How to use video for marketing, sales and customer service content

The idea of using videos to spice up your content isn’t a new one. In fact, right now, video is one of the most popular forms of content available - and no matter what industry you’re in, your customers want you to get involved. You can use video to improve all of your business functions and this guide will show you how.

How can video improve your content?

Time and time again, video has shown how it can improve your content. Just take a look at these statistics…

Adding a video to your content increases your chances of making it to the top of Google's search results by 53%.
Incorporating video to a landing page can boost your conversions by 80%.
The word ‘video’ in your email subject line increases open rates by 19%.
80% of users can recall a video ad they viewed in the last 30 days.
44% of buyers viewed an online video while searching for products/services.
53% of viewers actually contacted the business after watching a video, and 51% visited the business' website.
90% of customers say video helps them make buying decisions.

And the stats go on. At the end of the day, video is a great way to communicate with your personas. That means it can be used in all your key business functions including marketing, sales and customer service.

How to use video for marketing

Why use video for marketing?

Your customers are looking for videos from your brand. In fact, more than 50 per cent of consumers want to see videos more than any other content. And, after reading statistics like how a video on a landing page can boost conversions by 80% or how simply placing the word 'video' in your email subject line can increase your open rate, it would be silly not to use video in your marketing strategy at least some way.

Using video for marketing

Here are just a couple of ways you can use video to improve your marketing.

Tell your story: Your customer wants to get to know your brand. Use a video on a landing page to help tell your story, and build trust with potential customers.
Blogs, social, nurture: These are some of your most important lead generators, so use video to break through all of the words and humanise your content.
Introduce product/service, team, etc: Do you have something new to announce? Use a video to tell your customers about it! Product or service updates are a great way to educate and empower your customer.

Here’s an example of some great marketing video content we’ve produced for clients:

How to use video for sales

Why use video for sales?

People have changed the way they search for information. 70 per cent of a buyer’s research is done before talking to sales, and 59 per cent of buyers prefer not to talk to sales at all. These reasons alone demonstrate how important videos can be to sales. You can help educate your personas before they even pick up the phone to talk to your people.

Using video for sales

Below, we share a couple of ways you can use video to help your sales function.

Address questions before a meeting: Before you even enter a pitch meeting, send over resources to answer basic questions This will help educate and empower your potential customer, which in turn, builds trust with you.
Produce a personal followup: Now that you’ve left the meeting don’t let them forget you. Send a followup video to thank them for their time and discuss any action points from the meeting, this way they can continue to get to know you.
Improve proposals: Make your proposal stand out from others by including video. Boost your claims with client testimonials, team intros or demos so this potential client can get to know all about you without having to read a thing.

How to use video for customer service

Why use video for customer service?

One of the most important places you can use video? In your customer service function. Keeping your customers happy and engaged with your brand is one of the best ways to build brand loyalty - especially as the internet gives customers a quick means to jump ship to another brand when they aren’t getting what they want out of yours.

Using video for customer service

Here are a couple of ideas around how you can implement video into your customer service function.

Address FAQs: Use your frequently asked questions to create helpful content. Are customers confused about a portion of your offering? Creating a video to explain it educates and empowers them.
Training: Similarly to how video can empower your customers, it can also empower your team. Use videos to help train new staff or upskill existing staff.
Live chat: Aren’t you much happier to deal with someone face to face, as opposed to over the phone or chat? This interaction not only helps improve relationships with customers, but it also helps brand personalisation.

Here's an example of a customer support video:

How to implement video content into your business strategies

Determine who your content is for: First, the very important question: Who is my content for? If you have developed personas for your business, you’re already half way there!
Figure out what you want your content to accomplish: Once you know your persona you want to ask yourself what they are going to do with your content? This is where you need to consider your funnel and business function (marketing, sales or service)
Outline the content: With your persona in mind, you next need to ask yourself, what do I want my content to say? Make sure you’re driving value throughout the entire video - it’s not pure entertainment, after all.
Determine where the content will live: Knowing where your content will live will change the style in which you shoot it. TV? Social? Landing page? All of these different channels will have a different method of shooting that need to be considered.
Outline how you’ll measure performance: There are a number of ways you can measure your video performance (CTA click through rate, watch time, share time etc). Understanding your persona, where in their buying journey they are at and what channels you need to use will determine the relevant metrics.
Create!: You might think this is the easy part, but don’t underestimate how long this process truly takes. Shooting and editing video content can take a long time. Consider your budget and the expectations of your persona. Do you need a 5 day shoot on location with talent and all the extras? Or are your personas comfortable with authentic, lower budget content that can be done on a shoe-string? Soon we'll share some more blogs with tips on video production - watch this space!