MI: What objectives can be satisfied
with video?
Litt:
Although a lot of tactics marketers
rely on, including video, are thought to only
increase brand awareness, you can use
video assets throughout the sales funnel
to drive mid-level organizational goals, like
lead generation and sales enablement.
For example, with optimizations like an
email-required form and calls to action, you
can start collecting leads directly through
your video content. Additionally, you can
push individual leads’ video viewing data
into a CRM to start scoring prospects
based on how much of your content they’ve
watched.
This enables you to gain context for
conversations with prospects. For example,
if I see that Rachel has watched five
detailed product demos in one day, I can
assume she’s short-listing solutions, and
I can follow up with more personalized
information.
MI: What types of videos could I
produce?
Litt:
You’ve got to create videos for every
part of the sales funnel, focusing on a
lot of meaty content for the phase when
leads are looking to learn about your
product or service. If you anticipate and
answer questions before the viewer asks
them, you’ll be in a great position to guide
prospects through the funnel.
I usually recommend that companies set
up a content journey with video where
every video’s call to action leads to the next
piece of content you’d like them to watch.
A sequence like this starts with a top-of-
funnel explainer video, and the call to action
prompts the viewer to watch more specific
content like demos, recorded webinars or
detailed product videos.
MI: Do videos need to be
professionally produced?
Litt:
Absolutely not! One of the best things
about the current state of video marketing
is that the barriers to entry are the lowest
they’ve ever been. Between smartphones,
quality webcams and tablets, everyone in
the organization can be a content creator.
While there are top-of-funnel videos you’ll
want to consider professional production
for, such as your explainer and customer
testimonials or case studies, there are
videos you can create yourself to address
the whole buying cycle.
MI: So, I’ve created a few how-to
videos and put them on YouTube.
Now what?
Litt:
To avoid a “post and pray” approach,
you need to actively optimize your content.
Ask yourself what business goals your
video will help you drive, such as lead
generation or getting prospects to perform
specific actions (i.e. signing up for your
newsletter, subscribing to your blog, etc.).
YouTube alone isn’t a video strategy
and doesn’t offer rich analytics a video
marketing platform does. Video analytics
are a great way to observe drop off rates
and potential gaps in your content strategy.
If I notice, for instance, that users drop off
10 seconds into each of my videos, it’s
clear my video intro is too long and not
maintaining attention. If I notice that a video
loses 50 percent of the audience before
20 percent of the video is complete, I know
there’s something that’s not working and
needs to be adjusted with the messaging.
A video hub of customer success stories
or testimonials on your website is hugely
persuasive, because a customer's emotion
really comes through with video. Prospects
can view several clips when visiting your
site in a short time, so make sure multiple
customer types are represented.
MI: How does video “fit” into a multi-
channel marketing plan for B2B, B2C
and nonprofit organizations?
Litt:
Because your customers are
engaging with video every day on sites and
apps like YouTube, Vine and Instagram,
video has become an expected content
format.
Once you have a landing page with a video
on it to market a new product or event, for
example, it’s easy to set up nurture emails
with that video, and share your video on
every social channel. Moreover, you’ll find
brand fans will want to share your videos
too, and they’ll perform well on social sites
because nobody can resist a play button in
their newsfeed.
MI: What engagement metrics can I
expect, and what should I reach for?
Litt:
Every business’s engagement metrics
will be different, but there are goals you
can reach for. You can start to tie videos
to return on investment if you use each
new piece of content to improve upon the
metrics of the last. Some things you can
aim to do include:
• Collect X-number of leads with your
videos.
• Maintain the attention span of over 60%
of your target audience watching right
until the end of each piece of content.
• Use calls to action to direct viewers in a
linear path across your sales offerings to
improve sales enablement.
• Connect your video marketing to your
CRM so you can use video viewing history
to identify your hottest prospects.
• Double your click-through rate for
nurture campaigns by using video assets
in email.
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