Marketing automation is not new, and neither is video but combining the two breaks new ground for many businesses. Marketers are aware of the vast opportunities that come with video marketing – it builds awareness, creates affinity, helps with finding new customers and increases revenue.
However, many marketers are still trying to track their video metrics manually. When video marketing is automated, it takes it to a whole new level, eliminating menial tasks, streamlining workflow and increasing productivity.
What is video marketing automation?
Your most common marketing goals are usually lead generation, lead nurturing and lead scoring. The goal of using marketing automation is to take leads from where they are in the buyer’s journey and offer them a contextual education.
A video is a great way to deliver that education. You can add forms to your video to generate leads, link to relevant video content to nurture them and categorize them based on how they interact with your videos.
To begin integrating video into marketing automation, you will have to choose where to host your videos. There are many different platforms, both paid and free. Cincopa is a firm favorite because of the various tools and analytics they provide. Some of the analytics you have access to on a hosting platform is who engages with your videos and how long they watch.
Integrating video and automated marketing enables you to identify all aspects of viewer behavior, from initial contact to purchase. Leads can be handled in an appropriate manner, and this gives you a much higher chance of eventually closing a deal.
Generating new leads from video
Online videos engage us fully with sound, sight, context, comprehension, and movement. They are an extension of what we love to do such as watching movies and so they are easy to consume. They are also easy to share which means they have the extraordinary reach and can easily fill up the top of your sales funnel.
It has been established that if your video is two minutes long and you include a form in the first 24 seconds, you can expect a good 40% of your viewers to submit it. This is a higher percentage than those who fill in a form on a website.
You can also include a call-to-action at the end of a video, taking viewers to content that’s gated by a form. The form can be created using your marketing automation system with just a couple of clicks. When individuals complete the form to access content, the system channels them on a nurturing track so you can start building a relationship with them.
Nurturing leads with video
It’s important to understand where your leads are in the buying process, so you know how to address their questions or help them to overcome any obstacles.
Someone who downloaded a company brochure is probably further along in the process than someone who downloaded a free learning guide. When they receive the right content at the right time, they can move through the funnel at their own pace in a way that matches their interests and needs.
A buyer goes through three steps before they purchase – they become aware of a problem, they consider solutions, and then they make a decision based on the best possible solution to their problem.
With some video intelligence, you can figure out what parts of your video are engaging and where you are losing people. You can adjust or follow up with people based on how they engage with your content.
Someone who only viewed a minute or so of a video needs more nurturing, and you can set up your marketing automation to accomplish this. Adding videos into the early stages of lead nurturing helps you to create a personal connection with leads quickly.
Adding a video to a lead-nurturing email can help to boost click-through rate. If people engage with the video, another email message offering further content is sent to build on that behavior. If they don’t engage, a specific message or content is pre-determined and automatically generated to give them another opportunity to engage.
Enhance lead scoring
Categorizing leads based on where they are in the journey towards buying helps you to send them the right material when they need it. This is when automation becomes invaluable. Lead scoring is a method of assigning a value to your leads based on criteria such as video views, website visits, form completion and webinar attendance.
It’s very effective but its time consuming and impractical to do it manually. Automating the process is easy to set up, makes scoring simple and scales well.
If your leads are in the awareness stage, they will automatically be sent educational videos because you don’t want to send them product videos at this state. By sending them educational information, they learn more, and you keep in contact with them.
When your leads want to solve a problem, and they are looking for solutions, it’s still too early to send them case studies and video testimonials. In this nurturing stage, they will receive something like a product explainer.
The sales impact
When leads are in the decision stage, this is when they need to receive product deep dives, in-depth video testimonials, case studies and free samples or special deals. Their chance of purchasing a product or service increases when viewing these videos.
A combination of video and marketing automation takes customer intelligence to new heights. It’s a win-win for businesses and their customers. By automating video engagement behavior, marketers are able to increase data to use in campaigns greatly.
The extent of data tracking, analysis, and reporting that comes with marketing automation drives relevant campaigns and allows you to measure ROI effectively. Data is used to create meaningful, strategic video content that drives continuing engagement.
Adding video to your automated marketing is an affordable, quick way to communicate your message and differentiate yourself from the competition clearly. It’s worth automating your video marketing to make it more data-driven and seamless.
Author Bio
Having more than 8 years of writing experience, Smridhi Malhotra is a professional tech, health and travel blogger. She loves to gather and share her profound knowledge about latest developments in technology.
Smridhi is a management graduate and visual graphics artist and is currently pursuing masters in behavioral psychology. Her hobbies are practicing mindfulness, counseling children and traveling (a special love for Africa).
