Part IV: Speed of Sale
One of the common frustrations with digital marketing is how long it typically takes to close a sale. Today, buyers are spending more time than ever doing online research before moving forward in the purchase process. And why shouldn’t they? There’s a mountain of information available out there.
In Part II of this series, we discussed briefly how online consumers like to perform extensive due diligence before buying a product. This gives them a sense of control, and gives them the feeling that they are making a more informed decision.
The challenge for consumers in doing all this research is information overload – particularly when a buyer is reading page after page of boring text. This is one of the reasons a provider with a strong video presence is far more likely to close a sale – video helps break up the monotony while simultaneously engaging the consumer at a deeper emotional level.
So we’ve established the strength of video for online consumer research, not let’s discuss how that might fit into your sales funnel. Don’t have a sales funnel? We beg to differ. You may call it by a different name – “sales process”, “marketing funnel”, “sales pipeline”, “sales cycle”, “conversion process” – or something else. But if you have a business that seeks to…
- Engage new prospects…
- Convert as many prospects as possible into customers/clients…
- Encourage existing customers/clients to buy again…
…then you have a sales funnel.
The problem for many companies is their sales funnel has clogs at various points that make the buying cycle frustratingly slow. By using video, you can create clear messaging and standard process flows for your entire company — whether you are the only salesperson or there is a sales force.
Video Implementation within the Sales Funnel
With video, you can use drip campaigns and a carefully curated sales funnel to engage and follow your clients through the entire buying cycle. This helps them discover you, engage with you, and learn about which services and products are available, which in turn helps close the sale.
Here is an example of how video may be implemented at various stages in the sales funnel:
Beginning of the Cycle
- Establish credibility by interviewing key experts and thought leaders in your industry;
- Produce “get to know you” videos showcasing your company, employees, culture, mission, and what makes you stand out in your field;
- Repurpose webinar content that can be used to educate and train prospects on the value of your product or service.
Middle of the Cycle
- Produce video showcasing your product or service in a “real world” setting;
- Produce case studies showing how your product or service helped Customers X, Y & Z;
- Produce testimonial videos with customers/clients describing their experience with your company.
End of the Cycle
- Produce videos targeted to various segments of your market showing how your product/service seamlessly integrates into their environment;
- Produce FAQ videos that effectively answer common questions/objections at the point of sale;
- Produce “Thank You” videos that your customers receive after purchase;
- Produce “quick start” instructional videos to help customers put your product/service to immediate use.
By establishing a video presence at each critical stage of the sales funnel, you begin to set expectations and present a recurring voice and face. This builds credibility and demonstrates to your clients your proficiency and depth of knowledge of your product/service and industry. In addition, by automating several elements of your sales process with video, you are able to more effectively maintain a steady flow of sales — without compromising your personality or level of engagement.