Previously we spoke about the importance of a top-notch brand video when it comes to creating awareness for your company. And while it’s a biggie, there’s still plenty more work to be done: call it quits after your brand video, and you have a whole lot of people who know your name...and no paying customers. It’s paramount that you capitalise on the engagement created by your brand video: follow it up with a series of videos that really sell your audience on the benefits of your product, and you’ll get them over the line in no time.
Your potential customers now knows your name and what you stand for, and they’re convinced that there’s a problem to be solved. But before they commit, they want to know more – just how good is this product or service? Is it good value for money? Is anyone else using it, and who are the people behind it?
Prove that you solve the customer’s problem. Video is the ideal medium for this: show a customer incorporating your product into their lives, and reaping the benefits. Extra points if the customer in your video is young, attractive, and super cool, and running a successful yet quirky business – if your audience has to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, they might as well be the shoes of a hipster, right?
Strengthen the relationship between you and the customer – be familiar and friendly in your tone, and introduce them to your team.
Go deeper with the level of info you provide. Viewers don’t yet need all the ins and outs, like how to change their password or billing info (we’ll cover that in the next blog - retention), but they do want to learn about the range of features or offerings, and see the product in action.
Drive action: your ultimate goal is to convert your audience into paying customers. This means an immediate and compelling call to action is crucial – if your consideration videos have done their job well, there’s nothing more for your audience to think about; they’re ready to purchase now.
As we went over last time, having a specific and measurable goal for each video you put out is of the utmost importance – videos take a lot of time, energy and money to create, so you want to be sure they’re delivering on that investment. For your consideration stage videos, your ultimate goal is for potential customers to become actual customers. Exactly what this looks like will depend on your company and its sales model – it could be signing up to a beta program, or purchasing an item outright. It might be entering credit card information for a trial period, or signing up for a full-year membership. Whatever it is, don’t forget to document how many, and by when.
Just like with the brand videos at the start of your sales funnel, you’re talking to your target audience, albeit zoomed in on a particular segment of them. The difference is that now they are a captive audience – they know who you are and they have come to your site to learn more.
Now that your potential customers know who you are and where to find you, you’re probably hosting the video on your website or other social channels. People are engaged with your brand now, and more willing to come to you for information, rather than you needing to push it out to them, as with the awareness stage videos.
We suggest spending about 20% of your total video budget on videos for this stage. This might seem a bit of a stretch, given we’re also suggesting you make more videos here than at the awareness stage. But consider the following:
Your marketing and distribution costs will be vastly reduced, given these videos will usually sit on your own website and social channels.
A whole series of case studies may take a bit of time to put together, but uses real customers at their business (low casting, location fees), and essentially follows the same format each time, reducing creative costs.
There are efficiencies to be made when shooting or animating a series of product feature/explainer videos too.
Some videos suitable for this stage of the sales funnel, such as webinars, can be produced at a very low cost – think a meeting room with a camera on a tripod!
Consideration stage videos come in many forms – from company videos, to webinars and case studies. Here are a handful that work a treat.
A lot of explainer videos are animated run-throughs of a product. Shopify has done it a little differently. Their explainer video incorporates screenshots and key actions of their ecommerce product but also has a narrative, introduces their target market, and explains the problem they solve, giving you a nice overview of the product. It’s short, sweet and to the point.
Airbnb Host Story: Nalin
Just because you’ve moved past the brand video stage, doesn’t mean it’s time to abandon emotion or storytelling. Airbnb’s Host Stories take a simple case study and imbue it with compelling narrative. Through Nalin, we hear about how being an Airbnb host has benefited him. But it goes one step further in that we also hear how Airbnb resonates with him at a deeper level, how they share the same ethos.
Hubspot because… Global Plastic Sheeting
Hubspot’s customer success stories stand out because of their authenticity. They are honest portrayals of small business owners admitting to their commercial weaknesses before using Hubspot’s platform. Hubspot’s customer success stories are based on a simple premise: ‘I Hubspot because ____’, which is a clever way to communicate the benefits of using Hubspot and should provide enough proof to convince their target market to take action.
Don’t be pushy! Provide the info, and let people absorb it and make decisions in their own time. Having said that, if they’re ready to sign up straight away – let them!
Be upfront: now’s the time to deal with any barriers your audience may have.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes – know exactly what their pain point is, and how your product will make it disappear.