Category Archives: video-to-lead funnel

Video Email Marketing: Helping Leads Become Customers

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video email marketing

Video email marketing is a process that, when done correctly, can bring leads back to your website where they can view an informative website video that both educates and reinforces the benefits of your product and service. Using video within your email marketing nurtures your sales leads and helps them make the decision to become customers.

Using Video Email Marketing to Nurture Sales Leads

Video email marketing falls under the “Nurture” phase of the video-to-lead funnel. This sales funnel involves a website video series that first engages prospects, earning their trust. After engaging prospects, the next website video series continues to deliver interesting information, but with a goal of converting these prospects into leads. Finally, once converted and opted into your email marketing campaign, you’ve earned the right to present a website video that reinforces your message. You are now in the nurturing phase.

As you know, you must have permission in order to begin an email marketing campaign. Using video to engage and convert your prospects sets the stage for video email marketing. If you’ve followed the video-to-lead funnel strategies we’ve previously discussed, your leads will know that each website video in the past was engaging, informative, and relatively short. When they receive an email marketing message from you containing a link to a website video, they’ll expect more of the same and trust your video email marketing messages.

Website Video Messages

In most cases, your video email marketing messages will contain links back to your website video where visitors can learn more about the benefits of your products and services. In order to be effective, each website video should be related to the original call to action. For example, if you’ve prompted the prospect to download a buying guide for kitchen appliances, your email marketing campaign should include content relevant to people interested in buying kitchen appliances. This isn’t the time for an email marketing campaign about remodeling bathrooms. Therefore, your website video should be related to that initial action. For instance, you might create a website video focused on how your appliances save energy in the kitchen and reduce utility bills.

In addition to being relevant, your video email marketing campaign must also be focused on benefits. In the email marketing example above, appliances that save energy in the kitchen deliver a benefit to the sales lead: they reduce utility bills. Your prospects may love that your appliances have a specific feature such as a built-in timer, but people don’t buy features; they buy benefits. Make sure that each website video focuses on benefits and your video email marketing campaign will be much more likely to connect with your leads.

How long should your video email marketing campaign be? As with general email marketing, each campaign will be unique. Before you produce a single website video, you should first map out your email marketing strategy. Think about the following:

  • What is your primary goal for the video email marketing campaign?
  • How long is the buying process for your particular product or service?
  • What interval is right for sending messages?
  • How many contacts do you need to make?

Once you know the primary goal, make sure that each website video supports that goal, educates sales leads, and reinforces benefits. After identifying the length of the buying process, you can create a website video email marketing campaign of a similar length. For example, if the average kitchen appliance buyer spends a month researching before buying, your video email marketing campaign might be three to four weeks long. Your email marketing message intervals will be determined by the overall length of the campaign and the number of contacts you feel is appropriate to educate, nurture, and ask for the sale.

Video email marketing is an important part of the video-to-lead funnel. You’ve worked hard to engage and convert your prospects. Now it’s time to nurture them and bring them back to your website for more relevant information.

How have you used video email marketing? Share your thoughts in the comment section below:

Online Video Marketing: Tips for Nurturing Online Video Viewers

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Now that you’ve converted your site’s visitors into leads and customers, you have the opportunity to drive sales by nurturing these visitors with online video. You’ve already used Web videos to engage and convert them; now it’s time to nurture them. Some will have ordered from you already while others are genuinely interested but haven’t yet committed. Either way, it’s smart to use video to nurture prospects and past customers.

Nurturing Prospects

Prospects are those viewers who have moved through the first two phases of the video-to-lead funnel. They are engaged and have converted into qualified leads. They haven’t purchased yet. The point of nurturing videos is to guide them toward a purchase.

When you first converted these prospects, you likely prompted them to sign up for a newsletter, subscribe to your blog, or enroll in a free video course related to your product or service. If so, you now have the opportunity to continue your relationship via the marketing channel you presented. Create a series of videos that continue to build upon the foundation you’ve already created and integrate these videos into the marketing channel. For example, if your prospects have signed up for a monthly newsletter, include a video segment in your newsletter each month.

Nurturing Customers

These customers have already purchased from you, so why should you nurture them? Because nurtured customers will be likely to purchase again or refer others to you! It can cost five times as much to attract new customers than it does to keep existing ones. You’ve already invested the time and money to engage and convert your customers, and they’ve experienced your quality and customer service. By staying in touch, you can nurture them and drive additional sales.

Using Online Video to Nurture Prospects and Customers

While text-based communication has its place, online video is a powerful medium for nurturing prospects and customers alike.

For example:

  • Use follow-up emails and videos to announce new products.
  • Send customers coupon codes revealed within informative online videos.
  • Ask customers to post video testimonials or prompt prospects to view them.
  • Send occasional how-to videos related to the product. For example, if you sell kitchen gadgets, send a link to an online cooking video.
  • Hold live, interactive video sessions where customers and prospects can ask questions or learn more about your products and services.

With an audience of qualified leads and past customers who are genuinely interested in your offers, the hard work is already complete. Use your creativity to produce nurturing online videos and reap the rewards.

Video Viewers: Tips for Converting Your Video Viewers

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You’ve done it – you’ve engaged your site’s visitors with video. They like your products, they trust what you’ve told them so far, and they’re engaged. Now it’s time to move them out of the engage phase and convert them into customers. You can do this by creating videos designed to prompt viewers into performing a specific action.

Before you can do so, you need to know exactly what specific action you want your viewers to perform. This may sound obvious, but it’s often overlooked. Without clear instructions telling viewers to “download a trial version,” “subscribe now,” or “order by midnight,” your viewers may continue on their way oblivious to your offer. No matter what topic your conversion video addresses, make sure that it ends with a strong, clear call to action.

Earlier, we talked about identifying your target audience. You did that with your engaging videos. Now that your audience relates to your company, products, and services, take that relationship a step further by introducing your offer. You’ve earned your audience’s trust and your viewers are ready to learn more. By posting online videos that educate viewers about your products and services, you are building toward the ultimate conclusion where you’ll ask the viewer to perform an action such as “order now.”

Just as you tailored your earlier videos to a specific audience, you’ll want to keep this same audience in mind as you create online videos designed to convert. In these videos, you’ll want your product or service to be the star. Show your product or service in action and the benefits it delivers. Remember, while features are neat, benefits are what sells a product. People don’t buy razors because they have five blades; they buy them for a closer shave and softer skin. They don’t buy picture frames because they measure eight by ten inches, they buy them to keep their memories alive.

The following video types lend themselves to converting online visitors into customers:

  • Product demonstration videos – If you’ve ever spent time in the gadget exhibit hall at your county fair, you’ll understand the power of product demonstrations. After all, the kitchen knife demonstrator showed that his knife could chop, slice, and dice unlike any other.
  • Product or service overview videos – Closely related to product demonstrations, overviews allow the viewer to see your product or service in action. Think of these online videos as commercials that highlight the benefits the viewer will enjoy by purchasing your product or service.
  • Video testimonials – Hearing how other people have successfully used and benefitted from your products or service is motivating. By posting online video testimonials on your website, you are providing viewers with proof. With people just like them raving about how wonderful your products and services are, your viewers will feel reassured. If you’ve already built credibility through your other videos and online content, video testimonials can give you an added boost and convert visitors into customers.

Online videos can convert viewers if you’ve built credibility, targeted your audience, and tailored your message to match with a strong call to action at the end. Make sure you know exactly what you want to accomplish and produce a video that converts.