Creating A High Conversion Sales Funnel Using Video
The sales funnel is a visual metaphor describing the steps your leads take from their first introduction to your business to their first purchase. The funnel is wide at the top and thin at the bottom and as this implies, most of your leads won’t make it all the way to the bottom of the funnel. For the average business, a huge 79% of leads will never make a purchase. As a result, improving sales funnel conversions can result in a big boost to your company growth.
Keeping leads engaged throughout the sales funnel is therefore vital to increasing your conversions. Video is one of the highest-engagement marketing tools available, making it indispensable for keeping more users in your sales funnel.
It is vital to create and send types of video that are designed for specific stages of the sales funnel in order to get the best conversion rates:
Top-Funnel Videos
At the first stage of the sales funnel, many people in your target audience may not be fully aware of your brand and the solutions you provide. As a result, increasing awareness of your business and products should be a top priority here.
The key information to communicate at this stage is simply the basics of who you are and what your business offers. There is no need to go into lots of details yet, as your top-funnel videos should leave leads wanting to learn more about your business so that they move further down the funnel.
Top-funnel video content often includes:
- Educational videos covering topics relevant to your target audience
- Short explainer videos introducing your brand
- Videos briefly explaining the benefits of your product
1. Boost Search Traffic
SEO-driven video content can be a very effective way to introduce your business to people who might need the solutions you offer. On average, video marketing strategies can increase organic traffic from search engines by 157%.
2. Problem-Solving Content
Focus on ‘problem-solving’ keywords and question searches to create content targeting people who have a need you can help with. This can be a useful way to reach people who don’t know anything about your industry yet and how it could benefit them.
3. Educate Leads
Similarly, video content providing an introduction or explanation of the common practices and technologies in your industry can build up the knowledge needed for an informed purchasing decision. Educating potential leads is always an effective way to build their trust in your brand, and can make consumers 131% more likely to buy.
A great example of top-funnel explainer content is Sumitomo’s video on tire durability. The video helps customers while targeting popular keywords by answering common questions from their audience. At the same time, the video also briefly covers the type and benefit of Sumitomo’s tires, educating leads about the brand as well as the information they were looking for.
Mid-Funnel Videos
By the time a lead reaches the middle of the sales funnel, they are aware of your brand and they know you offer a solution to their problem, but they are not sure yet that you have the right solution for them. This means that mid-funnel videos should get a little more specific, focusing on the individual features and benefits of your business, and showcasing how your products have improved the lives of your past customers.
At this stage, it is time to show your leads why your business is better than the competition. There are a number of ways to do this:
1. Show how your product can address their specific needs
Videos delivered via opt-in marketing campaigns can be very effective here. Opt-in marketing such as SMS campaigns enables you to learn more about individual leads and focus on their needs. Using text marketing throughout the sales funnel lets you capture audience attention by sending the most relevant content for each person.
Use the information you collected when users signed up to identify their needs and personalize your approach by sending videos on specific uses and solutions for your product relevant to their needs. 61% of consumers’ buying decisions are influenced by content custom-tailored to their needs.
2. Explain your unique approach
Showing how your approach and business philosophy differs from other brands helps leads connect and relate to your business. Consumers feel more confident buying from a business when they understand its approach and goals.
Explainer videos are the perfect way to set out your business’s unique approach and benefits, while also introducing your brand image and tone. This helps to establish a relationship with leads as well as showcase your expertise. There are many potential uses for explainer videos to move through the sales funnel.
3. Showcase your success stories
Proof that your past customers love your business is one of the most effective ways to gain the trust of leads. In addition to including video testimonials and reviews in your content, case study videos focusing on how you helped customers with particular problems show the versatility of your solutions as well as the great service your customers receive.
Bottom-Funnel Videos
Once they reach the final stage of the sales funnel, your leads are almost ready to buy. Leads at the bottom of the sales funnel already understand what makes your business unique and how your solution can help them, but might still need a little persuasion to take the plunge.
1. Highlight The Extras
This is the perfect time to show your leads videos that highlight the added benefits and extras your business offers. This could involve highlighting customer-friendly processes such as a no-questions-asked returns policy, or your level of customer care and product support. 73% of buyers say that customer experience is one of the most important factors in their purchasing decisions.
These extras belong in bottom-funnel videos because while very important, great customer service isn’t going to win over leads who don’t know anything about your business yet. Once a lead is already close to buying however, these benefits assure first-time customers that they aren’t taking a gamble on customer support.
2. Explain The New User Experience
Sending videos showing what to expect once someone becomes a customer can boost their excitement and confidence in your brand.
For example, a video showing how quickly new users can get your service or product up and running. This can convince leads to buy straight away instead of procrastinating since they know there isn’t a lot of setup work to do after purchasing, and they can benefit from your brand straight away. This can be important information for people thinking about buying, as 8 out of 10 purchases are influenced by your user experience.
Slack created a highly effective example of this approach by creating an ad following a team’s first experiences with using their app and learning to take advantage of the new tool.
3. Facilitate The Purchase
Your lead is already thinking of buying, so make it easier for them. A helpful breakdown of your pricing options, premium packages, and other purchasing information clears up any confusion. This can give customers the confidence that they know exactly what they are paying for.
Conclusion
Strong use of video can greatly improve the conversion rate of your sales funnel, provided you match the video content you create to the right stage of the funnel.
Identify the key information and ideas you need to get across at each stage in order to create purpose-built video content. Relevance is vital for turning interested leads into customers, so make use of your lead information to focus on the specific needs of different audience groups. In addition, sharing your expertise and enthusiasm for your business makes your business more credible and more relatable, building trust in your brand.
Author’s Bio
Alexa Lemzy is the content manager for TextMagic – mass texting service. She writes about mobile marketing, and is passionate about equipping organizations with the necessary insights and technology to support their growth and success. Follow Alexa on Twitter for all my latest updates.