Video and Lead Generation
Marketers are recognizing the power and possibility of video to provide answers to a range of questions. Video can be used to advertise a product or service, educate potential customers about a product or service, and introduce current and potential customers to a company. The ultimate purpose of these different videos is to drive conversions and turn potential customers into loyal brand advocates. Video marketing is a natural fit for lead generation and we have gathered some recommendations to help you take advantage of the power of video for lead generation.
Optimize for YouTube & Search Engines
When most people think of the top search engines, they likely do not consider the second largest—YouTube. The world’s top 100 brands regularly share videos on YouTube, but only 9% of small businesses create and share video on YouTube. Sharing a video to YouTube isn’t as simple as just uploading and sharing it. To successfully gain views and engagement, videos need to be optimized for YouTube. Optimizing video for YouTube starts with optimizing the video metadata. Metadata is all the information that goes into describing your video—title, description, and tags. Optimizing metadata helps videos perform better in search results on YouTube and Google. Selecting the best title is the first level of optimizing your videos for YouTube. Choose a concise yet detailed title that accurately reflects the content. Use the YouTube keyword suggestion tool to create titles that contain the appropriate keywords while keeping the title natural and reflective of your brand guidelines.
Each video should have a detailed description of the video’s content that is around 250 words long. There are several things you should also include in your video description. Link a URL to a relevant page—whether it’s your main site or somewhere else you want to drive leads. Research the keywords you want to drive traffic and integrate them into your description. Keep in mind that the descriptions can be truncated by a “show more” tab, so consider putting your URL and most relevant keywords at the beginning. Adding tags to your videos is another way to help search algorithms rank them in the search results. You should have between ten and twenty tags per video. Choose only the most relevant keywords and key phrases to help drive viewers to your videos. Be sure to consider which phrases potential customers would search and include those.
Drive Traffic with CTAs and Call-Outs
If you are using YouTube, there are several different tools you can use for lead generation and conversions. One option is YouTube cards—these cards can be set up to appear throughout your video and provide an additional opportunity for interaction and engagement with your viewers. Cards can include CTAs to view other videos, visit your site, and more. The cards were developed to be optimized for mobile-enabling you to push mobile viewers directly to your site, which is especially important since over 50% of all video content is viewed online. In addition to YouTube cards, you can use a feature called “end screens.” If your video is at least 25 seconds long, you can include an end screen.
These can feature links to your website, social media sites, etc. End screens are also optimized for mobile. Whether you choose to use these YouTube tools or not, there are several other ways to include CTAs in your videos for lead generation. Including calls to action in your videos can boost your conversions by an incredible percentage. 72% of B2B marketers have found that video has the best rate of conversion over any other kind of content.
Create Dedicated Video Landing Pages
78% of people watch video online every week and an amazing 95% of viewers retain the information presented in videos. The benefit of optimizing your videos is that they can be used in other channels as well. If you do not want to direct potential leads to YouTube, create a dedicated landing page that will feature your video.
Video landing pages are effective because they present videos in a distraction-free zone and provide the opportunity to include additional elements that you might not be able to implement on YouTube. You can include a built-in form on the landing page so that leads can easily contact you for more information. By focusing the lead’s attention on the video, you increase the likelihood that they will watch it from beginning to end and will engage with the content. Video landing pages also provide some extended branding options that may not be available on YouTube. By creating an extension of your brand to frame the video, you begin building recognition with potential customers.
Marketers across industries and verticals know that video is a tool that can be used to achieve amazing results, especially when it comes to lead generation and driving conversions. Video marketing is an important element in any marketing plan and effective videos can have a massive ROI. To help drive leads to your video and then to your site, optimize your content for YouTube and search engine rankings. Include CTAs in your videos to prompt your leads to enter the sales funnel. Consider using a landing page to host your videos to keep leads focused and seamlessly convert from leads into customers. These tips will make your videos more effective in generating leads and increasing sales.
How have you used video to generate new leads?
