Much like how sometimes you want hard ice cream and other times there’s nothing better than a cone of soft ice cream, calls-to-action come in hard and soft forms and sometimes it’s better to have one or the other. Let’s take a look at both hard and soft CTAs and see which one is better for animated business videos.
Hard vs Soft CTAs
Hard CTAs request the viewer to perform a particular action that will result in something concrete happening. The ultimate hard CTA is to ask someone to purchase your product or service. But, they don’t necessarily have to be a request to purchase. A hard CTA could also be filling out a form to receive something like an e-book or signing up for a demo. A soft CTA requires less of the potential customer. It could be a request to follow your brand on social media, visiting a website to find out more information or even just watching another video. When people follow a soft CTA, nothing concrete happens, they’re just interacting with your brand more.
Change to buyer’s journey
Hard CTAs used to be much more common and you can still see them used quite a bit on television with “buy now” or “if you call within the next twelve minutes, you’ll also receive …” type CTAs. However, as Tubular Insights points out, the internet has changed the buyer’s journey since its inception. Customers hold a lot more power now when it comes to purchasing because they can easily do research and consult reviews about brands, which they weren’t able to do before. People who grew up with the internet generally don’t like the hard sell because they haven’t grown up with that “buy now” mentality. They prefer to perform some due diligence and research a product or service and only commit when they feel ready.
Even if a potential customer has given you their contact information, that doesn’t mean they are ready to make a purchase. Throwing a hard CTA at them isn’t going to help them make a decision and it’s not going to get them more interested in your brand. If anything, in the internet era, being too pushy will get you the exact opposite reaction and people may get turned off of your brand if you try the hard CTA with them. Now, all this isn’t to say that you should completely drop the hard CTA. But, you do have to make sure that you use it in the right spots. After a demo is a good spot because you already know the customer is in the about-to-purchase stage of the buyer’s journey.Dwight Sipler/FlickrUntil they get to that point, though, you should be peppering soft CTAs throughout your sales cycle to give people plenty of opportunities to interact with your brand so you can continue to expose them to your brand and influence them. As long as they’re staying engaged with your brand, they’ll have it in mind when it does come time to make that purchasing decision.
Which one is better for video?
As for which type of CTA is best for animated videos, soft CTAs work better because they keep people interested in your brand without being overly pushy. In the age of content marketing, animated videos are an effective way to maintain a prospect’s attention in a fun and engaging way. You can’t control when a prospect will contact you, but what you can control is the amount and quality of content you are giving people to consume. Videos are superb ways of delivering soft CTAs because they provide a lot of information quickly and in an easily digestible way. Here is an example of an effective soft CTA from one of our clients, Food Enforcer. At the end of the video, they simply ask viewers to visit their website for more information. Videos themselves are also soft CTAs because they ask people to interact with your brand by hitting the “play” button on the video (or hitting the “pause” button because you had your video set to autoplay). Viewers should leave your video knowing more about your brand than when they clicked “play” and when they’re done watching it, there should be another soft CTA for them to follow to keep the interaction going. Ask them to follow you on social media, visit your website or watch the next video in the series. You’re trying to get these potential customers familiar with your brand so when it is time for them to buy, they are familiar with your brand and you are the first one they think of when it comes time to bring out their wallet. In the meantime, BUY OUR SERVICES NOW!!! LIMITED TIME ONLY!!! … Just kidding. Take your time. But, if you are ready to jump into some fun animated video action, click here to get started on planning and pricing your very own 2D animation video.
Okay, all together now … “Ugh, not another ‘resolutions’ blog post!”Yes, it’s another one to go with the millions of others already circulating online. [Paragraph about looking back on the outgoing year.] [Paragraph about looking ahead to the upcoming year.]Now let’s get to those four New Year’s resolutions that will bring a metric ton of success to your business in 2018 (no promises, though).
1. More Video
Dan Goodwin/FlickrHere’s a question: How much video is your business currently using? And here’s the answer: It doesn’t matter! Regardless of how much video your business is using, do more of it. You simply can never have enough video content online. Cisco studies have predicted that almost 70% of total internet traffic throughout 2017 will have been generated by video views and they expect that to rise to 82% by 2021. With phones continually getting more sophisticated and data plans consistently becoming more affordable, people are watching more video more often. Over 50% of marketers say video is the content type that earns the best ROI and it gets shared a whopping 1,200% more than text and images combined. Of course, you need to be strategic about video. Some ideas to get you started on your more video resolution:
Use Facebook Live to take people behind the scenes of your operation so they can meet the people who make your business run.
Host a Q&A session via live video.
Invest in some animated explainer videos.
Watch engagement soar.
2. Connect Your Content to the Buyer’s Journey
Gretchen Caserotti/FlickrIn a perfect world, all content would offer some kind of value. You can help make the world just a little more perfect by making sure your content always offers value to viewers. The best and easiest way to do that is to aim content at people at the various stages of the buyer’s journey. People rarely start at “I’m going to buy a motorcycle.” They go through the stages of not even knowing they want to buy one to thinking about it to seriously looking at which one to buy to being ready to drop some money down. You should make it a resolution to have content for every segment of that journey. For example:
Not even aware they want a motorcycle
5 West Coast Motorcycle Trips You Have to Do Before You Die
Thinking about buying a motorcycle
6 Ways Road Tripping on a Motorcycle Totally Beats Doing it by Car
Deciding which type of motorcycle to buy
Standard, Cruiser, Sport, Touring or Sport Touring: Which Type of Motorcycle is Best for You?
Ready to buy
4 Red Flags to Watch for that Tell You You’re at a Bad Motorcycle Dealership
Each bit of of content is aimed at a person who is in a specific segment of the buyer’s journey. If somebody wasn’t ready to buy a motorcycle, there would be no need for them to know the four red flags to watch out for. If someone isn’t yet aware they want a motorcycle, hearing about five amazing drives to do by motorcycle might get them interested in buying one. You can segment your email list depending on what content the prospects have looked at already to better help you focus your marketing. On your website, suggest blog posts depending on what area of your site people are on.
Get started on your very own Whiteboard Animation Video.
3. Make Your Website Even More Mobile Friendly than it Already Is
Karla Fitch/FlickrBy now your website is already responsive, but just like how you can never have too much (well-planned) video content, you can never be too mobile friendly. That’s because Americans spend over 70% of their time online via mobile device and website visits using mobile devices rose by 72% in 2017. Use Google’s mobile-friendly tester to see just how mobile ready your site is and once you know that, start testing layouts to make it even better. The more mobile friendly you make your site, the better it will stand out among your competition. People appreciate a smooth website experience on their phones and it might be the difference between you and a competitor whose site is clunky on a mobile device.
4. Dig Into the Data
Petras Gagilas/FlickrStop relying on your gut when it comes to marketing decisions (but let it keep making the lunch decisions).Remember a few paragraphs ago when we said you have to be strategic with video? Well, we’re amending that statement a bit to say you have to be strategic with all your online marketing and you should make it a resolution to base all your decisions on the data. Set goals, decide what metrics to measure so you can tell whether you’re reaching those goals and experiment relentlessly to hit those goals. Set a reasonable timeframe to measure if something is working and if it’s not, kill it and move onto something else. Never fall so in love with a marketing idea that you’re not willing to drop it. Let the numbers make the decision for you, not your intuition. Split A/B testing is obviously a big help when experimenting with different social media posts, blog titles, etc. Use it. And don’t forget the creativity! If your marketing looks like everyone else’s you’ll just get lumped in with them in the “forget” pile. Make and follow these four New Year’s business resolutions and you should see much success this year. Have a wonderful 2018 and click here to get started on planning and pricing your very own whiteboard animation video.
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.
Connect with us for a FREE consultation.
Book a time and date that works for you and we will be happy to discuss options for your very own video.
An explainer video will take your business to the next level.
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.
Schedule a 100% FREE No-Commitment Consultation, Or call us at 732-943-3337