3 min read

How Video Can Supercharge Every Step of the Customer Journey

Mark Parent October 29, 2017 3:02:00 PM EDT

Planning & Strategy Content Marketing Agency Services Sales Solutions

How Video Can Supercharge Every Step of the Customer Journey

Have you ever ended up on one of those awful highway interchanges where you get lost, going around and around a city with no clear direction about how to get where you are actually trying to go?

Frustrating, isn't it? Here's the question: Is your sales funnel like that?

Are your customers circling around and around in your sales funnel with no clear direction about how to proceed on their journey? If so, is there anything you can do throughout the buyer journey to supercharge your results and get customers moving at lightspeed through your sales funnel?

Consider using video to speed up the customer journey through your sales funnel.

Video Gets It Done!

According to Animoto, the answer is video. In a survey of over 1,000 adult consumers, 96 percent reveal that they believe videos are helpful to them when making purchasing decisions online, and 73 percent are more likely to purchase after watching an online video that explains the product or service.

It is hard to argue with those numbers. The survey also reveals that:

94 percent of respondents have watched an online video in the last week.
76 percent watch an online video at least once every week.
42 percent want to see more product videos online.
77 percent believe that companies that create online videos are more engaged with their customers.
71 percent say that videos leave a positive impression of a company.

Using Video to Guide the Customer Journey

As customers work their way through the purchasing decision, there are three main steps in the buyer journey: awareness, consideration, and decision.

Commenting on the use of video during this process, Hubspot notes: "There are several opportunities within each stage to use video, and by creating different videos for each stage, you're more likely to connect with your customers and achieve higher engagement, brand activation, and trust."

This means that, not only should you be using video to market your products or services, you should also be using different types of videos at different stages in the buyer journey.

This only makes sense, as all the content you create, albeit textual or visual, should be relevant to your customer's position in the sales funnel at every step.

Here are some hints to help you align your video content with the correct stage in the buyer's journey:

1) Awareness Stage

At the awareness stage, your goal is to grab the attention of your audience. Animoto's survey found that short videos work best in this space. A whopping 83 percent of respondents indicate that video length should be five minutes or less for best effect.

There are a variety of ways you can use that five minutes. For instance, some companies prefer to snag the attention of their audience with a little humor. A short burst of humor may help your content reach a larger audience, as consumers show a willingness to share humorous content often.

On the other hand, if humor is not a big part of your brand identity, you might want to stick with a short, informative video about your company, product, or service. Think in terms of creating an overview instead of an in-depth video at the awareness stage, and be sure to include a call-to-action to nudge the customer along through the funnel.

2) Consideration Stage

In the consideration stage, your goal is to educate your customer. Videos created at this stage include more comprehensive product videos, instructional videos, and so on.

At this stage, your customer is already aware of your basic product offering, and is looking to learn more about it. Offering things like 360-degree product views and short client testimonials can get your customers moving in the right direction.

3) Decision Stage

In the decision stage, your customer stands on the edge of making a purchasing decision. Provide the extra push customers need by using user-generated content, how-to videos that highlight your product's most attractive features and benefits, and videos pertaining to supplemental or value-added products and services.

Harness the power of video marketing by partnering with a digital agency
with video marketing expertise.

The Bottom Line

Forbes' "5 Things Your Video Marketing Should Include" observes: "Video marketing is a great way for brands to stand out from the many text-based marketing efforts being launched each day. When conducted correctly, a video marketing campaign can help your brand reach new consumers and turn them into loyal customers."

Are you ready to supercharge your marketing efforts and get leads breaking the speed limit as they hurtle through your sales funnel? Contact us today for help with integrating video marketing into your inbound campaigns!