They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, a video is worth a thousand images. And that’s also why video marketing is now an important part of every online marketing strategy.
There is a good reason for this. The basic goal of any online marketing company is to get people to convert. To keep them interested enough to sign up, fill out your contact form or buy from you.
I think you would agree with that. Why would you spend so much time producing content after content to reach people you barely know?
Video marketing is gaining ground because of how easy it is to consume. That’s why a video, as long as it’s done right, draws more crowds than, say, a how-to blog.
The proof is in the statistics. Recent studies show that 75% of mobile traffic will be video.
In this post, we’ll take a look at five video marketing strategies that can help you increase conversions.
1- Engage your audience with interactive videos
Customer preferences change on a dime. Trends come and go. And even viral content fades over time. To get audiences to stay put, you have to give them something to keep them interested.
Lately, marketers are using interactive video to achieve this. These are videos that allow viewers to participate and change their outcome. It’s kind of how multiple choice games work. You create an ever-changing story where viewers make different decisions for different outcomes.
In a way, interactive videos give us experiences that static content can’t. Instead of a passive experience, the medium encourages the person watching to act. This drives engagement.
For example, consider Mended Little Hearts, a charity for children with congenital heart disease that uses an interactive video to show how donating money can make the lives of children with the disease a little brighter.
2- Make it brief but entertaining
The average attention span of Internet users is less than that of a goldfish. That’s why we’d rather skim through the content than read every word and move on. Getting noticed is a matter of showing value right away. Think of it like a five-minute marketing pitch you need to give to investors to sell them on your idea.
Video marketing works the same way. You can’t just post long videos and expect visitors to watch them to the end. If you have any hope of conversions, your video content should be short. And it must be sweet.
Some social media platforms have made it easy for businesses to do this. Take Facebook’s autoplay video feature, for example. Videos play automatically as users scroll through their news feeds. Viewers will watch for a few seconds and then move on if your video isn’t interesting enough to grab their attention. According to statistics, the average retention rate for 90-second videos is 53%, while videos longer than 30 minutes retain only 10%.
3- Do not make it look like a commercial
What do we usually do when a commercial appears? We change the channel. Commercials may have worked before. But now we have small screens in our pockets; smartphones that give us a lot of other valuable content that we would rather be watching.
The point is, people have more reasons than ever to “flip the channel” on your video. Post a video on your social media channel? People will probably scroll through it if all you’re trying to do is sell.
No one willingly views an ad unless it offers something worthwhile. Viewers are likely to engage with your content if they gain anything from this experience. This “something” can be humorous or perhaps a value proposition. Something unique that might prompt them to convert.
To illustrate, consider a famous Christmas ad for Heathrow Airport where two grandparents (shown as teddy bears) take a tiring flight to London. During the trip, the airport staff are there to help make this journey comfortable until the couple finally meet their family.
It’s quite a moving announcement. It touches your heart, reminds you of how exciting it is when families finally come together for the holidays, and how worth the journey in the end. Most important of all, it makes you appreciate all that Heathrow Airport does for travelers.
4- Use lead capture forms directly in the video
One trick to capture leads is to present your lead capture actions immediately. App developers, for example, often place lead capture forms on the first page of their websites or landing pages.
So how do you do this in a video? How can you get people to convert not after watching a video, but in the middle of it?
It is possible with a tourniquet. Some online video platforms offer this feature. With it, you can embed a lead capture form anywhere in your video. It’s a great way to get high-quality leads, such as emails or first and last names, which can help you personalize your follow-up emails.
5- Use your products to teach your target audience
People learn better if they are able to visualize the subject. That’s why visual content like graphics or videos keep students engaged longer than boring lectures.
You can apply the same technique if you want your videos to not only get viewed, but also convert your audience into customers.
Some brands do this quite well. To illustrate, consider Home Depot, which streams how-to videos that teach customers how to use or assemble its products. The brand has thousands of subscribers and around 45 million views in the how-to space. By displaying its products and teaching people how to use them, Home Depot gives them more reasons to become paying customers.
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Video marketing offers tremendous opportunities for those who know how to use it. In short, you can get more conversions from your video marketing strategies by engaging audiences in the action with interactive video. Focus on keeping the content short but worthwhile for the viewer. Use lead capture forms right in the video and never underestimate the value of how-to videos.