Maybe you have a video or five on your website, maybe you’ve posted them on social media, and interviewed some industry leaders. Find out what 10 types of videos you should be creating, as well as the secrets for each video type that will help make sure your strategies are successful. The secrets to success: What are the secrets to success with the Demand Generator video? At this point in the funnel, it’s okay to offer entertainment to entice and engage audiences before having to educate them deeply on your product or service. Make sure it gets out to your audience! It’s a mistake to make your brand the hero of your story – your customers want to know how they (and their lives) will be better with your product in it! He explains further while identifying the secrets to success of this type of video. So instead, put your walk-through on an ‘interactive’ landing page, where you can break up a long video into different segments that focus on different parts of your product, and even include a short text blurb along with each video to help walk your viewers through your product. With a video(s) this important to your success, you want to make sure you’re learning who is watching and how well your content is performing. The secrets to success: When making video testimonials, it’s highly important to mirror your target audience – you need to offer up stories from customers that your prospective customers can relate to.
Whether you’re new to video marketing or a seasoned ‘Record’-button pusher , you may have wondered–even worried?–from time to time about whether you’re making all the types of videos you need to really engage your audience all the way through the marketing and sales funnel. Maybe you have a video or five on your website, maybe you’ve posted them on social media, and interviewed some industry leaders. But is that enough?
That’s a nail-biting question. Good thing this is exactly the topic that was discussed at this year’s Viewtopia (the industry’s best video marketing summit!), during a presentation by digital video production studio Epipheo. Epipheo has been in the business of making ‘epiphany videos’ (meaning the viewer watches and has an ‘epiphany’ about why they want the product or service the video is about) for around seven years, so they have expert advice for marketers.
In case you were participating in a different session, or weren’t lucky enough to make it to the summit this year, don’t worry. We’ve got what you need to know so you can put a stronger video content strategy into action. Find out what 10 types of videos you should be creating, as well as the secrets for each video type that will help make sure your strategies are successful.
First things first: let’s talk about the funnel.
To make sure all stages of the funnel are covered by the best and most relevant videos, Jeremy Pryor, CEO of Epipheo, outlined the funnel format of the buyer’s journey that he follows (we know, there are plenty of different variations). His looks like this:
Moving from the top of the funnel to the bottom, prospective customers move through the Attract stage, to Capture, to Nurture, to Convert, and finally, the funnel ends at the Expand stage.
Jeremy indicated that marketers should aim to create two significant types of videos at each funnel stage, for a total of 10 videos that will help you better reach, connect with, and convert your audiences so you can turn them into happy and long-term customers. What are those ten types of videos? Let’s see…
The Attract stage
1. The Demand Generator video
The Demand Generator video sits at the very top of funnel. These are the types of videos that generate interest in your company and product. Examples can include: a fun brand video; the “everyman epiphany” video (like the ever-popular Dollar Shave Club); and a social moment video where your brand participates or creates a social moment or movement that is shareable. The secrets to success: What are the secrets to success with the Demand Generator video? Think entertainment first, then education. At this point in the funnel, it’s okay to offer entertainment to entice and engage audiences before having to educate them deeply on your product or service. Entertaining videos can lead to shareability. You also need to make sure you have an aggressive deployment strategy, because just creating a video isn’t enough. Make sure it gets out to your audience! Don’t forget, the production quality should be great since this video is at the top of your funnel and is a strong introduction to, and representative of, your brand.
Want to see an example of a creative, fun, and inspiring Demand Generator video? How about this one by Apple:
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2. The Social Cyclone video
The Social Cyclone video is also part of the Attract stage. This type of video is designed to live and cause a stir on social media – after all, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says his platform will become a ‘video first’ platform because that’s the medium people prefer. Examples of this type of video include Facebook/social-designed videos that can still be effective even when they’re auto-played without volume. These videos snag you in the first 3-5 seconds so that you don’t scroll past them. LinkedIn educational videos, as well as those that grab audiences on Snapchat are also part of this video type. There is some flexibility with these videos in terms of production quality, since they can be quick, behind-the-scenes, or other in-the-moment videos.
The secrets to success: If you want to create a video that’s very engaging on a social platform, you need to keep in mind the strategies that are native to each platform (e.g. for Facebook, create a video that works well without sound). Don’t just embed a YouTube video and think you’ve done enough. Another great secret about videos for social is how highly you can target your distribution – use distribution tools to know which audiences should get what content from you. The final secret for the Social Cyclone video is to add a call-to-action on your social videos so that you can get viewers off the social platform, onto your website, and into your purchase funnel.
Want to see an example of a Social Cyclone? How about this one from Hootsuite, which, though heavy in effort, took brilliant and timely advantage of the popularity of the TV show Game of Thrones:
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The Capture stage
3. The Premium Explainer video
The Premium Explainer video is perfect for the Capture stage of the funnel, because at this point you’ve already engaged your audiences and piqued their interest, so they’re ready to learn a little more about you and why they should be interested in your product or service. Great examples of this type of video include: ‘motion design’ or motion graphic style for abstract ideas; character animation videos for when you want to tell a story (pssst…Want some help telling your story? Check out this post!); and finally, live action videos for when you want to make a deeper connection (similar to the ‘everyman epiphany’ style, imagine a company’s founder walking through a product and explaining how they reached an epiphany that this product is greatly needed).
The secrets to success: Jeremy offers three secrets to success for your Premium Explainer video. The first is what…
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