Time and time again, we’ve seen businesses make the mistake of investing into video, throwing money into it and not getting ROI.
They’ve invested thousands into a video to only use it once. Or in other words, they’ve created useless fluff their buyers don’t care about.
If you’re considering video for the first time, or looking for ways to do it right this time around, this article will breakdown 3 simple steps on how to make sure your videos gets ROI.
When you consider video as part of your sales and marketing plan, you have to make sure your money is well invested.
Your videos need to serve a purpose for your business for years to come, and serve as a long term strategic asset.
They have to be working for you to:
Your should generate and attract leads for you
Your videos need to move potential customers along in your sales process
Otherwise, you’re simply wasting valuable resources on assets that lose your audiences.
So when getting started, you should be prioritizing topics that have the biggest impact.
Now the question is which topics? Especially topics your potential customers will care about?
Tip #1: Choose Profitable Topics Your Customers Care Most About
Every buyer will type in Google and search for information before they buy.
So choose topics your buyers are searching already.
These topics include:
Price/cost: buyers want to know how much they can expect to spend as well as the factors that affect pricing to go up or down.
Problems: buyers want to know the potential drawbacks or risks of whatever they’re considering buying so they don’t make a regrettable decision. Examples of this can be who your product/service is not a good fit for, mistakes they can make when purchasing your type of product or service. For us, it would be like top mistakes businesses make when investing into video.
“Best of” Lists: buyers typically search for the best products/services, the best practices so how to’s on something, top companies to solve their problem.
Comparisons: buyers like to have options to compare too, so they can evaluate the pros and cons of their options. So X vs. Y, which is the right choice?
Reviews: buyers want to hear from other buyers about their experience with a product or service. Another option is you can write honest reviews about the top products/services you sell.
It's what is called The Big 5.
To simplify even further...
Option 1 is to choose topics your ideal buyers are asking the most. So ask your sales team, receptionist the questions they’re getting asked the most.
Option 2 is start writing about price/cost asap. Price/cost is the one question that’s on everyone’s mind.
From there, have videos about the other Big 5 topics.
Step 2: Doing It Right The First Time
Always start with pre-production and strategy. Lay out a roadmap to have a clear vision of what you’re going to achieve with your video marketing.
Be extremely intentional about where you plan to use your videos ahead of time and the roles it plays in your sales and marketing.
So you know your time, money and effort isn’t going to waste on a floppy video and then having to reshoot again.
These are the 4 main areas to focus on during this step:
Budget: Whether you DIY or outsource, you should know how much things cost in the production before starting.
Scriptwriting: script or outline what you’ll be talking about. It should be empathized towards your buyer’s problems and desires.
Storyboarding: storyboarding or shortlisting helps paint the picture of how your video is going to be sequenced and flow together. It helps save time and be more efficient during the shooting day.
Production schedule & call sheet: schedule keeps everyone on track during the shoot day because extra shooting days can eat your budget quickly.
The quality of your videos matter. Investing more upfront is going to save you in the long run.
On top of that, the quality of your videos can impact the perception of your brand.
If you don’t do it right the first time and invest in quality, what does it say about the quality of your product or service?
So just keep that in mind.
Step 3: Use Video Routinely in All of Your Sales and Marketing Efforts
Now it’s time to put your videos into use.
You have to give it the attention it deserves, have it placed in front of people or or you won’t get the results you’re looking for.
This means, you need to:
Put the videos in a place that gets lots of traffic. Traffic from ads, SEO, outbound or inbound marketing.
Place your videos into a system you know will routinely get used by your sales and marketing team.
Here are ways to use your videos to get eyeballs on it:
Host your videos on high traffic landing pages such as your website or sales page on the top or second fold
Use video in email sequences and automations. When people see “video” in the subject line, open rates increase by 54% on average and CTR go up to 200-300%.
Create email templates for your sales team to have them use it with prospects to handle any concerns, objections or questions.
Generate leads with your videos on social media by posting these videos on all the platforms, and pinning them to the top.
Run ads with it to a specific target audience who will like your specific offers.
Now you know the 3 best ways to get started on video marketing strategy.
They can’t just look pretty and have the coolest transitions and animations.
Every video you create needs to give you a return and work as an asset for you for many years to come, an asset you can use over and over again.