Omnichannel is one of the hottest trends in digital marketing, and forward-thinking businesses are looking for ways to integrate these tactics into their marketing practices.
Video content is an incredibly effective way to engage with customers quickly and show your audience what sets you apart.
Both omnichannel marketing and video content can be successful on their own, but they’re even more valuable together. When used effectively, video content can be the cornerstone of a strong omnichannel strategy.
This article will cover everything you need to know about the role of video content in omnichannel marketing.
What is Omnichannel Marketing?
Omnichannel strategies enable you to provide relevant content to the right users at the right times. Rather than using every channel to send the same message to different users, each channel is seen as a funnel to move customers through the sales cycle.
While adding multiple channels to your marketing practices is an important step, adopting an omnichannel approach ties these channels together more effectively. Each touchpoint across every channel is stored and used to personalize future ads. If a customer views a certain product, for example, you could use that information to cross-sell a similar item.
The Difference Between Multichannel and Omnichannel Marketing: Source
Compared to multichannel or single-channel marketing, omnichannel strategies focus more on gathering customer data and leveraging it to personalize content. Instead of starting with brand messaging and moving out to each channel, you’ll begin by considering each customer’s unique experience and how you can sell to that individual.
For example, if a customer left a product behind and abandoned checkout, you’d typically send an abandoned cart email. However, you can also follow up with retargeting ads on social media and search sites.
Product consulted on a website
Retargeting ad from Facebook
The idea is that if the customer came back and completed the purchase, the retargeting ad wouldn’t show up to the customer anymore.
Omnichannel marketing is about making each touchpoint and message relevant to the customer’s wants and needs, regardless of the channel.
Audiences expect more out of their favorite brands than ever before, and they’re quick to move on from businesses that provide generic content. Omnichannel marketing helps you drive conversions from each piece of content and get better marketing results.
The Rise of Video Content
Video marketing offers a number of benefits that aren’t available with other forms of content. Videos can also be distributed on nearly any platform, so they’re perfect for omnichannel marketing. These are a few of the most important advantages of video content:
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine visibility is a great way to drive traffic, and videos tend to be ranked higher for several reasons. In addition to attracting more viewers than text content, videos also lead to longer page views.
Sales
Conversion rates are the easiest way to measure your marketing success, and video content is just as effective at driving sales. In fact, adding a video to your landing or product page could increase conversions by 80%.
For example, Asos offers a video for each product, which helps the customer see how products move with a 360-degree view.
Brand Value
In addition to immediate sales, video content also positions your brand as an authority in the field. Tutorials, webinars, testimonials, and other videos show customers that you’re an expert they can trust. What’s more, consumers have been vocal about wanting more video content from brands.
Social Media
Social media shares are essentially free word-of-mouth advertisements for your brand, and videos are shared more often than any other form of content. Nearly 90% of marketers are satisfied with their video marketing ROI.
Videos are easy to view on any device, and users are more likely to watch a video than they are to read your ad’s copy, simply because the human brain processes information 60,000 times faster than text.
4 Tips for Success
It’s clear that video content is one of the best ways to increase outreach and sales, but it can still take time to achieve the results you want with video marketing. It’s impossible to craft a strong video campaign overnight, but these tips will help you move in the right direction.
- Use Subtitles
Most videos are best viewed with the sound on, but the reality is that some of your customers won’t hear the audio. For example, up to 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound.
It’s, therefore, best to add subtitles to your videos to make them easy to understand for your entire audience. Remember that many readers will see the ad on a smartphone or tablet.
- Keep it Simple
Just as text ads need to be made clear and concise, videos should be compressed as much as possible. You only have a few seconds to get people interested, so the beginning of each video is crucial for driving clicks and sales.
One of the ways to keep them watching is using attractive intros or logo animations. They are mostly used by YouTubers because branded intros are memorable and easily recognizable. For business, you can use simple and minimal options. Heres’ an example:
- Include a Call to Action
Every video should target the desired behavior, whether that’s visiting your website, signing up for your newsletter, or buying a product. Add a call to action to each video that tempts viewers to click through and stay engaged with your brand.
While you can repeat this call to action multiple times, it’s best to limit each video to a single discount or offer rather than confusing your audience with different call-to-actions.
- Create an Informative Description
You might not focus on video descriptions, but a strong description can actually attract a lot more traffic. Like the video itself, this should be short and to the point—something readers can understand while scrolling through their feed. Use A/B testing to test different descriptions and see which ones lead to the best results.
Source
The above video is a perfect example:
- It’s short, only about 30 seconds long
- It shows you exactly what you need to know about the product
- It preemptively answers questions a customer might have via subtitles
- The original post has extra information that you’d need about the product
- The call to action “Shop Now” is clear and visible
Think about where your video will be seen and what channels you’d like to include it on. This will help you figure out your format, information, and length.
How to Implement Video Marketing Into an Omnichannel Strategy
Videos can be used in a variety of ways, and it’s important to include them throughout channels in order to make them the focus of your omnichannel practices. Keep these tips in mind for the best results when implementing video content into an omnichannel marketing approach.
In-Store Videos
You probably associate video content with digital platforms like social media and email, but it can be equally effective in a physical store. In fact, in-store video marketing offers important advantages compared to limiting your video content to online messaging.
Since your customers are in your store when they see the video, it’s easy for them to make a purchase if they’re interested in the product. With online videos, on the other hand, they’ll have to click through to your store and go through the online checkout process.
Although there’s nothing wrong with putting video ads on your own displays, sending video ads to your customers’ phones when they enter your store increases the chance that they’ll actually watch your content. Connecting the physical store with digital marketing is a perfect example of omnichannel marketing in action.
Email Marketing Automation
Email marketing can be time-consuming on its own, especially when you start using omnichannel strategies to send more personal messages. Marketing automation software streamlines this process and allows you to set different emails to send in response to certain triggers.
Audience segmentation tools, for example, make it easy to categorize your audience based on a variety of factors. From there, you can develop content that’s relevant to each group’s interest.
Source: Simplaex
Email segmentation is one of the best ways to update your marketing practices, and it will likely have an immediate impact on your bottom line. In fact, segmented campaigns lead to 26% more orders and nearly 35 percent more opens than non-segmented campaigns.
Adding video content to marketing emails makes your messages more dynamic and interesting than emails that only contain text.
Customer Success
Video marketing can be used in a wide range of ways to increase sales and improve customer relationships. These are a few simple ideas for video content that will engage your audience and help you reach your goals.
- Tutorials
Tutorials don’t have the same immediate return as some other forms of content, but they’re a great way to increase trust in your brand and maximize customer retention.
If you’re already an expert in your field, it won’t take much time or effort to develop a clear and informative tutorial video. Start with guides on your audience’s most common pain points, then consider gathering feedback to help identify topics for future videos.
This tutorial on “How to Create Videos online” is an excellent example of an informative, engaging video.
- Loyalty Recruitment
Loyalty programs offer incredible value to both customers and businesses. Your audience gains access to exclusive perks and discounts, and customers who sign up are much more likely to stay engaged with your brand over time.
A popular loyalty program also gives you access to customer data, which is even more important than usual for omnichannel marketing. A short video is a perfect way to quickly explain the benefits of your loyalty program and increase subscriptions.
With marketing automation software, you can send these emails to customers who visit your website or loyalty page but don’t end up registering. Focus on the value of the program and let them know why they’re missing out.
- Testimonials
Just as tutorials demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, testimonials give you a chance to highlight positive customer experiences. Testimonials are especially effective if you’ve worked with well-known clients who your audience is likely to listen to.
Rather than talking about your history or features, center the conversation around the difference you made for each customer. As with tutorials, the best way to illustrate your brand’s value is by starting from a common pain point, then describe how your services make it easier. Limit these videos to one or two minutes to keep things focused and avoid losing your audience’s attention.
Ben Simon of Media Brighton does an excellent job of explaining different elements to include in a testimonial video. This can also be adapted into an animated version displaying comments from customer reviews if you sell online.
- The Customer Journey
Audiences often need to be exposed to a new brand up to 20 times before making a purchase, and it’s best to use different messaging at each stage of the journey. The first few interactions should be designed to pique their interest, while later touchpoints should be focused on increasing sales.
Omnichannel marketing makes it easy to track every customer’s progress and use the right video for each situation. If you’re interested in creating a more personal customer journey that increases both immediate sales and long-term engagement, combining video content with the power of omnichannel marketing is the perfect way to start.
You can integrate video marketing in each step of the customer journey:
- Use branding and behind-the-scenes videos in the beginning, when convincing a visitor to become a shopper
- Use videos on product pages to display the product from all angles and in use
- Create tutorials on using your products practically, and keep it informative to help push your customer through to the purchase decision
- Create video testimonials to show how other customers loved your products
- Bring the customer back after the purchase with a video containing products complementary to what they’ve recently purchased, or your best new products of the season
- Post-purchase, send a video that explains your loyalty program with a call-to-action to sign up to redeem their recent purchase
The list of ways you can use video marketing throughout the customer journey goes on. Be creative, and think about what information your customer most needs at each step for your videos to pack an extra punch.
Wrap Up
You might not associate videos with omnichannel marketing, but the personal, engagement-driven nature of video content makes it perfect for businesses with an omnichannel approach. Keep these ideas in mind as you make videos the centerpiece of your next omnichannel campaign.
This article was originally published at Renderforest.com, by author Whitney Blankenship. Original article >>
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