What Type of Video to Use in Your Video Marketing Automation Strategy

60% of the top conversion rate performers now use video in their strategy, from initial awareness to after-sales (Aberdeen Group, 2018). Cross-sectional use of the video therefore increases your chances of turning your prospects into customers.The acquisition tunnel consists of several stages between the discovery of your product and its purchase. Each step is an opportunity to produce quality video content that will optimise the prospect’s journey.

First step: Identify the pain points and point them out

In the discovery and reputation phase, your goal is to show that your business and its services meet one of the pain points of your prospect. Attracting the attention of the target customers to their problems means hammering the nail into the point where it really hurts before putting forward your solution as a cure. Here is a selection of videos to consider at the beginning of your conversion funnel:

A filmed interview of your executives with influencers, top executives, opinion leaders to indirectly show that you have well-known brands in your client portfolio;

“How to” tutorial to illustrate that the use of a new solution is an option to consider;

Study (with figures and comments) to emphasise the pain points and the advantage of choosing a solution while working on your reputation;

Employer video: what better way to sell your product or service than to show happy employees! An often underestimated asset that can lead to offbeat and viral content.

Our tip: optimise the content in this part of the funnel with calls to action in the video. For example, a clickable screen or an ephemeral CTA may invite the visitor to view another video, download a white paper or explore the funnel further.

Second step, solution benchmarking and education of the prospect

The CEO of Vidyard, a video content hosting platform, explains on his blog that most video content should focus on the evaluation or mid-journey stages.

It is actually at this moment that your prospect recognises the existence of a problem. They then look for information on market trends and different alternatives in terms of solutions. At this stage of maturity, your content must be authentic, authoritative and educate your prospect. The goal? Let them determine the criteria that will guide them to you. Several videos are recommended at this stage of the conversion funnel:

• Webinar that allows you to respond to the pain points with your solution;
• Filmed interview of your leaders or your employees on their expertise to create authority, legitimacy or even adopt an influencer position for your market or sector;
• Video of market experts: the experts will not talk about your solution as such but will highlight market data, business trends and uses that implicitly lead to your solution;
• Video on the ecosystem of the customer: this type of format shows your prospect that you understand their problems, their suppliers, their partners … And from this perspective, your solution fits perfectly into this environment;
• A presentation video that accurately responds to their business and industry issues: video centred on a trade or a specific use case;
• Institutional video.

Third step, the video that leans towards the purchase

The buyer now has accurate information on the market and its various players. They have established a shortlist that is pretty much developed of solutions that meet their criteria of choice. It only remains to demonstrate why it is better to choose you rather than a competitor. The objective, at this stage, is to show how your positioning meets the specific needs of the prospect:

• Case study;
• Video of product / service demonstrations;
• Customer testimonial / success story;
• Video demonstrating the solution;
• FAQ in videos.

Our advice: create videos related to specific campaigns and transmit them at the right time. If you know that your target prospect will be at an event you are attending, for example, create a video to encourage a meeting.

At the end of the funnel, be sure to use CTAs to launch demonstrations and tests, and make sure you are easy to reach.

Fourth step, from success story to ambassador

A convinced buyer can quickly become an ambassador. The videos at this stage of the funnel are therefore intended to inform clients about regular topics, build loyalty and encourage them to become ambassadors.

To do this, it is important to keep customers informed of news of your product and your offer. Share your news, new features and complementary products / services. You are looking to communicate on all topics that develop the customer experience. Some examples of formats

• Product video: teaser and demo of your new features integrated into a product newsletter;
• Video of users explaining their best practices to create a link in your community;
• Follow-up video to reinforce your customer experience. You can for example make a video on the first month of use or give some basic tips…