We talk a lot about explainer videos here at WizMotions (they’re kind of our thing), but you need more than just a video by itself to have an effective inbound marketing strategy. You may need multiple different kinds of videos to appeal to leads as they make the buyer’s journey, morphing from prospect to customer.

Together, video content and a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy will increase conversions. Let’s take a look at seven different kinds of video that you can use to usher people along the buyer’s journey, which consists of three different stages:

• awareness,
• consideration and
• decision.

Awareness

This stage is all about first impressions. You’re introducing yourself to someone and you want that person to like you and feel like you have value for them. Basically, you’re making people aware of what your brand is and what it does. They may have found you via social media, via searching the internet, through some other kind of content you have or perhaps through a referral. In the awareness stage, you can use introductory and educational videos to woo prospects. 

Introductory Videos

These are videos that display your brand’s values and spirit to prospects. They’re not ads prompting people to buy certain products or services. Rather, they’re for informational purposes. You might have one on your homepage or on your YouTube channel’s homepage. They succinctly tell prospects what your brand is all about. You want to make a good first impression with these so prospects are inclined to learn more about your brand.

Educational Videos

Rather than telling prospects about your brand, educational videos give prospects information they can use to help them solve problems and make their lives better. For example, if you’re a web development agency that specializes in Magento, you might have a video telling people about Magento’s features and what those features can do for their websites. Basically, it allows you to show your expertise to prospects by helping them solve a problem.

Here is an educational video we did for the Nurses Service Organization (a branch or Aon Affinity) that puts the top five key insurance terms into everyday language so people can understand their policies better.

Consideration Stage

Now that people are aware of your brand, they’ll start sizing it up against competing brands. This is where you show them more specifically what you do and how you can help them solve the problems they are experiencing to prove that you’re the better choice than your competition.

Product Videos

Showing off your products is an ideal way to get people to choose your brand over the competition. You could have a video showing your product being used or just a video of the product features.

Live action videos work well for this as long as they look professional and polished, but you can also use animation or if you’re selling software, a screencast video might be a good idea. The point is you want people to see your products in the best light so prospects can compare them to whatever else is on the market.

How-To Videos

Similar to the educational video, with a how-to video, you’re trying to give the viewer real value they can use. In these videos, you specifically want to show them how to do something. That could be how to use one of your products or services, but it doesn’t have to be. You can show them how to do something that will improve their lives that doesn’t strictly pertain to your products or services. As long as the video gives the viewer value, that’s what counts. You’re trying to forge a relationship with them.

How-to videos are generally best done via live action or screencast if you’re showing how to do something that has to do with software or an online service.

Explainer Videos

More than just introducing your brand to prospects, an explainer video will go more in-depth and explain to people what you do and why they need to do business with you. A good explainer video will do that in a minute or less and if you add animation into the mix, you’ve got yourself a highly engaging video that will help sway prospects toward doing business with you.

Check out this explainer video we created for McDonald’s that tells people how the restaurant chain is helping the environment.

Decision Stage

This is it. This is where a prospect becomes a customer. The question is, will they become your customer or will they become your competitor’s customer? You can still give them a little push at this stage with the help of video.

About Us

These videos go behind the scenes of your company and show people who it is they’ll be dealing with. From the CEO down to the sales team and all the other employees, your About Us video can give a brief history of your company, introduce some of the people there and talk about how you build relationships with customers. These videos will almost always be live action, as you really want prospects to get a deeper sense of your brand.

Testimonials

You can help people make their final decision by introducing them to satisfied customers who have used your products or services. Seeing real people talk about their experiences with your brand is powerful in a prospect’s decision making process. It might be the deciding factor as to why they choose your brand. Obviously, these are best done as live action videos so prospects can see your satisfied customers’ faces.

With the right videos, you can usher prospects through the buyer’s journey and make sure when they come to that final fork in the road, they choose the path that takes them to becoming your customer. Inbound marketing via video is an investment and takes a solid strategy, but it’s well worth it in the end. Click here to schedule an appointment with WizMotions to see how we can help you make the perfect business video for your prospects’ buyer’s journey.