How to Use Video to Attract New Leads

With just the topic on a blank page in front of me a strange thought crossed my mind – Am I preaching to the converted?

Why should I write about lead-generating video content when most people already know the importance of the audio-visual medium?

These questions again forced me to research the topic. After hours and hours of research, out of the blue, the answer hit me – although video content is very popular only 20% of the Wistia users employ videos to generate leads [1]. The behavior of brands and marketers, in general, might not be that different.

It’s not that they don’t trust videos; they are not clear on how to use videos to attract new leads. If you’re in a similar predicament then the following tips will guide you in the right direction.  

#1 Include Video Content in Your Landing Pages

Nowadays, a landing page without video content is worth nothing.

Almost anyone can create a marketing video from the tools such as Premiere Pro templates, presets, stock-free video clips, etc.

There is no rule that the visual content must be the center of attention at all times. The video might be the centerpiece of the page or play a supporting role to the text and images on the landing page.

Regardless of how you use videos; they have great potential to attract the attention of the visitors, make them stay longer on the page, and encourage them to take action that you want.

Compelling reasons to use videos on landing pages

Marketers who incorporate videos on landing pages or use videos to lead people to landing pages witness an astounding 86% conversion rate [2].

Video content is better at explaining and communicating information than text or image. It’s the way our brains are wired.

It’s easier to remember what we see (a product in action or visual representation of how a service works) than store and recall what we read.

It’s hard for me to tell this but people are generally skeptical and circumspect dealing with new brands.

In the digital world, marketers need to earn the trust of the people before they can expect something in return. Landing page videos help earn the trust of the audience by humanizing the content.

How to use video content to generate leads on landing pages

The simplest and most important step in generating more leads is to include an effective call-to-action (CTA).

The CTA can be placed at the end of the video, shown at strategic points, or made to appear throughout the video.

Use teaser videos (30 seconds or less) to induce the visitors to share personal information. Once they become your lead, the gated, long-form video can be opened up for the lead’s consumption.  

Hybrid content performs better than video-only landing pages. Use web designing tools to create attractive and effective landing pages.

Although video content is the star of the page, use text or images to support or highlight critical points. Hybrid content will make your landing pages more accessible.

#2 Add Videos in Your Emails Campaigns

Email, as a marketing tool, hasn’t lost its shine. It’s still one of the most powerful tools to generate leads. That said its effectiveness can be augmented by combining email with video content.

Video emails would be the perfect tool to reach and engage the Millenials and Generation X.

By the time you start the email campaign you already have a list of leads and their contact information.

Marketers can use personalized email campaigns for lead nurturing and to move the leads further down the sales funnel.  

Why use videos in your email campaigns

People are so used to receiving emails that much of what they receive is unceremoniously sent to the trash. Only a select few are viewed.

Luckily for you, video content can determine the fate of your emails. Adding the work ‘video’ in the subject line can boost the open rate by as much as 19% [3].

With video emails, you can expect an increase in the number of people visiting your website or landing page through your emails.

Marketers can expect a 50% increase in the click-through rate just by adding a video thumbnail in the emails [4].

People will be more inclined to hear your message when videos are used for communication. This means adding video content to emails can reduce the cost-per-lead by 19%, thereby boosting your ROI [5].

How to use video emails to nurture leads

Personalize the video content. With personalized video emails, marketers can take up their engagement a notch up.  

Personalizing the video content will bring the brand and the lead closer. The lead will then be more inclined to explore the brand further, which will result in a higher conversion rate.

#3 Leverage the Power of the Social Media

Even without digging deep, marketers can give hundreds of reasons for using social media videos.

The majority of internet users spend at least a few minutes every day on one or more social media platforms. Hence, one of the best ways to influence these users is by leveraging the power of social media.

Interestingly, many social media platforms that were predominantly text or image-based are fast shifting their focus to video content. They had to resort to this to satisfy the insatiable demand for videos from the users.

Reasons to use videos in social media

Every day, the videos uploaded on Facebook alone receive over 8 billion views. Plus, people are attracted to videos as metal to a magnet. Also, video posts receive nearly 50% more views than other types of social media posts [6].

Consumers of video content take action; they like, share, comment, or do what you want them to do. An astounding 92% of people who enjoy a video share the same with others [7]. This increases the chance of your video going viral and reaching more people.

You won’t find a more suitable and effective type of content for social media than video content.

Video content has proved to be a boon for e-commerce business marketers, with 93% of them claiming that video content has made more people buy products and that it also increased the ROI.

How to use social media video content for lead generation

The dynamic nature of video content can be both a boon and a curse. For example, different social media platforms recommend different video formats (aspect ratio). Hence, upload your videos directly to the platform; don’t just share the link.

You’ll lose nearly 20% of viewers if you don’t impress them within the first 10 seconds of the video [8]. Hence, pay attention to the initial few seconds of your video content.

Include an effective call-to-action. You’ll find this suggestion in almost all the ideas mentioned here. Compared to videos without CTAs, the ones that include them in any form see an increase in click-through rate by 285% [9].

Use social media video ads to drive more traffic to your video landing page. Social media video ads are 18 times more effective than TV commercials [10].

#4 Use Gated Content to Generate Leads

Gating content is one of the most effective ways to generate leads. This method is ideal when you have video content that can enrich the lives of website visitors.

Use gated content if you have something valuable to offer. Make the whole process easy for the audience by creating a custom QR code that’ll open a simple, effective form that will eventually lead them to the video content.

A prospective customer who has previously had a brief interaction with your brand must be interested enough to trade their personal information for the video content.

Gated content can also reveal the quality of your leads. At this stage of the buyer journey, those unwilling to trust you with information to access your content probably won’t convert to buyers at a later stage.

Reasons to use gated content for lead generation

The popularity of gated content can be gauged from the fact that nearly four-fifth of all B2B marketing content is not free to access. Potential customers are required to do something to access the gated content [11].

Not all videos need to be free. If the content is of such high value that your audience is ready to give something to access the asset then you must seriously think of using gated content.

Videos are ideal for this purpose because around 52% of marketers agree that video content provides the best ROI [12].   

Best practices for using gated content

Not all content types are suited to be placed behind a conditional wall. The value the audience places on the video content must determine your gating strategy. Gated content is one of the best strategies to use in B2B sales marketing.

Avoid using short videos and overly promotional videos as gated content. That said marketers can use 10-30-second videos as teaser content to drive traffic to the landing page that hosts the gated content.

The best video types that can make people share information include educational content, webinars, event videos, whiteboard videos, and behind-the-scenes videos.

#5 Mine Existing Customers for Leads Using Videos

If you play your cards right, you can convert existing customers into future leads. This is a marketing tactic that most companies miss. The stat that only 16% of companies focus on customer retention backs this claim [13].

In most industries, 20% of the existing customers are responsible for 80% of the business. Hence, nurturing your existing customers even after sales will increase the chance of future purchases.

Brands can earn the customer’s goodwill by creating an array of customer service videos such as onboarding videos, tutorial videos, FAQ videos, tips and tricks videos.

Businesses can create special invoice templates with a link or QR code that would take the customers to a web page with customer service videos.

Reasons to use videos for customer retention

Customer service is directly linked to customer retention; around 89% of marketers believe this to be true [13]. Like in every other marketing stream, video content is best placed to satisfy customers after the sale.

Another good reason to target existing customers for leads is that they are 50% more likely to show interest in new products [13].

How to convert existing customers into leads with videos

Use personalized customer support videos. It’s easy to create personalized videos which have a higher impact on the conversion rate because you know the customers already.

Videos in the lead nurturing setup will also help earn referrals from existing customers. Once you earn the trust of your customers, they’ll reciprocate by acting as your brand ambassadors and referring your product/service to their family and friends.

Final Thoughts

Now, it’s time for action. In your hands are enough ideas to start experimenting with videos to generate leads. The 5 points you just read are simple ideas that can produce extraordinary results.

Boost your online presence and start your lead generation with these tips. Persist with them by regularly providing your audience with valuable content.

These ideas will repay your trust manifolds by generating a massive amount of leads.