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NURTURING LEADS DOWN THE FUNNELwith Video Content

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Video is critical in nurturing and influencing leads throughout the buyer’s journey

Companies leveraging video are seeing their revenues grow nearly

than colleagues who don’t use video (MarketingProfs, 2015).

faster annually

In fact, a recent Demand Metric survey found that 74% of B2B marketers reported that video now converts better than other content types.

50%

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“This guide discusses how expert B2B marketers can strategize their video content toward specific stages of the buyer’s journey to inform prospects, lift engagement, boost lead scoring and increase marketing influenced pipeline.

Video content can quickly communicate the essential details of a product or service, and “hook” audiences much more quickly than static content can in many cases. – Adam Blitzer, SVP & GM, Salesforce Pardot

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However, just taking one of these approaches doesn’t convert initial viewers into loyal customers. Strategic marketers leverage video throughout the journey to expand brand awareness as well as showcase their solution’s application and effectiveness.

Online researchers want knowledge fast, often bypassing introductory content quickly. Your goal as a marketer is to produce quality content at all stages to effectively turn prospects into customers.

Marketers tend to leverage videos in one of three ways. Marketer A uses videos as brand awareness pieces to highlight their company for a thought leader and to drive brand loyalty. Marketer B features video content on their product pages to complement product introductions or highlight promotions to influence the decision makers. Marketer C focuses on bottom-of-funnel videos to feature the product, implementation of the product or case study videos to tip late-stage prospects over into purchase.

Video should support all stages of the sales funnel

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It’s not a surprise that videos have increasingly become one of marketing’s main tactics. With the ability to engage with a vast amount of prospects, roughly 70% of companies that are investing in video marketing programs plan to increase their video production budget in the coming year (MarketingProfs, 2015).

However, 48% of companies report that the lack of an effective strategy is the most challenging obstacle to video marketing success (Video Marketing Strategy Survey, Ascend2).

B2B video marketing experts design videos to address the various stages of the sales funnel. Research from the Aberdeen Group found around 60% of best-in-class companies are using video through the entire buyer’s journey, from driving awareness all the way through to the post-sale stage.

Align videos to the buyer’s journey

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Videos that generate awareness, thought leadership pieces

Short, how-to videos

Webcasts, product demos and comparison videos

Customer testimonial and case study videos

Videos demonstrating additional value of product

Here’s your breakdown to align video strategically for your buyers:

1) Top of funnel

2) Mid funnel

3) End of funnel

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Top of funnel videos can effectively introduce your brand, mission and why the market needs you. To generate vast awareness of your brand, create video content with broad, wide-ranging appeal. You’ll want to grab attention with share-worthy insights and spotlight your brand with high-quality visionary content. It’s general best practice to use people for videos that are for thought leadership and POV where as more data-driven conceptual videos tend to be presented through animations.

Increase quantity of leads by emphasizing top-of-funnel content (like blogs and white papers) as a strategy to attract net new names.

This content should be easily searchable and organized by persona and content type.

Videos that drive brand awareness1

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Instructional content: Summarize your products and services. Use “what you do” concepts to heighten prospect trust and confidence in your brand.

Repurposed webinar content: Break webinar key points into separate videos and infographics for influential content within your industry.

Thought leadership: Become a valuable, go-to resource for industry issues by interviewing company executives and other key influencers within your field.

Frequent video blogs “vlogs”: Generate a tangible story around your brand and solutions.

Community interviews: Touch on issues in your industry with members of your target community.

Create awareness-level engagement with:

are watching videos throughout their journey, up 52% from just two years ago (Think with Google).

70% of B2Bbuyers

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Buyers in the consideration stage need help evaluating your solution to justify a purchase. This requires going deeper and supplying more detail with longer-form content. Mid-stage content should persuade and inform. Demonstrate the features that differentiate your company’s product/service. Continue to create brand advocates and establish loyalty with your potential customers with content that sparks an inspirational connection.

Increase quantity of leads by emphasizing top-of-funnel content (like blogs and white papers) as a strategy to attract net new names.

This content should be easily searchable and organized by persona and content type.

Videos influencing buying teams2

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Product demos and tutorials: Show how your solution will solve lead problems. Demonstrate how you’ve solved industry challenges in the past.

Video case studies/white paper teasers: Generate shares and educate leads in their preferred medium.

Client testimonials: Create credibility with prospects by letting your current customers tell your value story.

“How-to” videos: Highlight your expertise with a series of short videos on how your solution addresses customer challenges.

Webinar/event invitations: Leverage the clout of video to introduce and discuss upcoming events.

Product demos: Demonstrate innovative ways to apply your solutions.

Expert interviews: Continue thought leadership with industry experts or key staff member interviews.

Generate consideration-level interest with:

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Top 5 most effective types of video content:

Video Marketing Strategy Survey, Ascend2

51%

50%

49%

26%

Customertestimonials

Tutorialvideos

Thought leaderinterviews

Project reviews/case studies

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During the later stages of the buyer’s journey, video should eliminate any concerns the buyer has to deflect potential objections and empower them with the utmost confidence in their final decision.

Videos that drive purchasing decisions3

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Product specifications: Ensure prospects are certain that your solution will fit their needs and business processes. Video case studies: Generate confidence with knowledge and proof points. Customer check-in: Use personalized videos to ask new customers how your solutions are working for them or to introduce product support avenues.

Product updates: Announce upgrades as they happen to show consistent product support and connect them to previous videos to show the cadence of your improvements.

Solution integrations: Reveal how your solution integrates with other key products and services.

In-depth demos: Answer lingering questions or uncertainties.

FAQ videos: Support potential buyers with a follow up or thank you that refers them to useful FAQ content. You can also cover details consumers have requested on your solution.

Decision-level content may include:

for online marketing, sales or communications while about half of marketing professionals name video as the type of content with the best ROI (Brainshark, 2015)

93% of marketers use videos

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Content is not the only consideration when directing video marketing to the various stages of the sales funnel. Buyers in the various stages differ in the time they are

willing to spend consuming video content. Catch your audience’s attention earlier in the cycle with short form content and then expand through mid and late stage

content to further provide insights and value to your product.

What is the “ideal” video length?

Early Mid Late

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Early stage Buyers in the awareness stage like brief, summarized content. Create short, 1-2 minute videos for the greatest impact.

Late stage Late-stage buyers are more likely to engage with a 5-15 minute video to gain more in depth information and address any final concerns before making a purchase.

Mid stage Middle stage buyers are willing to invest more time educating themselves on your solution, though they are still sifting through a variety of products, solutions and brands. Mid stage videos should be 2-10 minutes long – shorter for event invites, longer for repurposed webinar content. However, video chats can last anywhere from 10-40 minutes if you have key stakeholders and a pressing topic. Mid-funnel audiences are also more likely to complete a registration form, especially for longer content that is able to show the value upfront that it will provide.

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There are several video styles to choose from:

Testimonials DiscussionsRoundtables Animations

Think tactically about the story you want to tell and choose the best format for telling that story. The style you choose should quickly engage your viewer and clarify the telling of your story.

What is the “ideal” video style?

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A video testimonial featuring a product user might be an effective tactic to humanize the buying decision at the end of funnel. On the other hand, animation may be a strong option for top of funnel engagement for a curious but early stage buyer.

A hybrid of the two formats presents an effective transition option for middle funnel buyers. It starts with an animation clarifying a complex business problem and then introduces an employee to discuss the solution. It’s important to be strategic and leverage the best tactics for each stage to gain maximum impact.

Need help creating better video content?

BrightTALK Studios to help.

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Videos are phenomenal tools to address and motivate your target audience. However, without the proper promotional tactics in place, this only occurs if your

target buyer happens to stumble across your video.

Marketers who leverage video in social media and email campaigns increase the chances of connecting with prospects. Therefore, YouTube is a valuable resource for discoverability and SEO purposes, but it shouldn’t be the sole platform you leverage for success. YouTube draws massive crowds, however; it has struggled in its ability to help convert your audience into business.

Especially in the B2B space, companies leverage YouTube to move viewers to B2B focused social channels like LinkedIn and BrightTALK. These platforms enable marketers to re-engage and create new opportunites.

Getting views, likes & revenue

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Email marketing43% of consumers are more likely to read email newsletters that include links to video and 56% of consumers have watched a company video that came through email (Animoto 2015). Using the word “video” in subject lines increases open rates by 19% and reduces unsubscribes by 26% (Brainshark, 2015). A 2015 GetResponse study of one billion emails found emails containing video had a 96% higher click-through rate than those without.

Social media campaignsSocial media channels like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are valuable platforms for video viewing and sharing along a wide range of industries. 84% of consumers claim they have liked a company video that appeared in their newsfeed and nearly half of all consumers have shared a company video on their personal social media profile (Animoto 2015).

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WebsitesVideos are significantly increasing the interaction of buyers on websites. Around 83% of companies are using video content for website marketing (Web Video Marketing Council). Why? Videos are also increasing the time a buyer spends on your webpage. Attivio, an enterprise software company, found that adding videos to their pages increased the average time spent on the page to three minutes whereas those without videos had an average of 90 seconds. Using video on landing pages can increase conversion by 80% (Unbounce).

Video marketing platformsMarketers can now incorporate custom video marketing channels, like BrightTALK Channels, to organize and promote video content and capture engagement data. While social platforms like YouTube provide the breadth of reach, platforms like BrightTALK capture rich engagement data that accelerates sales conversations and enables you to target your specific audience. Make sure to make the most of your content by placing it where buyers are researching.

Optimal video placement also varies along the sales funnel. Be sure you are leveraging the proper channels to bring in prospects from all points along the buyer’s journey.

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So, where do you place these rich pieces of content?Early stage videosThe awareness stage is your first impression. Since prospects are likely to happen upon interesting or creative content through their daily searches, avoid gated content. Make sure to maximize your calls to action within these videos to direct prospects to places where you will collect user information, like their company, job title and region. The key to successful early stage videos is to be where your buyers are by maximizing where you showcase your videos.

Ungated social media

Branded YouTube content

Website

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Mid stage videosAt this point, buyers are now interested in learning more. Here you’ll want to start collecting viewer information with gated videos and sending more targeted video content. Incorporate a video marketing platform like BrightTALK to capture engagement data for sales outreach and future content targeting.

Websites

Tracked email campaigns

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Late stage videosContinue to utilize video containing calls to action to market solution-related tutorials, free offers and new solutions in the decision and post-sale stages of the buyer’s journey. This is where to leverage sites like BrightTALK that offer rich engagement data and an audience to promote to, in order to boost your lead generation and pipeline contribution.

Websites

Tracked email campaigns

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Video provides a highly effective means of cutting through the noise and boosting engagement for your 2016 B2B marketing campaigns.

Make sure your brand and solution are at the front of the buyer’s mind throughout the purchasing cycle by maximizing your subjects and placements of videos. Most importantly, don’t forget the power of hosting video on your domain - your content and value proposition surrounded by your branding and quick ways to speak to sales.

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For more resources on running effective webinar and video programs, visit the BrightTALK Academy.

The right mix of video type, length and platform can successfully engage prospects and generate high-quality

leads that convert all the way down the funnel.