Any experienced B2B video marketer will tell you that your goal isn’t to rocket a potential customer from one end of the sales funnel to the other as quickly as possible. It’s to do so at exactly the pace that they need to make that eventual purchase essentially a forgone conclusion.
Thankfully, the video format itself is nothing if not malleable – meaning that there are a wide range of different types of video content that you can leverage to help you achieve your marketing goals.
There are six key types of video content in particular that you can use to not only increase your conversions, but also supercharge your visibility and reach!
But before we get to the types of videos that you can leverage, we recommend that you first identify your objective.
In the video marketing world, there are three main categories of online video content, each serving a different purpose:
Awareness: The main goal here is to get your business on your customers’ radar. These types of videos are very engaging and attractive to a broad audience of people!
Engagement: These videos are meant to spark a reaction. This type of content usually plays to the viewer’s emotions.
Education: The objective here is to teach your audience something new, and valuable to your business goals This can be a customer case study or a simple how-to video.
Now that you have a general idea of each video content category, let’s dive into specific types of video content you can use to supercharge your conversion rates:
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Round-Up Videos
Round-up videos are the perfect type of video content for the awareness stage of the funnel – you’re not necessarily trying to make a sale as much as you are just letting people know you exist in the first place. This is your chance to devote a few minutes to a particular topic, giving people an insight into a space that they may not otherwise have.
You could film a video about the top five recent trends in your industry, or one covering a few breaking news items from the previous week. It doesn’t matter – the key is to get people to associate your industry with your brand so that when they ARE ready to make a purchase, yours is one of the first companies that they think of.
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Company Culture Videos
Equally effective for creating awareness among B2B customers is the company culture video – your chance to showcase exactly what your company does and why it does it, while introducing a few friendly faces (read: team members) along the way.
These would be a great option for the “About Us” page on your website, or even as a playlist on your branded OTT service (if you have one). Regardless of where you choose to use them, the benefits are clear – if you help people understand WHY your company is different from so many of the other competitors out there, it strengthens the sense of loyalty they feel towards you in response. That loyalty will become one of your most important assets as people move farther down the sales funnel over time.
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Video Emails
Video emails are maybe the purest form of video on demand – the one that your customers don’t have to go looking for, because you’ve graciously delivered it right into their email inbox.
These are a great option for those middle stages of the funnel, where you’re trying to slowly but surely build up as much engagement as possible. The key here is to be short but sweet – keep things around a minute or so in length and explain A) why you’re reaching out, B) why someone should care, and C) what you want them to do next. That “next” step doesn’t have to be “buy my product, please.” It can be something as simple as “If you think we can help you, feel free to reach out!”
It doesn’t matter – if you get people in the habit of engaging with your brand, you make it more likely that they will do so during the most important period of all – when you need them to get out the company credit card and make a purchase.
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How-To Videos
How-To videos are another great option for the later stages of the sales funnel – particularly those when education becomes your most valuable asset. If you include a how-to video on your product landing page or even in an email, it not only helps you establish a great deal of credibility in a short amount of time – it’s also the perfect chance to get people to start trusting you.
When people SEE how easy your product is to use, or that it works the way you claim it does, it warms them up to actually make that leap in an appreciable way. There’s a reason why about 73% of people are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video about it – the content itself really is that effective.
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Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are very similar to How-To videos in that they’re also aimed at the later stages of the funnel and they’re also perfect for using education to build credibility. The important difference, however, is what they are specifically trying to do.
If a How-To video is trying to explain to something how your product works, an explainer video is a great way to showcase why your product matters. It’s possible to have a firm grasp on how something functions and still not be able to see the way that it would fit into your life. The one-two punch of a How-To video and an explainer video on a landing page, for example, is your chance to answer a B2B customer’s questions before they have a chance to ask them – thus convincing them that they are in fact headed in the right direction.
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Testimonial Videos
Last but not least we have testimonial videos – one of the most effective ways to get someone to come down off the fence and make a purchase if there ever was one.
According to one recent study, customer testimonials (along with case studies, for the record) are considered to be the single most effective content marketing tactic identified by a full 89% of B2B marketers. By this stage in the funnel, people are pretty sure they want to make a purchase… they’re just not sold on the fact that they should make it from you. By giving people the chance to see the expression on one of your satisfied customer’s faces, or to hear the emotion in their voice, you, therefore, stand a better chance of convincing them of precisely that.
To be clear – there are certainly other types of video content out there that you can use leverage to achieve your business goals. OTT content is very flexible, and there are a lot of different things you can do with it, depending on your audience. But provided you get good at these six types, in particular, you’ll have people effortlessly moving from one end of your B2B funnel to the other in no time at all.
