3 steps to generate leads with social media video marketing

Published by Kristian Curcio on May 14, 2019 3:51:06 PM

Social media is everywhere. You are likely one of more than 3 billion monthly users globally. The advantages that social media brings to the table are obvious – you can easily engage with your target audience using the right messages, at the right time and in the right channel.

But is your business social media strategy producing tangible results? Are you properly measuring marketing ROI from social campaigns? Is your strategy actually generating leads and contributing to sales? If you’re not hitting the mark, then you’re just being swamped by the noise.

It takes a lot of effort, strategy, knowledge, and creativity to stand out in this crowded market. What you really need is a strong message that gets to the right people and converts them into leads. Your strategy needs to create engaging, focused, relevant content that leads viewers towards the business. It’s the only way to generate real, tangible results.

So, are your social media campaigns cutting through the mud or getting stuck in the swamp?

The answer depends largely on the social media strategy you have used and if you’re contemplating using social media marketing videos, you’re taking a big step in the right direction.

Why use social media marketing videos

Social media allows you to connect with your customers in a way that no previous medium has. It provides a platform for selective, conscious viewing that grabs people in the middle of their everyday scrolling. While this has the power to increase brand awareness, if you fail to grab your customers’ attention, your content will be switched off or simply scrolled past in their social feed.

A good social media video can measurably boost your leads and sales, ensuring you stay competitive. Growth is not a vague notion. In fact, an engaging video can increase conversions by about 80%. Marketers using video grow revenue about 49% faster than non-video users. Researches have also found that after viewing a video, 65% of executives follow on to visit a website and 39% pick up the phone to call the vendor.

Users not only recall a video, but they are also far more likely to take action. Engaging, entertaining and brand-linked videos with a strong call to action are rapidly becoming essential tools for measurable business growth via social media. In this post, we will help guide you through the process - here are 3 steps to generate leads through social media video marketing.

Step 1. Plan your campaigns

The key to effective video content that converts is good planning. There’s no getting around this one. The video strategy is paramount. Your video has to be engaging and appropriately entertaining. If not, you might as well just make another cat video. Plus, the video content needs to clearly link with the brand and relate to a call to action that actually brings your ideal target through the door.

Plan your campaigns in advance to tailor them to the right customers (using personas), present them at the right time, and tell the right story. More importantly, you need to know, and target, your ideal customers. This means ensuring your video is engaging and relevant in a way that clearly addresses your customers’ needs and preferences. Don’t just make lots of noise and randomly swamp a platform.

Plan what your engagement funnel is and stick to a single-minded proposition. Each piece of content needs to be focused on one key point. So, is it a 50% off end of financial year campaign? Stick to it, don’t mention they also get X, Y, Z. Your next message follows on as viewers engage further down your sales funnel. You’re doing more than creating targeted wow-factor content to make your mark. You’re guiding them down a path to become a client. You’re creating real leads and real sales.

Step 2. Optimise video for the social media platform

Each platform has its strengths. Video is often viewed differently on different platforms, and you should ensure your content plays to the platform’s strengths.

For example, if Instagram is the platform your ideal customer uses most, you have a great advantage with video content. Instagram is a particularly visual medium. Videos on Instagram tend to blend well with the overall user experience. This makes paid promotions appear native to the platform and less intrusive than say Youtube, which pop up ads in content can be disruptive. A seamless viewing experience can help the user engage and recall the video in a positive light.

Step 3. Grab their attention with an entertaining, relevant hook

Content quality is important.

Your first few seconds are paramount. If you don’t immediately grab the users attention, they will simply switch off before they see the full message. They need to feel entertained or intrigued enough to stick around. They need a hook. How you relate this engaging, entertaining content to your brand and your call to action is the pivotal point for success.

A muddled message, dull content or entertainment that doesn’t relate to your brand, will ensure your video is simply lost amongst the noise. Eliciting laughter, shock, awe, anger, or the promise of a need being met, are different ways to create a hook. Just make sure the hook is relevant and links to your call to action.

User experience should be a priority consideration as more and more videos are consumed without sound. So, you’re at a serious disadvantage if you don’t use captions. This doesn’t mean just slotting in the text of the video underneath. It’s about getting the message across in an extremely short form. The way you present your message, both visually and verbally, is paramount.

Generate real leads with social media videos

Simply being seen or just entertaining your viewers is not enough. The whole point of your video strategy is to bring in leads and eventually sales. Real, tangible and qualified leads. This means reaching the right people, with the right message, and enticing them to come through the door.

When you reach the right clients with the right message, the power of an engaging video can be limitless! Learn how Grafico increased leads by 900% within the first week using the right social media video marketing strategy in this case study!

500 Digital Media is a Melbourne-based production studio with a national focus. Fluent in every stage of production – from concept and creation to social media strategy – we provide a full-scale and integrated end-to-end service delivered by our team of in-house experts.

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