Are you using video yet?
When people think of using video in their marketing, they often dismiss it because they think it has to be flashy or funny or expensive to produce.
Nothing could be further from the truth! As explained in our previous post, creating a video can be as easy as capturing something on your smartphone and uploading it to social media, YouTube, or your website.
And video is becoming an outstanding tool for lead generation. With the use of things such as email gateways and calls to action, this format is quickly becoming an essential part of your marketing and lead generation arsenal.
Let’s take a look at how video can help you with lead generation.
1. In-Video Gating
Gating is not a new concept. I am sure we are all familiar with being asked for lead information prior to obtaining something of value. For instance, many businesses will ask for an email address prior to releasing a white-paper or an eBook. In fact, we do this ourselves. In order to get our Business Evaluation, we ask for information to add subscribers to our newsletter. Generally, in-video gating is used the same way as text-based gating like in my example, and is used to obtain contact information before a video can be watched.
Some gateways are very simple, asking only for an email address, while other are more complex and ask for name, company, email and phone number, etc. Regardless of the information gathered, the concept is the same; a visitor to your site/landing page who was previously a stranger has now become a known, viable and valuable prospect. By obtaining this information, you now have permission to engage them in a conversation through email or an actual sales call.
2. Calls-To-Action (CTA’s)
Just like in video gating, you are most likely familiar with CTA’s. In fact, it is probable that you are already using them on your website.
CTA’s are used based on the concept that ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’.
Using CTA’s for video is no different than using them on your website. If you simply load your video and allow it to fade to black without at least asking your viewer to interact, you are missing an opportunity. If a viewer has watched your video to the end, capturing that interest and directing them to your site or an offer only makes sense. Typically, video CTA’s come in three forms:
A) Annotations:
An annotation is a method of adding text and links to your videos on YouTube. You can create these annotations to appear at any point during your video, and you can determine how long it stays on the video. Annotations are great to get people to subscribe to your channel, other video content, or link them back to your website.
B) Pop-Out CTA’s:
Because annotations are limited in design capabilities, you may wish to use a pop-out CTA or embed a form to encourage engagement and to collect contact information.
C) End of Video CTA:
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to allow your video to simply fade to black. An end of video CTA has the same purpose as the pop-out CTA or annotation, except that they appear at the end of your video. YouTube calls them Cards, and although they can be placed anywhere within the video, it is more effective to use them as an end of video CTA. Use end of video CTA’s to direct your viewer to your desired next step, such as visiting your website. Or, try embedding a form to capture their information and offer a free download in exchange. Research by Vidyard has demonstrated that viewers who received an end of video CTA for a free trial of their product converted at 21%, vs. only 1% of viewers who did not receive a CTA. Clearly, the inclusion of an end of video CTA can have a huge impact on your marketing efforts.
So, as you can see, once you have decided to include video into your marketing plan, the next logical step is to engage your viewers by integrating some form of lead generation strategy.
Simple and powerful, start using them today and see how your marketing results improve!
You can also visit our YouTube Channel.
Until next time…
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