Video Marketing: How Video Can Build Your Community & Drive More Sales

Video marketing is no longer an add-on to your marketing strategy. It’s an essential component that can help increase engagement across your social channels and educate your prospects, converting them into paying customers. In fact, video marketing has the capability of increasing conversion rates by 80%.

Why the fuss? Video can be watched anywhere, and it provides a live experience that enables the potential customer to create a deeper connection with your business. How many times have you clicked on a video in your Instagram feed just out of curiosity but skipped over a headline? In addition, viewers retain 95% of a message that they watch in video format (compared to only 10% when it’s text alone.) Couple these things together and you have a more interested and engaged audience that is more likely to make a purchase.

So, where should you start?

As you’re creating your marketing plan, brainstorm the key messaging that you can deliver via video so you can plan photoshoots that combine multiple videos into one day with your videographer. And yes, you can use an amateur videographer instead, but keep in mind that you want your content to look polished, yet authentic. A steady hand and good lighting are key. But if you say something off-script, roll with it and see how it lands. There’s no need to feel like perfection is the only acceptable product. In fact, when you speak off-script, you’ll establish a more emotional connection with your customer.

Where should you add videos into your marketing strategy?

Mindbody's comprehensive Marketing Suite makes it easy for you to include videos in your email marketing campaigns and automations. The marketing funnel has three stages (top, middle, and bottom) and within each stage, there are places where a carefully crafted video will increase your qualified leads. 

Top of the funnel

In the top stage, your goal is to increase visibility and build brand awareness and authority. This is the buyer’s first stage in the journey. Bringing video into this part of the conversation helps you grab their attention. Remember, they don’t know anything about you, so craft a video that shows them you understand who they are, what problem you’re working to solve, and why they should choose you. Try creating a “Why” video here: Take this as an opportunity to talk about what you do, why you do it, and what are your values, mission, and vision. And don’t forget that you want to give them a concrete action item as you close the video—where do they go to learn more or take the next step?

Middle of the funnel

Okay, now you’ve turned them from cold to warm. Let’s move to the middle of the funnel, where you’ll start to build trust. In this stage, you’re beginning to differentiate yourself from your competitors. This is the part of the funnel where you want to educate your clients, and often this means sharing information about your unique services. If you approach your video content from a place of education vs. sales, you’ll find that you’re able to attract more of these potential customers. Great video content includes a comparison video that tackles the objections you’re most likely to encounter. For yoga studios that often means, “I’m not flexible enough to do yoga.” A short video answering why this is a myth helps those potential clients feel more comfortable about joining your community. It’s also a great opportunity to showcase the unique character and culture of your studio with a video tour. Show them your client experience before they even step foot into your space—what does it look like, where do their belongings go, what’s the room setup?

Bottom of the funnel

Now you’re at the bottom of the funnel. Potential customers trust you and feel educated, and now you just need to reassure and convert them into paying customers. The purpose of this stage of the funnel is to provide overwhelming and concrete proof that your studio can help them solve their problem(s). Your video content will tackle the potential objections they have, but now you’re going to give them an irresistible offer. Think first class free or 50% off, or perhaps share the intro offer for your studio. What’s the simplest and easiest way to convert them from watching you online to participating in your offerings in–person?

Video marketing provides you with an additional method for attracting clients, one that has proven again and again to be more successful than other forms of communication. 93% of marketers say they’ve landed a new customer thanks to a video on social media. Shouldn’t that be you?