Video marketing. The future of the entire marketing industry. Cisco forecasts that by the year 2020, 80% of all consumer online traffic will be made up of video content.
And that forecast isn’t really surprising at all. YouTube’s success, in fact, is a clear indication of what’s to come in the next few years, especially in terms of marketing. Did you know that 55% of all online audiences pay closer attention to video content compared to other content forms? Even for those in the B2B market, video marketing is a tried-and-tested tool. In fact, 59% of executives (most of them key decision-makers) prefer watching videos instead of reading written content.
Seeing how good the numbers are, it’s safe to say that without a solid video marketing strategy, your business can easily be left behind. Especially if you’re struggling in terms of lead conversion, a business video or two could easily change the tides for you and your business.
Why Lead Conversion Should Be Top Priority
A lot of businesses forget the importance of lead conversion – a mistake that could potentially have fatal results.
You may think that generating sales or focusing on ROI would be the most logical end goal for a marketer or business owner. While every business aims to earn money, you have to understand that there is an entire process of getting to that point. How do I get that target profit? How do I start getting my investment back?
Some may also feel that hoarding page visits is more than enough. While that’s a noble endeavor, you have to ask yourself – what’s the next step? What do I expect to gain from all these visits?
This is where lead conversion comes in.
Basically, lead conversion is the process of converting a lead into a sale or an opportunity. To really understand the full impact of lead conversion, here are two facts you have to remember:
- Higher traffic does not always translate to higher sales.
- Doubling conversion is an easier task than doubling traffic.
With that in mind, what exactly does lead conversion do for your business? Why does it deserve a spot on top of your priority list?
For one thing, conversion paves the way towards a sale. It doesn’t necessarily mean, of course, that once a lead is converted, a sale was also made. However, we all know that earning a sale is not as easy. Buyers follow an intricate, step-by-step journey. Efficient lead conversion would take your audience from one step to another, eventually arriving at a sale.
Lead conversion also allows you to understand your audience better. You can find what triggers were pulled before each conversion happened. Data like this will highly benefit you not only in terms of conversion rates, but in building strategies for your other marketing efforts as well.
Why Video Marketing?
So better lead conversion is the end goal. But why use video marketing to get there?
People are visual creatures.
A human’s most dominant sense is vision. The brain processes visual elements faster than anything else. This is why they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Can you imagine how much moving images will be worth?
Written content allows people to see words – but it also requires them to process these words and picture whatever is said in their minds. When it comes to videos, the process is more direct. The entire message is delivered frame by frame.
Videos show emotion
Traditional advertising comprised mostly of videos that tell you what the product benefits are. But modern approaches show more heart. It’s less of “Buy this,” and more of “This is how you feel.”
This is exactly why video marketing works. Humans have emotions that push them to take action. It doesn’t have to be logical all the time. More often than not, emotions push buttons that logic cannot.
Search engines love video content
Notice how top search results on Google always contain something with video thumbnails? It’s because aside from using the appropriate keywords and having the right amount of backlinks, video content pulls up your chances of showing up on the top spot.
Having a video embedded on your website actually increases your chances of showing up on SERPs by 53 times. And with Google now owning YouTube, you should have a pretty good idea just how important video content really is to the search giant.
Video content is easily consumed by mobile users
Mobile is everywhere. Each page, each piece of content has to be optimized for mobile if you want to get ahead. With people on the go everywhere, what better way to deliver your message than by video?
Whether your audience is on the train heading to work, or on vacation at a beach resort somewhere, they would have their mobile devices with them. Reading lengthy written content may not be ideal for a lot of people in these situations, but sitting back and letting a video do all the work can do the job.
No, those aren’t everything. These are just a few of the reasons why video marketing works well. But now that you have a good idea of how well it can work, it’s time to figure out how you can create a strategy that will bring in more leads.
7 Business Video Elements That Should Make Up Your Video Marketing Strategy
Your business videos are powerful enough to help you build a solid lead database. And by solid, we mean leads that have higher chances of converting – not just any group of netizens.
Experienced video production companies know exactly what kind of elements to add to your business video to make sure your leads end up making the right decision.
Here are a few things your business videos need to stack up those quality leads that could eventually be converted into actual sales:
1. Lead capture forms embedded right into the videos
That’s the beauty of our current technology. Instead of giving us limitations, new systems allow us to find ways to work around past stumbling blocks. Before, viewers would have to sit through a video and decide whether they would follow your call to action to move to a different page and fill up a form. Now, you don’t even have to ask them to leave the viewing pane. Lead capture forms can now be embedded directly on a video.
The awesome thing about it is, if you have an incredibly powerful introduction, you can insert the lead capture form into the first 20% of your video and allow your viewers to grab any opportunity you’re offering without having to finish the entire thing.
But wait, don’t we want them to finish the video?
Of course, that’s what we want to happen! But we also have to understand that a lot of our viewers are on the go. By adding a lead capture form within the first few sections of your video, you can capture those leads and reach out to them with the info they missed at a more convenient time.
2. Thumbnails that are easier to relate to
This is a pretty basic point, but one that a lot of marketers often forget. Simply posting your video isn’t enough. You have to make sure that the first thing people see makes them want to click on that play button.
This is where thumbnails come in.
A video thumbnail displays a frame from your video. And it’s not just something that they see when they pass your video content on their feed – it’s what search engines display as well.
A welcoming, smiling human face is always better than your business logo or a picture of your product. It has a bigger emotional impact.
If you have text on your video, you can also use a frame that shows a compelling line or phrase as a thumbnail. It could be a question, or something that directly addresses one of your target audience’s pain points. This makes them feel like your business video is a sign from the heavens, something that addresses them directly.
3. Ideal length
You have a message to share, and you can’t wait to pour your heart and soul out to a willing audience. But no matter how important you think your message is, or how thoroughly you want to discuss it point per point, not everybody has the time and attention span to sit through a long video.
2017 showed us these numbers:
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- Instagram videos that average 26 seconds received the most comments.
- Twitter’s most viral videos have an average length of 43 seconds.
- Facebook videos with an average length of 1 minute receive higher engagement.
- YouTube videos that average 2 minutes see the most engagement.
Yes, going past the 2-minute mark would lead to viewers hitting the stop button and moving onto another piece of content.
This is why lengthy dramatic intros add no value to your business video. Go straight to the message and hold the audience captive right off the bat. This will also trigger that “A-ha!” moment earlier, pushing your leads to convert faster.
4. Verbal call to action
Watch a bunch of viral YouTube stars and you’ll see something they all do. Every time they drop a vital piece of information, they give a verbal call to action.
“If you want to see more videos about this, click on subscribe using the link on your screen.”
“We discussed a topic similar to this last week, you can check out our official page to watch it.”
“Up next is an interview with someone important! Tune in and see who that is.”
These online celebrities know that it’s not just enough to entertain and engage with their audience. They also know that it’s important to tell them what their next step should be.
This is why it’s always important to give verbal calls to action. Don’t just rely on your lead capture form or the caption on your Facebook video. People need to hear it straight from your video narrator or the main character onscreen. You also have to remember that if they enjoyed this video, they would want to hear more and learn more. A call to action can deliver that opportunity right on your doorstep.
5. A clear message
Here’s the thing about online videos – you can’t jump from one topic to another without expecting some of your audience to feel confused or to have mixed reactions. Each video needs a clear message. Zoom into one thought and make your video evolve around that single thing.
This is why it is not advisable to promote both your product and brand at the same time. Hoping for better brand recognition? Focus on making a video that shows your company culture and the people behind the scenes. Talk about your advocacy. Don’t suddenly start talking about your product in the middle of it all.
Hoping to be recognized as an industry expert? Focus on education. Don’t jump in and out with sales pitches. Concentrate on a single point.
But what if you have different messages to share?
In this case, creating a separate video for each unique message is best. Don’t look at it as an extra expense or a waste of resources. Think about it this way – would you rather have a single video that does not get the response you want, or 2 or 3 business videos, each of them bringing in the numbers you’ve been looking for all this time?
6. Custom end cards
Especially if you’re posting your business video on YouTube, it’s normal to see end cards that say “Subscribe”. But when you think about it, this call to action only benefits your YouTube channel. But what about other channels you use?
This is why it is also wise to customize your end card and make it go beyond the usual. Provide end cards that would lead them straight to your landing page, or would prompt them to follow your social media profiles.
7. The right distribution channels
Although YouTube is often the first thing that comes to mind when someone says the word “video”, it’s not the only distribution channel out there. In a world driven by visual content, the opportunities are endless, and the channels countless.
Here’s one basic thing you should never forget – it’s always best to post the video directly on your landing page.
We would expect that your entire website is filled to the brim with all the information your target audience may need. And once they’re done watching the video, there’s a huge chance they’re going to want to learn more. Having them view your video on your own site gives you the advantage of having all the necessary tabs clearly visible (assuming you’ve done your due diligence in ensuring efficient navigation around your site).
Of course, you’d also have to spread the word around further. That’s where other channels come in. Social media sites now allow you to post your videos and, hopefully, allow you to reach more people.
It is optimal to find out what the best practices are for each channel, though. Remember the numbers posted earlier? Social media shows that the audience in every platform are different from each other. YouTube subscribers would tolerate longer videos, but Instagram followers would expect shorter ones. This is why you may also want to tweak your videos around a bit depending on the platform you’re posting on.
These are the things your video marketing strategy needs to make the kind of impact you want. Remember that ALL these should be present. You don’t get to cook the perfect steak if you leave out one key ingredient. In the same way, building your marketing strategy requires all these. You can leave out the fancy add-ons, like paid celebrities or launch parties. But leave one of these must-haves out of the equation, and it won’t be a big surprise if you fail to hit that conversion rate you’re targeting.
The Big Picture
Note that despite the importance of lead conversion, it does not stand alone. Look at the bigger picture.
Conversion rates define how many people said yes to an action you want them to perform. But these actions do not necessarily translate to sales. You may have asked them to like a social media page, for example. Or you could have asked them to fill out a form. As a business, these are mere steps you have to take to ultimately reach the top of the industry.
Once you’ve paved the way towards better conversion rates using your business videos, know that it doesn’t stop there. If you only converted them from being mere site visitors into social media followers, this time, figure out how to convert them into buyers. If they signed up for a free trial, think about how you can convert them into a long-term paying member.
If you need help in figuring out how to make your video marketing strategy yield the conversion rates you want, please contact us here.
Founder at LocalEyes Video Production | Inc. 5000 CEO | Emmy Award Winning Producer
