short clips with members of your team addressing a specific set of frequently asked customers questions.

What are the best practices for educational and how-to videos?

• Ensure you explain your product in a way that is easy to understand and clear descriptive titles.
• Keeping your videos shorter, rather than longer will encourage customer engagement. If you have a sophisticated product offering or service, why not create a few videos to break it down and explain it.
• You could include a CTA to a blog post or ebook to get more information.

The consideration stage

At this phase of the buyer’s journey, you have used videos to help your customers acknowledge their problem; and they are at the stage where they want to identify a solution and are looking at options.

Educational Videos

Video presentations and webinars are two examples of educational content that you can present on video. The objective of this type of video is to bolster your brand and expertise. And most importantly, to build your potential customers' trust, that your brand is the go-to company for a solution that meets their needs. So why choose a video to communicate this, rather than a blog or ebook.

Webinars and video presentations allow your audience to see your facial expressions, your hand gestures, providing a more personalized way to get across your message. From an engagement perspective, these forms of videos score high and increase conversion on several marketing channels.

The Decision Stage

The final stage of the funnel is when customers are making their way to making a purchasing decision. At this point in their journey, they have assessed the full spectrum of options. Throughout their buyer's journey, they have accumulated knowledge about your offerings, and the ones offered by your competitors. The purchasing phase is where you want to convert your warm leads by providing compelling content that differentiates your service or product offering.

The objective of creating videos at this pivotal conversion stage is to answer any lingering questions your customers may have about your service or product offering. When producing video content at this phase, have it in mind- that your customers need to know that your services, tools are trustworthy, and they are the only one your customer needs to resolve their problem.

Make videos about your brand

Producing a video about your brand isn’t just showcasing your values or company culture, it should be focused on showing the human side, the real people who are behind your company.

Why you may ask is this so important. The reason is that your potential customers need to know who they're about to buy from. About-us, videos strengthen that bond of trust and help to humanize your company brand.

Testimonials and Case study videos increase your prospects confidence showing and authenticity-showing real people telling real stories about how by using your services or products resolved their problems.

Video Marketing: what did we do without it!

A decade seems to vanish in an instant; since the early 2000s,' the impact of video on businesses' marketing campaigns has been immense, and on society in general.

If you scroll down a company's or an individual's news feed, you are bound to see an enlightening video promoting a service of some kind, or another, or a business person interviewing one of their team members or a thought leader in their industry.

Watch this space because there is far more to come from video marketing. It is hard to fathom the impact of video marketing in the next decade, and that is why it is so exciting. When done right- video helps inform, engage, and positively impact the buyer's journey. It can also create a personal touch in brand videos and introduce the power of persuasion in testimonials.

It is no longer a pie in the sky notion; today, it is one of the most effective tools in the modern marketers' arsenal.