Not all users looking for your product or service are at the same stage of the sales funnel. You have those just browsing for information, those comparing products and services and those who are actively searching for a provider of that product or service.
So, when it comes to your digital marketing strategy or any other brand campaigns, content that works for one group isn’t going to reach customers in all stages of the sales funnel.
And this isn’t just limited to content like blog posts and product pages. Video advertising has changed how to reach more customers in a more effective way. Your video marketing strategy shouldn’t just be catered to one part of the sales funnel as a way to increase brand awareness.
When done right, your videos can reach every stage of the video marketing funnel and help you establish your brand, drive traffic and boost conversions.
What Is a Sales Funnel?
Before you can understand why your video marketing strategy needs to cater to different types of users, you might be asking, “What is a sales funnel?”
A sales funnel refers to a potential customer’s journey, from being aware of your product to making a purchase. In all the sales funnel stages, how a potential customer thinks and looks at your brand and your products and services can vary. This can affect your strategy on how to reach more customers.
At the top of your sales funnel stages, you have the users who have become aware of your brand while searching for the products or services they need. Of course, not all of them will end up considering your brand, so the number of potential customers gets smaller as every stage progresses. Users can be categorized in the following sales funnel stages:
1. Awareness. These are the users who become aware of your product or service. This can be through word of mouth, social media, or even your own digital marketing strategy targeting your demographic. The awareness stage is the top part of the brand funnel because many people might be aware of your brand, but not all of them are committed to the buying process. They know your brand exists, but either they’re just browsing, or they’re not really interested in your product or service.
2. Interest. Users at this stage are those actively researching solutions to an issue they have, but aren’t committed to making a purchase from any business just yet. They’re doing their research and comparing different types of products or services. At this stage, they’re more interested in information that helps them make informed choices rather than a sales-y approach.
3. Decision. Users at this stage are ready to make a purchase. They might have narrowed down their decision to specific providers, including you. They’re now looking at what you have to offer, and they want to see the unique selling features that set your products and services apart from your competitors. This is the best time for a more sales-y approach to these users.
4. Action. This is the final stage: a user becomes a paying customer to boost conversions. However, this isn’t necessarily the end of your dealing with that customer. They’ve purchased once, but now your goal is to get them to buy more, which can be done with video action campaigns. Studies show that the cost to reach customers from the beginning of the buyer’s journey is five times more than trying to retain existing customers.
What this means for your brand funnel is that if you’re wondering how to reach more customers with a video marketing funnel, you have to cater to every stage and what they’re looking for.
“There can be different content in the different stages of the sales funnel,” said Chris Clements, a video producer and photographer at Thrive.
“Being able to have content for each stage will help people to better understand your company and what you’re offering. They will build a connection with your business to your market.”
Creating Your Video Marketing Funnel
Users at every stage of the brand funnel have different perspectives on your products or services. And it’s because of this difference that you need to have diverse video advertising content that covers each of these stages. That’s why your video content creator should understand the persona you’re targeting and what they’re looking for.
Awareness
In this stage, the goal is brand awareness and getting your company name and brand image out there. Although there’s a chance you’ll reach people who aren’t interested in your business, getting your name out there ensures that those who will need you will remember you.
While this may feel like casting a wide net and wasting resources on a general audience, it’s not. Out of all the stages, Clements believes that awareness is one of the most important.
“Being able to show off your product or service in an entertaining way will heavily impact the choice to spend money. Being able to see yourself using a product or service, wishing you were the one in the video will be a sales driver,” said Clements.
In this stage, your video content should focus on brand campaigns to improve your image and brand awareness, as well as get your own products and services remembered. By getting your brand out there, you can be in users’ minds once they start searching for products and services that you provide.
Interest
By this point, users recognize their problems and are looking for solutions to address them online. They’re not necessarily looking for something to buy at this point. Rather, they’re looking for information and all the possible solutions they can use to address it.
Users at this stage are more likely to look for information rather than purchases. This means your videos should be more informational than persuasive. Now is a good time to establish yourself as an authoritative source of information, which you can do by producing videos that answer their questions in search of solutions.
Decision
At this stage, users are now actively looking to buy. If your business is among their list of considered providers, they’ll be comparing your offerings with that of your competitors. This is the best time to take a soft-sell approach that highlights your unique selling points. If you’re wondering at which stage you can create content that affects how to get leads, now is that time.
This is the part of the journey where you answer why your business stands out from other competitors. Videos that show your products’ unique features, bundle deals, product reviews and special offers can attract customers to your business. Done correctly, you could boost conversions and find out how to get leads at this stage.
Action
Once you’ve reached this point, your users have already purchased from your business. Your job now is to build loyalty and retention with your customers. Your video content creator or video marketing agency should produce video action campaigns that can help users turn into repeat customers.
What Are the Benefits of Using Video Advertising To Reach Customers?
There are plenty of benefits of using a video marketing strategy to cater to customers in different buying stages. With platforms like YouTube and TikTok becoming more popular and other platforms making video content more accessible, your business can take advantage of videos to capture attention the way images and text can’t. Some of the benefits that Clements noted include:
• Timely. Videos can be stand-alone statement pieces or ongoing conversations that unfold over time.
• Reusable. Video content can be reused for future campaigns over time.
• Create a first impression. When placed strategically on your website, your video can be the first thing users see.
• Increase brand awareness. Form a personal connection to your brand that builds trust and introduces customers through brand campaigns.
• Evergreen. Plenty of videos can be reused for ads and campaigns.
• Trackable analytics. You can use video analytics to track metrics like views and clicks.
• Sets you apart from competitors. You can create original content that helps your brand stand out, which is great if your goal is to increase brand awareness.
• More engagement. Provide users with a different way to learn more about your products or services.
Thrive Is Your Creative and Innovative Video Marketing Agency
Videos can be an effective form of content that gets your brand out to your target audience. However, given the different stages of the buying process, content that works for one stage doesn’t necessarily work for others. When you work with a skilled video marketing agency that understands digital marketing and each stage of the sales funnel, you can have original and diverse content that captures the audience at every stage of their buying journey.
Let Thrive be your partner for creating memorable content that puts your products and services in the spotlight. Get in touch with us today for a free proposal on our video marketing services.
