Using Social Video at Every Stage of the Customer Journey

Business owners often think of social video as a tool for driving awareness at the very top of the marketing funnel. But video is actually a useful tool for boosting your efforts at every stage of the customer journey.

These days, more and more people are making the decision to buy something before they even go to a company’s website. They see a video on Instagram or watch a targeted ad, see a recommendation from a friend on Facebook or learn about a company when searching for a how-to on YouTube.

According to our latest State of Social Video trend report, 32% of consumers check out a brand's presence on social media before checking out their website. And 73% of consumers have been impacted by a brand's social media presence when making a purchase decision.

Social videos can help you get in front of the right potential customers with the right message, whether it’s their first experience with your brand or they’re ready to take the plunge and start doing business with you. In this article, we’ll take a look at how to use video to create and convert interest at every stage of the customer journey.

What is the customer journey?

But wait. Before we dive in: what is the customer journey? Basically, it’s the path that a customer takes starting from the very beginning when they find out about your business, all the way through to when they become a customer and beyond.

Using Video to Create & Convert Interest

I’ll start with a simplified version of the customer journey, focused on creating interest and converting interest with video. I’ll share some ideas for using video throughout the more advanced marketing funnel, including videos for driving awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty, in the next section.

• Creating interest refers to the types of videos you create and share to attract new potential customers that don’t already know about your business early on in the customer journey.
• Convert interest refers to the types of videos you share a little later on in the customer journey, when potential customers are deciding whether or not to do business with you.

Video ideas for creating interest

We’ll start with a few top-of-funnel video ideas, designed to create interest or leads among people that aren’t yet familiar with your business. Note that each of the video examples in this article is also a template that you can easily click through to customize for your own brand.

Idea #1: How-To Video

Capture the attention of people that are searching for tutorials related to your business with a how-to video. Publish to YouTube or Facebook, where your potential customers are searching. Check out our recent guide to Facebook video search optimization to ensure your video is discoverable.

In this example, a party planner shares a fun party recipe as a way of getting on the radar of potential customers looking for party recipes and advice.

Idea #2: Interview or Q&A

Share an interview video, featuring yourself or another one of the experts at your business. Here’s an example of an interview with a chiropractor featuring his tips. An interview video like this is a nice way to showcase your brand’s expertise and answer questions that your potential customers are searching for.

Idea #3: Blog or Content Teaser

Share a short video teaser promoting a piece of content or new post on your company blog. Target your teaser at people that are interested in topics related to your business.

Idea #4: Explain a Trend

Create a shareworthy video explaining a popular trend in your industry. Include relevant hashtags when you share the video to help with discoverability.

Idea #5: Answer an FAQ

I shared a recent blog post about using video to save time and optimize your workflow. Specifically, I talked about creating video versions of questions you get asked frequently so you don’t have to sound like a broken record. A big benefit of videos like this is that they also help cement you as an expert when you’re there with the answer to questions that potential new customers are asking about.

Here’s an example of a common question in the real estate industry: how should you price your home? By sharing the answer to this question in video form, a real estate agent could get in front of new potential clients looking for help selling their homes.

Video ideas for converting interest

You’ve succeeded in creating interest with the videos above. What’s next? It’s time to convert that interest into business results. In this section, we’ll focus on ideas for videos designed for people that are already interested in you and what you do. The focus of these videos is to help potential customers decide to take the leap and give you their business.

Idea #1: Product Demo or Tutorial

For people that are interested in learning more about your product or service, use video to give a closer look through a product demo or tutorial. Show what comes in a kit, how a product works, or what a service looks like in action.

Idea #2: Testimonial Video

Success stories from current customers is a great way to garner trust with those that are interested in your business. And you don’t have to get people to talk on camera. You can create a testimonial video like the one in this example using online reviews.

Idea #3: Share Your Backstory

“If people like you they'll listen to you, but if they trust you they'll do business with you.” This quote from Zig Zigler is one of my favorites, and I genuinely believe that video is a great tool for building that trust. Humanize your brand with a video that goes behind the scenes and lets potential new customers get to know you. Find our more in my blog post on 9 ways to humanize your brand with video.

Idea #4: Showcase Product Benefits

Explain your business or offering with a video that hones in on the benefits. What is the problem that you solve for your customers? Lead with it and then explain how your product is a great solution.

Idea #5: Promo video

Last but not least, use a promo video to seal the deal. Targeting potential customers that have already shown interest in your product or service with a special deal is a great way to close the loop and get the sale.

PRO TIP: Targeted advertising can help ensure that you’re reaching the right people at the right stage of their journey. On Facebook and Instagram, you can set up campaigns that specific target those that have visited your website or watched another video you’ve posted. To learn more, check out our article on targeted ads for Facebook and Instagram.

Advanced Marketing Funnel Ideas

If you work at a larger company with a more involved marketing funnel, we’ve got you covered as well. Here are a few ideas for using video to move prospects down the funnel from awareness to consideration to conversion. Plus, we’ve thrown in some ideas for using video to create loyal customers as well.

Driving Awareness with Video

Here are a few ideas for driving awareness with video at the very top of the funnel. You’ll recognize many of these ideas from our section above on using video to create interest.

• How-to videos
• Interviews or Q&As
• Blog or Content Teasers
• Explainer Videos
• FAQs

Driving Consideration with Video

Once potential customers are aware of your business, it’s time to start teaching them more about who you are and what you do. Here are some videos to share with customers in the Consideration stage of the customer journey.

• Product Benefits (i.e. why buy this product)
• Product Demo or Tutorial
• Testimonial Video
• Backstory or "How it's made"

Driving Conversion with Video

You’ve introduced people to your business and given all the information they need to get to know your offering. Now, it’s time to get them to purchase. Here are a few video ideas for driving conversion.

• Promo video
• Targeted video ad
• Announcement video (i.e. New collection!)
• Product launch

Driving Loyalty with Video

Once you’ve turned a prospect into a customer, you’re job isn’t done. Here are some ideas for keeping customers coming back for more—and getting them to become true fans that will spread the word about you.

• Sneak peek video
• Behind the Scenes
• Special promos just for followers
• Customer highlights
• Event invitation or recap
• Contest or competition

In what ways are you using video throughout the customer journey? Head over to our private Facebook group to join the conversation and find more ideas and inspiration for engaging with your customers with video.