What is a sales funnel?

Before we explore the best types of videos you should use at each stage of the sales funnel, let’s do a brief refresh on what a standard funnel actually looks like. A sales funnel is the marketing experience you create in order to turn prospects into leads, then leads into sales. You may ask yourself “Why can’t I just use the same video regardless of the funnel stage?” And the answer is simple. In order to inspire a potential customer to become an actual customer, you need to hone in on his/her needs and desires. This requires understanding and matching your messaging to the different stages of a sales funnel — the top, the middle and the bottom.

1. Top of the funnel

The top stage of the sales funnel is all about raising awareness of your brand and the problem you address. At this early stage, you should focus on exposing your target audience to educational and inspirational content, so that you can capture their attention, take that nugget of interest and further indulge their curiosity.

2. Middle of the funnel

At the middle stage of the sales funnel prospects have already defined their personal problem and are actively analyzing the alternatives available to address it. As your prospects turn into actual leads, you can start building trust in your brand by educating them about your industry, answering more specific questions, demonstrating the advantages of becoming your customer. The main objective is to keep on feeding their curiosity and building a strong case for choosing your brand.

3. Bottom of the funnel

The bottom stage of the funnel is all about conversion. At this point of their buyer’s journey, your prospects have reached the conclusion that you offer the best solution to their problem. In  order to help them make an educated purchase decision and incorporate your solution into their daily lives, you can provide them with educational materials like FAQs, testimonials, demonstration videos, insider tips etc. This is very important so that you can keep on building trust amongst your customers, and they continue to support you by telling others about your brand.

How to build a successful video marketing funnel?

Now that we have reviewed the three main stages of a standard sales funnel, let us have a look at what videos are appropriate at each stage. While there are types of videos that suit more than one stage, others are suitable for one stage, exclusively.

1. Create awareness and educate prospects at the top of the funnel

At the first stage of the funnel, you need to be clear about the challenges or problems that your potential customers are facing, how they educate themselves to find solutions, as well as what price they pay if they choose to do nothing about their situation. It is important to make sure that your videos are focused on delivering information that provides real value to your prospects and can make their lives easier.

Explainer animations are perfect for the top of the funnel because they allow you to capture the interest of prospects who aren’t necessarily looking for your product or services just yet, but are searching for how to do something. These videos provide an engaging and simple way to explain how your product/service can solve a problem, as well as to break down complicated concepts, services or products. 

Example –  Files by Google: Free up space on your phone

Video documentaries and educational videos are great tools for giving your audience information and advice about topics they care about within your business niche. These videos provide a way to capture the attention of prospects who are searching Google and YouTube for solutions to their problems, but still don’t know that you exist. 

Example – Bunnings Warehouse – How to Paint the Outside of your Front Door

Creating authentic videos showcasing company culture is another way in which you can give your prospects a sense that you share their values and show them why they should care about you. You can also inspire viewers and introduce them to your brand by creating day-in-the-life-style walkthrough videos. 

Example – This is PaperCut culture

2. Help solve a problem at the middle of the funnel

At the middle stage of the funnel you need to focus on sharing why and how you solve problems for your target audience, as well as what makes you the definitive answer to your prospect’s challenges. At this point, your prospects are already aware of your brand but they want to know more. It is your job to nurture them with targeted practical content which also displays social proof.

Creating an intriguing product video featuring all the benefits of your solution can be very useful at the middle stage of the sales funnel, because this is the time when potential customers are looking more closely at all of their options (including your competition). 

Example – WhoGivesaCrap – Good for your bum, great for the world

On the other hand, you can use tutorials or “how it works” videos in order to let your leads know what makes you so special and what kind of an exceptional brand experience you offer. 

Example – Welcome to MYOB Essentials

Testimonials and case studies can give an in-depth look at how other people have already benefited from using your products/services. If you aim at creating a buzz, you can also consider using emotional story-telling generated by some of your brand ambassadors.

Example – Sensis Australia Success Story – VWO Testimonial

3. Convince people of your potential at the bottom of the funnel

At the bottom stage of the sales funnel you need to make sure that all the questions your prospects have about your product are answered. It is important to be clear about the benefits of your product that are likely to be valued the most by your potential customers, as well as what about your service/product could be giving them doubts. In addition to addressing any barriers to making a purchase, videos should evoke emotion and make viewers feel they can trust your ability to meet their needs. 

Demos/Webinars can be useful allies in the process of converting leads into customers because they allow you to establish yourself as a thought leader, squash any lingering doubts and show customers you care enough to support them in the process of solving their struggle. What is more, you can use analytics to find out how viewers watch and engage.

Example – Ahrefs – How to Use Ahrefs for SEO and Competitor Research

FAQ videos are another effective tool for addressing remaining fears and doubts that provide a barrier to purchase. 

Testimonials and before-and-after videos can be used to show how much easier someone’s life has become after acquiring your product/service. These types of videos can be very empowering because people like to be part of a tribe.

Example – Connecting Tsimos Commercial Real Estate

Last, but not least, you can also focus on creating personalized videos that look as though they were made specifically for your prospective customers (i.e. using their names and what they were researching). Getting personalized videos via email at the bottom stage of the sales funnel can give your customers the sense that they are a valuable member of your tribe and that you have built a relationship with them.

How to get started?

Now that you understand how important it is to know what type of video you should use at each stage, you’re ready to get started constructing your sales funnel with can’t-miss video content. Whenever you are about to create video content, remind yourself of your end goal and your target audience. Also, research for videos that other companies use for each stage of the funnel and identify what will work best for your brand, service/product and customer. Don’t forget to break down your content so that 50% of your video messaging is focused on raising awareness and educating the wide audience, 30% aims at helping a medium-sized audience solve a problem and 20% is mapped out to turn a small pool of leads into buyers. 

We wish you good luck on creating an effective sales-focused video funnel that can help you create a richer experience for your customers and turn them into advocates for your brand!