Lead generation is often a top priority for marketers at organizations, big and small. And regardless of organization size, capturing leads is getting more and more challenging by the day. Marketers are constantly coming up with new and creative ways to get more customers into their pipeline.
Over the last year or so, marketers have began to leverage video much more, not only as a means of improving their digital presence, but for assisting with their organization’s lead generation efforts. Sure, you can say videos are a great option because they aren’t “just a wall of text;" but one of the primary reasons for their success is their ability to engage with consumers in more ways than one. Here’s how video can help your lead generation efforts:
One of the first ways videos is helpful for lead generation is its ability to grab a consumer’s attention — especially if the video is embedded directly onto your website. When consumers visit your website, there’s a good chance they’re interested in your organization’s product or service.
Product specs, service benefits and even mission statements can have an impact on whether or not a consumer becomes a paying customer… or even a lead, for that matter. By embedding an engaging video onto your website, you have the opportunity to bring attention to the things you really want your consumer to know. This can be especially helpful on sections of your website that request additional information from the consumer. For example, a consumer might be more inclined to sign up for your organization’s weekly newsletter if there’s an embedded video discussing your products or services. Even better is if the embedded video discusses what sorts of information consumers will receive in the newsletter. Many people are drawn to visuals. Don’t be afraid to place videos on your website.
The cool thing about video hosting sites like YouTube is that any videos you decide to upload (unless otherwise clarified in settings) are now available to everyone and anyone who stumbles upon your video — even folks who have never heard of your organization before. By optimizing your videos with proper descriptions, keywords, tags and categories, casual browsers can very well turn into paying customers. If they happen to type in a keyword or sift through a relevant category, your video might be one of the first to come up.
And just like Facebook, the more views and comments (engagement) your video gets, the higher likelihood it has of showing up in someone’s results. That said, make sure your video is useful, relevant to the keywords, tags and categories you’ve assigned and is of the highest quality possible. If your videos are interesting enough, not only will they research your organization (make sure to place an appropriate link in the video description or a call-to-action in the video itself), but they may subscribe to your channel — or even better — sign up for more information on your website.
Regardless of whether or not this is in an embedded video, showing off your organization’s inventory (if applicable) or showing off a visual representation of your product/service offerings (screenshots, screen-shares, etc.) lets consumers gain an understanding of what they might be investing in. This is especially helpful if the consumer watching doesn’t have immediate access to the sale item in question. Being able to see something in action (or at least in someone’s hands), makes it tangible. While you can certainly do this with photographs, there’s something very authentic about doing it on video. Once a consumer finds a product intriguing, they can click on the associated call-to-action (whether in the video and the description) and request additional information.
For particular industries, inventory videos have proven to be extremely useful for capturing leads. With car dealership lead generation being as challenging (and competitive) as it is, many dealers have opted to show off their inventory through YouTube videos. If a consumer happens to like what they see, they might be provided with an option to subscribe to their newsletter or better yet, sign up to learn more about that particular vehicle. If a sleek video entices consumers enough, they may want to obtain more information.
Video content has been around for a while, but it’s proving to be more and more useful to marketers every single day. Whether it’s to nab someone’s attention, get a lead or simply to entertain, video is doing to more for brands today than in the past. Where does video fit in your brand’s marketing and lead generation strategy? Tell us in the comments below!
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