You’ve captured a few leads. You’ve got Facebook followers, and a whole world of Facebook users ready to meet your brand. You’re unstoppable.
…Until you stop seeing conversions.
…And your engagement plummets.
…And your ads aren’t performing.
There’s more to inbound marketing than just successfully capturing leads. Leads need to be nurtured.
And, if you want to stay relevant, you’ve gotta’ be on board with the rapidly changing media landscape. Right now, that means video. Video marketing is becoming more used and more impactful all of the time.
If Facebook is a part of your inbound marketing strategy, then you should definitely be leveraging video content.
No film school credentials? That’s alright. With a bit of brainstorming and some Facebook familiarity you’ll be well on your way to making Facebook videos work for your business, no MFA needed.
Why Video?
First of all, it works shoppers that view videos are 1.81X more likely to purchase than non-video viewers.
With all of the noise of social media these days, particularly from brands, it can be tough to differentiate your products, or really gain any visibility at all. By using video, you will afford yourself the opportunity to both engage leads with entertainment value and introduce your brand.
Video allows you to build out your advertising materials more fully. You no longer must strictly inform, you can now inform and entertain simultaneously. There’s a sort of advertising without really advertising vibe that video marketing offers.
Ad blockers, and any other general outcry against digital advertising would indicate that ads can be distracting, bothersome, and ultimately undesirable by many internet users. So producing content that delights rather than annoys is essential.
Visual information is processed much more quickly than text-based, so the highly visual nature of video gives the advantage of making a statement quickly, with less effort on the part of the message receiver.
And it’s a lasting impact: 80% of users recall a video ad they viewed in the past 30 days.
Face Your Facebook Video Fears
Facebook makes video sharing easy. The platform itself makes for hassle-free content upload and distribution, but if you find yourself in a pinch–not to worry–they’ve conveniently supplied a help page to address any technical questions and to offer a brief bit of advice for optimizing your efforts.
To take some of the pressure off, note that Facebook videos can, and should, be short and sweet. This will ensure more viewers actually make it to the end of your video, and as a result they will be more likely to click, share, visit your landing page, buy, or otherwise engage with your content.
Actions such as these, taken by your leads, translate to opportunities with Facebook video marketing to gather valuable information about your potential consumers.
By evaluating the interactions that occur with your videos, you will begin to understand who is responding to your content and whether or not it is effective in relation to your Facebook marketing goals.
With the insights gained, you can then structure detailed retargeting campaigns, with more specific information about who should see your ad.
You’ll find without making a major strategy change you’ll be able to fit Facebook marketing into your plan, and the benefits will likely far outweigh the cost.
Get Creative with Your Content
Not sure where to go from here? Don’t let the pressure to produce cloud your creativity. Like any creative endeavor, starting is hard. So what to do?…
Pro-tip from Facebook: “behind-the-scenes footage, product launches or customer stories to raise awareness about your brand” are great for raising brand awareness and therefore may be a good place to begin.
Note: simple content can be highly effective. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars, you just have to make sure you make your content quick and interesting.
But regardless of just how you plan to execute, make sure you’re not simply producing video for the sake of getting into the video game. This will only drive your leads away.
So What’s the Plan Here?
To truly use video as a lead nurture tool make sure you have thought through the always-useful, tried-and-true, who, what, when, where, and why of your content.
If you have hashed out your inbound marketing strategy, your “5 w’s” should come easy, relatively speaking. If you haven’t, or if you’re struggling, you’ll definitely want to spend time with each of them to ensure your Facebook videos aren’t a waste of time and money.
Ask yourself:
Who are you talking to?
What do you have to offer?
When action must be taken
Where your product exists
And, arguably most importantly,
Why they need it.
Refer back to the W’s if you lose your way during the production stages.
If you stick to your guns here, chances are you’ll produce meaningful content that resonates with your leads.
It’s Not a One Size Fits All Approach
No matter how creative your content, if you’re reaching leads at the wrong part of the buyer’s journey, you’ll have little, if any, success with your Facebook videos.
So before you start blasting video content to your entire lead base, take a step back to understand how relevant said content will be to any given viewer. In other words, you’ll want a variety of video content and you’ll want to know how to use it.
Answer these questions:
Where are they in the buyer’s journey? And what does this mean for my content?
If your leads are at the top of the funnel, remember that this stage is an awareness stage. They likely have little knowledge of your brand and may only be seeing your video as a result of some clever targeting or relevant interests.
At this stage, video content should be about the solution you have to their problem. Express empathy and establish a trusting relationship.
And be brief. You only ever have a few seconds to capture viewer attention, but especially a viewer who is new to your brand.
If your leads are in the middle of the funnel, your leads know of you, but are still likely in the research stage. They are aware of their problem and that you have a solution, but they need to be convinced that yours is the best.
Consider highlighting results for leads in this stage. Offer statistics, leverage user-generated content like reviews and social shares, and ultimately prove there will be payoff.
Most consumers are apt to trusting other consumers over brands, so let the satisfied customers speak for you.
If your leads are in the bottom of the funnel, let your call to action shine. Ideally, by now, you have built a connection with your lead. They trust that you have the solution to their problem and simply need to be directed toward the next step.
Be straightforward here. Leads will take action if what stands to be gained is made clear.
If you’re able to distribute the right content at the right time, chances are you’ll see great success from your video marketing efforts considering 90% of video marketing users say product videos were helpful in the decision making process.
Who knew nurturing could be so easy?
And…action!