Video Marketing: How to Make it Work

How to Hack Video Marketing in 2023

Video marketing is growing, and marketing platforms are evolving with it. Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram made a move to prioritize video content, and 81% of businesses followed their lead to embrace video as a marketing tool. 

From infographics to launch videos, read on for a comprehensive rundown on making video marketing work for you and your marketing goals. 

And if one how-to article isn’t enough, become a master of video marketing with some extra-credit reading of this everything-you-need-to-know guide.

Marketing Funnel, Meet Video Marketing

2021 video marketing tactics

Gone are the days when video’s role in your marketing strategy should be limited to one or two expensive video ads a year. Video is the modern-day MVP of marketing. It indeed does it all. Whether you’re looking for awareness, conversion, or engagement, there’s a video for every marketing funnel stage. 

Buckle up if it’s dawning on you as you read this that you may have had your MVP sitting on the sidelines all season. This article is a crash course in whipping your marketing strategy into shape with your new star player, the marketing video. 

Video at Every Stage of the Funnel 

The first step to video marketing success is establishing what stage of the marketing funnel you’re trying to target. The good news? Video is a jack-of-all-trades all-star at every stage. There’s almost nothing it can’t do as long as you know what it is you’re trying to achieve. 

Top of the Funnel: Awareness 

At the top of the marketing funnel is awareness. This is the stage for you if you want to get the word out and get your brand in front of some new eyeballs. 

Whether you’re a baby brand trying to get your foot in the door or an established business looking to grow your target audience, video is the way to go about it. 

Goals for Awareness and Video Marketing

Awareness is about discovery, so you want to ensure your video targets reflect that. The video goals to keep an eye on at this funnel stage are total views, view duration, and 3-second views. 

Anything that shows you that you’re winning the precious, fleeting attention of your target audience in an ocean of competing content is a sure marker of success. 

Middle of the Funnel: Consideration 

Smack-bang in the middle of the funnel sits consideration. You’re hovering around the middle of the funnel when you aim to pique interest or deepen an existing relationship with your audience.

Focusing on consideration can be worthwhile if you’re in a competitive marketplace or want to build a real rapport beyond sales and discounts. 

The best course of action for consideration videos is to lean on what you know, build content around your area of expertise and prove you know what you’re on about. 

Goals for Consideration 

Considering videos, the most important measurable goals are the ones that show engagement. The top dog in this department is the click-through rate, followed closely by view length. 

Someone engaged enough to watch the whole video or click through from the video to your website is someone who’s had their interest piqued. You want to see that people pick up what you’re putting down. 

Bottom of the Funnel: Conversion 

We started at the top, and now we’re here. Gracing the bottom of the marketing funnel is conversion. This is where you’re typically casting a smaller net than the last two goals, but it’s a carefully constructed, painstakingly-targeted net that brings in the goods. 

If you want to sell something, you’re looking at conversion. The goal is to show your audience what you’re selling and why they should buy it. 

This is made easier if you already have an established relationship to lean on (hello, awareness and consideration!), but it can also be used to target first-time customers. 

Goals for Conversion 

This one’s pretty easy. The goal of a conversion video is to…drum roll, please…convert from views to sales. Therefore, sales and click-through rates are the metrics to keep an eye on. 

If you’re noticing a spike in clicks but not sales, it might be worth digging into where the disconnect is between the marketing video and the product or service itself. 

Once you’ve pegged your place in the marketing funnel, it’s time to pick the video type that best works with your goals. 

There are seven essential types of videos, and each stage of the marketing funnel will inform which video type will deliver your desired results. 

1. Explainer Video and Video Marketing

Works best for Consideration or Conversion 

Explainer videos span the internet as far as the virtual eye can see. They’re a versatile and engaging way to explain something to your audience whether that’s how your service or product works or a relevant (consideration forward) how-to. 

Consideration 

Get into a relevant concept or explain how to do something your audience will find helpful to make the most of explainers at the consideration stage. Share across your socials or include other relationship-building modes such as newsletters, emails, or blogs. 

Conversion 

Since this type of video lets you get into the nitty-gritty of what a product or service is and why it’s something your audience needs, it is particularly handy for converting to sales. 

2. Video Ads and Promos 

Works best for: All across the marketing funnel 

You might think you know what a video ad or promo looks like, but they can take many forms across the marketing funnel. 

The classic video ad still has its place. It’s a highly targeted rundown of a brand or product, and it does its job well. 

Other types of videos within the umbrella of ads and promos are sale and discount-specific videos and social testimonial videos, which can be used to target even further.

Awareness 

This is a common video type for the top of the funnel. Where awareness is the goal, ads and promos tend to focus on who the brand is more so than what you’re selling. Things like the origin story, visions, or values of a brand garner interest and establish an awareness of who you are. 

Consideration 

Standard video ads and promos aren’t as commonly seen in the consideration stage, but sub-type videos like social proof and testimonials have been known to work consideration magic. 

Use stats, figures, and awards in a social proof video, or let your customers prove you’re credible with a testimonial. Consumers intrinsically trust other consumers far more than they trust a brand, so let them do the talking for you. 

They should be believable and relatable and feature a first-person video of customers talking or animated written testimonials. 

Conversion 

Similar to what makes an explainer video great at the bottom of the funnel, video ads and promos let you focus on exactly what you’re selling. 

A video ad will work any time of the year, but sales and discount videos thrive at well-known major shopping dates like holidays, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday. 

It’s best to strike when your audience is already planning on cracking open their wallet, subtly sliding into their timeline with a sale or discount they can’t scroll past.

3. Listicle and Editorial Videos 

Works best for Consideration 

Both listicle and editorial videos aim to engage and build rapport. The key is to determine what kind of information your target audience would find interesting and topical, then build these videos around that. 

These videos are the perfect place to tease (and link to) a larger piece of content, such as a longer video or blog post or break down and outline a relevant concept. 

What is the main difference between a listicle and an editorial video? They’re essentially the same thing, but a listicle is more listy. 

Consideration 

Since the goal with listicle and editorial videos is usually to sharpen your brand’s definition and build rapport, they’re right at home in the middle of the funnel. You typically wouldn’t use these videos to break down a product or service, but rather to prove yourself worthy of a ‘like,’ ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe.’ 


4. Infographics Video Marketing

Works best for Consideration 

Nothing sparks an urge to click that share button like an infographic video. 

Infographics are the perfect intersection of learning and entertainment; they’re just fun. They provide yet another opportunity to show off why you’re an expert at what you do and just how much knowledge you have that’s worth sticking around for. 

Consideration 

You guessed it is another video type perfect for the consideration stage. The share-worthiness of infographics and the opportunity to prove your credibility make infographic videos a surefire option for the audience.

5. Polls and Questions 

Works best for: Consideration 

Polls and question videos are always reliable choices for upping audience engagement. The main goal of these videos is to engage the audience you’ve already built, and they help build rapport by opening up an audience and brand dialogue. 

Polls and question videos work perfectly well in newsfeeds, but the capabilities of ‘stories’ make it the ideal place for posting this content. Throw a poll or question sticker on top of the video and let your audience react and respond right there on the video.

Consideration 

Hey, how about that? Another video type is perfect for consideration. 

The engaging nature of polls and questions makes it pretty clear why they fall into the middle of the marketing funnel. They might not be here to sell anything or talk about your brand, but you’re deepening the connection with your audience and doing a top-notch job of it. 

6. Sales Videos and Video Marketing

Works best for Awareness or Conversion 

Sales videos often bring a personal touch to something akin to an explainer or promo video. Depending on your goal within the marketing funnel, the sales video’s object can range from selling the brand to selling a specific product or service. 

Leveraging other video elements like infographics, social proof, and testimonials within your sales video will help you hit your target without losing interest. 

Awareness 

Awareness sales videos will likely focus on the brand as a whole. You’re selling who you are more so than the specific product you’re offering. 

The best way to go about this is by using first-person content that puts the real face of your brand in front of the camera to start building a connection and rapport. 

Conversion 

Sales videos will obviously be in play when you’re looking to sell and sell now. Sitting at the bottom of the funnel gives you more wiggle room to make these videos a little longer than most other types. 

This is where you want to make sure you’re making the most of extra video elements to help close the deal, including visuals of what you’re selling, animated text, and infographics to spice things up.

7. Launch Videos 

Works best for awareness 

Make an unforgettable first impression with a launch video. Whether you’re launching your business or just a new product, nothing turns heads quite like a video. 

Contrary to sales videos, the key to a good launch video is to keep things short, sweet, and to the point. As long as you keep in mind who your audience is and what problem your product or brand might solve for them, it’s hard to go wrong with this one. 

Building anticipation and exciting your launch is what a launch video is all about, so don’t shy away from an epic soundtrack or video effect where it’s warranted. 



Awareness 

The primary goal of a launch video is to raise awareness for whatever you are launching, so this one is self-explanatory. Scream it from the virtual mountaintops: you’ve got something worth knowing about and an awesome launch video to do it with.

The Best Opportunities Right Now for Video Marketing 

Source: Unsplash 

You’ve crafted your video to meet all your targets and goals. Now it’s time to set it free into the world. Choosing where to let your creation fly can make or break a marketing video, so be sure to make the most of the best video marketing opportunities, from organic to paid. 

Reach the Masses Without Reaching for Your Wallet 

When it comes to free reach with organic videos, it’s all about choosing the right platform. YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram offer the best free reach opportunities.

YouTube 

YouTube gives you the most significant organic reach out of all the big social media platforms. Video content makes YouTube go around, and its algorithm wants to serve that content to whoever might want to see it. 

If YouTube thinks your video might make someone stick around long enough to watch it, you can bet it will show it far and wide. Paired with YouTube’s massive audience, it’s a platform full of free reach potential. 

LinkedIn 

LinkedIn isn’t necessarily the ideal marketing platform for every brand, but if the shoe fits wear it. LinkedIn has a notably responsive audience and offers relatively little competition in the video. 

LinkedIn users are more likely to not only see your video but also more likely to engage with it if they find it relevant. If you know your target audience is hanging out on LinkedIn, meet them there. 

Instagram Video

Instagram isn’t as generous with its free reach as a platform like YouTube, but it knows what it wants and will reward anyone who delivers it. Quality, engaging videos posted regularly will set your free reach opportunities on Instagram. 

The more you post and your videos interact, the more likely the platform will share your video with others.

Put Your Money Where Your Video Is 

Facebook Video

Undoubtedly, Facebook remains the king of the paid reach game for videos. Facebook offers the most advanced targeting system in the world, letting you reach the same persona you’re after. If you want to put some money behind your video marketing, Facebook (and Instagram, owned by Facebook) is the place to do so. 

Own the Video Marketing Market 

Whatever your video marketing goals, follow this how-to guide to hit it out of the park every time. Get creative and mix things up until you find what works best for your brand and your target audience, then let your videos do the talking. 

Leah Diviney is a content manager and creator at Biteable, the world’s simplest video maker, at Biteable.

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General FAQ’s

1. What makes video marketing worth the extra effort? 

Video is the future of marketing – look at every social media platform’s ‘video-first’ algorithm. As well as this, viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it via video versus 10% when read in the text. It’s just the way to go. 

2. Do certain video types work best with different marketing funnel stages?

Yes. Whether your goal is awareness, consideration, or conversion will inform the best video type for you. Videos like launch videos are great for awarenessengagement-forward videos like infographics make the consideration stage, and product-specific ads and promo videos deliver conversions.

3. Where are the best opportunities right now for video marketing?

YouTube offers the most significant potential for the broadest organic reach, but LinkedIn and Instagram are platforms for free video reach. Facebook is your best bet for paid reach, as it offers the most advanced targeting system of all social media platforms. 

4. What’s the best way to create professional-quality videos?

The internet is full of online video editing tools and platforms that offer professional quality assets and video templates. If you don’t have the time to take up video editing as a second-day job, consider signing up for an editing tool that offers high-quality ready-to-edit videos. 


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