7 Impactful Ways to Use Video For Lead Generation Campaigns
The world of marketing is more online-based than ever before, and businesses must adapt accordingly. Lead generation – the initiation of a potential customer – is of paramount importance. With this in mind, how can companies generate new leads and be heard above all the online noise? The answer is to get creative by using video for lead generation.
Video marketing is a fantastic way to get people interested in your site for the simple reason that they’re far more interesting to look at than a bunch of jargon-filled text. Videos are easier to process, more interactive and entertaining, and also, with the option to add any subtitles you want, access to your entire audience of non-native English speakers.
This article will show you seven of the best and most unique ways to use video for lead generation campaigns. Let’s get into it.
1. YouTube End Cards
This is a favorite tactic of channels like SNL and Jimmy Fallon to draw you into more of their content, but you can incorporate it into your lead generation campaign too.
If your business has a YouTube channel, that’s a great way of attracting potential customers to your site with the help of deep neural network layers. A person comes across your channel and watches a fun video about your products and services. Sounds perfect, yes?
However, what’s stopping them from watching it and moving on without a second thought?
Here’s where end cards come in.
You have to encourage your customers to complete what’s called a CTA or a “call to action” – that is, a task that leads them to the next consumer step. This might be purchasing your product or simply spending more time browsing what you have to offer.
Using end cards that direct customers to different parts of your business or other videos on your channel can go a long way to boosting sales and encouraging conversions.
2. Gated Video Content
This is a more general way to use video for lead generation. In a nutshell, this method involves making one or more of your videos exclusively accessible through a paywall or a sign-up page.
Here’s an example.
Say you run a company that provides free open-source automated MLOps pipelines. Your product is free, so you must rely on other revenue streams. You post three videos on your site explaining how to use your service. The first two are openly available, but the third requires creating an account or signing up to a mailing list to watch.
Chances are if someone cares enough to watch the first two videos, they’re already considering making a purchase from you or creating an account. It also makes them feel as though they’re receiving more than they’re giving: they’ve already watched two videos for nothing, and you’re not exactly asking for the world by making them sign up.
3. Embedded Email Gates
This method is fairly similar to the last, but with a couple of key differences. Instead of the video itself being gated, this technique generates leads by embedding an email sign-up page into the video instead.
Let’s use another example to break it down.
Imagine you sell the best Voice over IP phone system on the market. You’ve made an educational video that explains all the features and benefits of your service. Right before they get to the meat of the video, the customer is confronted with a page that asks them to sign up with their email address to continue.
While you do risk losing viewers by adding this feature, the fact that the customer can resolve the issue simply by signing up means that they’re likely just to enter their email- you’re providing the carrot and the stick all in one go!
4. Video Landing Page
Using a video landing page is another impactful way to employ video for lead generation. The difference between this method and all the other techniques we’ve talked about so far is this- rather than enticing the customer with partial content and blocking the rest behind a CTA, the entire video is locked behind a landing page that requires filling out a registration form to view.
This method is particularly suited to longer or more complex videos. The customer should feel like the content they receive in exchange for their personal details has been worth it, so don’t make them go through all that effort just to be met with a five-minute video with content they could’ve just found on your website.
5. Email-Embedded Video
This step occurs after the customer has already signed up with their email. When they receive your newsletter, embed within it a video that lets them know about a new product or a current deal- people gravitate towards personalized content that makes them feel valued. This will both improve the customer experience and encourage them to make a purchase. You’ll quickly reap the rewards.
6. Pop-Up CTAs
This is a quick and easy way to use video for lead generation. A customer is watching your promotional video, and a little chat bubble pops up in their line of sight. It’s gentle and unobtrusive yet clear and persistent enough to be seen.
This is a handy way to get customers to take action halfway through a video. Are you busy talking about your new instant messaging software for business? Create a pop-up that shows what special offers you have for that product right now!
7. It’s All About the Design
The bottom line is this: your videos, no matter what technique you use to generate leads, are useless if you don’t implement proper design principles.
Think about it.
If your videos aren’t well thought out, colorful, accessible, and engaging, how do you expect anybody to sit through them?
Here are some quick-fire tips to make sure you generate customer leads:
- Organize your videos into categories so as not to overwhelm potential customers.
- Consider your fonts. Are they legible? Where are they positioned?
- What links are you using to get customers to take the next step? Where are you putting them? Are they easy to see?
- Even small details like lighting can make a huge difference. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get a film crew together under pandemic regulations, so think about how you’re going to make your video look good from home.
Well, that’s it! Seven impactful ways to use video for lead generation campaigns. If these techniques are used judiciously, you’ll start seeing results right away. Good luck!
Guest Author: Jessica Day – Senior Director, Marketing Strategy, Dialpad
Jessica Day is the Senior Director for Marketing Strategy at Dialpad, a modern business communications platform that takes every kind of conversation to the next level—turning conversations into opportunities. Jessica is an expert in collaborating with multifunctional teams to execute and optimize marketing efforts, for both company and client campaigns. Here is her LinkedIn.
