It is not a secret that audiences online love video content.
Video has a better chance to capture a viewer’s passing attention than text or images do. It's also able to convey a lot more info in a lot less time. So, it isn't surprising that viewers respond so well to them.
However, the power of a carefully crafted video goes beyond merely getting views and sending some extra eyes to your business' online presence. But for you to do that, you need to understand the nature of different types of videos, and the purpose they are meant to fulfill.
Figuring the differences between an entertaining animated explainer video and a charming company story video, and select the right tool for the job.
In this piece, we are going to go over a few popular types of marketing videos with a goal-oriented mindset - Helping you leverage video content’s power by matching them to your customers’ buyers’ journey.
Show Who You Are
The first step of a buyer’s journey is called Awareness Stage. The prospect is cold. The buyer just noticed (or is about to notice) that they are dealing with a problem, and eventually will seek a solution.
For you, this is the perfect opportunity to make an entrance and introduce yourself.
Something important to keep in mind for the awareness stage: You need to show to your prospects who you are, and what you are all about. You need to establish an initial relationship.
When done right, content at this stage will turn total strangers into potential customers and lead them closer to a future conversion.
Building confidence and trust in your business is crucial, and there are a couple of types of videos that excel at that.
Company Story Videos
These videos are perfect to put your company in front of your audience for the first time.
Company stories usually focus on showing your prospects your core values, trajectory, and main activities. Have those people that embody those values – your employees – be a part of it. Have them explain what your company does, how it does it, and what their involvement is in that process.
Audiences love a little human touch in their businesses, and showcasing the faces behind the logos goes a long way to foster brand permanence.
Just as your company (hopefully) is unique, so should your company’s story video be. Try to showcase what makes it special, what separates you from your competitors, and you'll have your audience wanting to be a part of it.
Testimonial Videos
There are few better ways to introduce your business to someone than by having existing, happy customers sing your praises.
Customers today depend more than ever on user reviews and checking other people's experiences and recommendations about products and companies. In the era of social media, customers' input has never been more critical.
Testimonials give you the perfect platform to add a bit more trust to the conversion equation. You get to reassure potential new customers as you introduce yourself, and you do so by showcasing people who loved doing business with you. What’s not to like there?
Highlight Your Strengths
It’s showtime!
At this stage, your potential customers have become aware of their problem, and are gearing up to solve it. It’s a part of the sales funnel called the Consideration Stage.
Here, prospects are warmer. Your audience is researching to learn more about their pain point (the problem they have) and ways to solve it. So, you need to set yourself apart from the competition. Establish loud and clear, that you understand precisely what their problem is, and have the solution they’ve been looking for.
The consideration stage puts you at the verge of converting customers, and your content needs to reflect that. Here, prospects are gathering information about how to solve their problems and comparing possibilities, which lets you be more salesy.
Your content here should highlight your products or services’ features and strengths. Focusing on all the benefits they can bring to your customers lives over those of your competitors. There are two types of videos that can do just that.
Explainer Videos
Explainer videos take all the information you want your potential customers to have about your product, and combine it with entertaining visuals and in an educational format.
The result? One of the most reliable pieces of video marketing out there.
Throughout a single video, you walk your customers over the "What," "How," and the "Why” of your product. And you do so in a charming way that attracts them to it.
Explainers tend to work so well precisely because they manage to be entertaining as they are informative - when done right, at least.
Use storytelling to place your potential customers right at the center of the story alongside your product, and you'll have a fantastic marketing video in your hands.
Product Videos
As the name implies, these videos focus on showcasing your product to your audience, how it works, and all the benefits it provides.
Some products benefit from live action videos that display them in use, while others benefit more from animated pieces or a combination of both.
Keep your product videos representative and straightforward. Hopefully, at this point, your audience already knows who you are so you can focus on the product itself. Leave no doubts about the product meeting all of your potential customers’ expectations, and don’t be shy to show off the specifics of why you are the best alternative.
Consumer Concerns
Here, buyers are hot, almost ready to close the sale. Also called the Decision Stage.
You have an educated audience, fully aware of its needs and pain points, that’s’ now comparing alternatives to figure out the best one. Prospects have narrowed their potential solutions to a handful of options which now contend with those last-minute doubts that come before closing a sale.
Content here needs to be aimed at overcoming those doubts and giving the information they need to seal the deal. You have to be specific, concise, and above all, helpful.
Here are two types of videos that work marvelously in the decision stage
FAQs Videos
Few videos perform better at overcoming last-minute resistances than FAQs.
These are pieces aimed at answering some of the most common questions and sources of hesitation the majority of your customers have.
You can go about it several ways. You can create a single annotated video to help people navigate to the answer they need. You can create different videos for different products and services and tackle their own FAQs individually. Or you can break it all down and do a very short video for each question.
All of these can help as long as you provide relevant information and answer real concerns your customer base has had about your products.
Educational Videos
As you can already imagine, these videos are meant to provide information about different matters or topics surrounding your products. If you use them the right way, your audience will start seeing you as a reliable and knowledgeable authority in your niche.
Educational videos let you build trust in your products and brand while bringing you closer to potential customers. Engaging them with valuable information that they'll need, regardless of closing the purchase with you or not.
A strategy that continually proves to be the way to go.
In Short
Audiences love video content and respond to it accordingly. You don’t have to be a specialist to figure that one out.
That said, understanding the types of popular videos used in marketing and their respective goals will give your video marketing strategy an edge. Any video company worth their salt will tell you the same: A video is only as good as the strategy you build around them! And matching the right objectives to the correct type of video is the first step in the right direction.
The world of video content is full of possibilities. You can say anything you want, any way you want. You can be creative, dynamic, relevant, and unique. But whichever route you choose, keep your goals in mind and let them inform the content you invest in.
It is a surefire way to get the most out of your video content strategy.