How To Use Video Through The Sales Cycle

By Nathan Isaacs

Did you know your prospective customers are unlikely to reach out to you and your business offering until more than half way through the sales process?

Rather than waiting for that phone to call, you can develop a library of marketing videos that touch all parts of your sales cycle so that these prospects are getting their questions answered. This blog post explains how to use video through the sales cycle.

An Aberdeen survey of more than 100 marketing professionals found that 60 percent of best-in-class companies were using video throughout the sales cycle from initial awareness through to post-sale.

Let’s take a look at the various sales cycle stages and what videos you can produce.

Awareness & Discovery

At the Awareness stage, you can start with an “About Us,” and these can take many forms. It can be an overview of your company or key personal. Other videos can be repurposed webinars; or videos about topics important to your industry (demonstrating your expertise); this could also be an opportunity to create a fun video parody (such as your version of the Harlem Shake) or videos that feature the culture of your company.

Consideration & Conversion

During these middle stages, you have an opportunity to dive into the meat of what sets you and your offering apart from the competition. These videos can include product or service demonstrations, client testimonials, product comparisons, case studies; and current sales specials. And the list goes on.

In some cases, such as an in-depth videos that cover financial planning for retirement or how to stage your home for a sale, you may consider employing an email-gate to access the videos. You do this so you can acquire the lead’s name, email and phone number. These should be used on videos that you would consider in the mid- to later stages of the cycle and where the viewer has probably watched two or three others prior to clicking on this one.

Another thing to consider is having one or two “closing” videos that you can use and even customize to individual prospects. This could be in the form of a standard summary of what the customer has learned about you through this process in the cycle. You can then add a quick, personalized voiceover that can be added to the front of the standard video (ask me for examples).

Customer Maintenance

Among the top rules in business is that it is easier to keep a client or customer than to gain a new one. Videos are a great way for you to deepen the relationship you have with your clients and existing customers in a number of ways.

You can create instructional videos that explain how and what to do with your product or service. These can be packaged with the product when it is shipped or placed in a bag. You can solicit testimonials from customers and share those with others in your tribe (as well as for earlier in the cycle). You can create FAQ videos (and I have seen where you spotlight the person who asked the question, “Jim in Buffalo asked …”).

Please take a look at my video sales funnel strategy diagram that offers some other suggested videos for the various stages of the sales cycle. Let me know if you have a question or are stuck coming up with an idea for your particular business. I am always happy to help.