In the age of ecommerce, the video marketing campaign has become such an integral part of marketing in general that it would be easier to count the ecommerce companies that do not engage in it rather than those that do.
Of course, some online businesses and endeavors specifically deal with video content, but even those selling products and services with no video dimension still use video marketing to promote their brand and, just as importantly, generate leads.
Lead generation, specifically, is the one element of video marketing that marks it out as a modern phenomenon. The reason for this is simply that video marketing is certainly not new – think of TV commercials – but it has been revolutionized.
Furthermore, one of the ways it has been overhauled is perfectly in line with the ecommerce revolution in general – almost anyone can do it. To see that this is so, you just need to think about the costs involved in a traditional TV commercial compared to those needed to make marketing videos for a website. The difference is a stark. Sometimes (in fact, often) portrait-orientated smartphone videos are used for video marketing, and those cost nothing at all.
Regardless of how it is done though, the aim is to encourage lead generation. Lead generation most basically refers to the process of cultivating new customers. In the world of new video marketing, this normally involves encouraging a specific call-to-action within the marketing material. A call-to-action is something that encourages someone to make some active move such as signing up for a newsletter, making an account or, in the case of video marketing, clicking through the ad and on to the company’s site. In this way, leads are generated by video marketing.
Benefits of Video Marketing for Ecommerce
Before going on to some of the ways to generate leads with video marketing, it is wise to first look in more detail at the benefits of video marketing for any ecommerce company.
Can Improve Social Engagement
Ecommerce marketing agency Azola Creative say that, most basically, video marketing allows you to reach many more people than would typically visit your site. This is simply because videos can be spread around social media sites and the internet at large. Lead generation needs to start in this way.
Eliminates Language Barriers
Once you start taking your company global, this becomes a serious matter. Hiring a local management team to handle this wherever your business is operating is infinitely more expensive than making dialogue-light videos that show as well as tell.
Improve SEO
Many associate SEO with text and keywords, but there is more to it than that. Video SEO is a whole discipline, and Google has explicitly stated that video watch counts are one of their top-ranking factors. It is also true that videos have titles and description, so text SEO is also possible here.
Boosting Lead Generation with Videos
So, we have already seen that a wide-reaching video marketing campaign puts you in touch with many more potential leads. However, to turn them into real leads that video should explicitly encourage either a specific CTA or an invitation to explore the company and the brand further. “Visit X website today” messages and links are an example of the former, while the latter can be realized in many ways.
If the marketing appears in the right place, it can work with the presupposed interests of those viewing the videos. A simple example is to post marketing videos for, say, a power drill on a DIY community Facebook page.
You can reach many people, but lead generation means reaching the right people.