Credit unions work hard to make sure branches are welcoming to their members. Personalized services such as complimentary coffee, guest WiFi and roaming hosts are ubiquitous. That same tailored touch can be applied by adding videos to your automated nurture programs.
Adding video to your marketing mix has become a given in recent years. There are live streaming videos. Explainer videos on your website or YouTube channel. Funny videos for Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Even 360-degree videos. According to Wyzowl’s fourth annual State of Video Marketing Survey, 81 percent of companies use video for marketing purposes in 2018 compared to 63 percent in 2017.
In this post, we’ll cover key elements of producing video content and add in a few thoughts on how you can blend video into your content marketing strategy.
Why Everyone Loves Videos
We’re hardwired to love video. If it’s an enjoyable video (informative, funny, highlights a problem or issue) we become even more engaged.
What’s amazing is that our brains process imagery at 60,000 times faster than text, and retain imagery six times more than text. It’s more information, and it’s better absorbed. It’s no surprise DigitalSherpa report videos increase people’s understanding of your product or service by 74 percent.
Research shows that 80 percent of site visitors will watch a video, while only 20 percent will read content. If you make an engaging video, you’re increasing the odds your audience will be informed of your product or service offering, thereby increasing the likelihood of purchase intent and, ultimately, conversion.
According to the Wyzowl survey:
- 76 percent of marketers said video helped increase sales
- 47 percent say it helped reduce support queries
- And 76 percent said it helped increase website traffic
Since marketing is all about getting results – clearly video marketing is worth your time.
What Videos Should You Produce
Videos are an extension of the content marketing you’re already doing. At any given moment credit union customers and prospective customers are searching for useful information that will inform them, educate them, or help them solve a problem. They expect you’ll talk to them about their needs and their wants and their problems before you start trying to sell them a product. Undecided on whether to produce your videos in-house or hire an agency? We produce 99 percent of our videos in-house. Here is a blog post explaining how to build a DIY Video Marketing Studio.
Popular videos for the financial services industry run the gamut. There are FAQ videos such as:
- Mobile bill pay
- Viewing balances and account history
- Avoiding financial scams
There are plenty more examples. These typically are 30 seconds in length and can be produced in-house or with a vendor.
Another great option is converting webinars into on-demand videos. These could be meaty topics such as on college planning, understanding your credit report, or year-end tax planning.
Another excellent video type (that really works across all industries) is the case study video. This could be a video spotlighting an individual member or a business.
Case studies are powerful because they’re a customer endorsement, and they include emotional components of successful problem solving. They are powerful videos because it’s more moving to watch and hear a person telling their story of success than it is to read about it. The viewer is more likely to identify with the on-camera speaker, and the transference of emotions is more likely. Watch our customer success video with PGA of America below.
Adding Video to Automated Nurture Programs
One of the benefits to using an Adaptive Marketing Platform like Act-On is automated nurture programs. Automated programs make it easier to nurture your leads along their buyer’s journey, from awareness to consideration to sales.
You can create an automated program (AP) for any segment of your membership or prospects (depends on your data). You can create an AP for recent college graduates looking for car loans or for Baby Boomers planning retirement.
The number of emails you have in an AP depends on the audience you’re trying to nurture and the steps they need to take before a making your desired conversion (applying for a loan, setting up a retirement or college savings account, etc.). Here are a few posts that can help: Lead Nurturing Basics, 5 Steps To Building Your Lead Nurturing Program
I’ve created nurture programs for a range of audiences. Video plays an important part in every one of them.
The reason is that its easy for your to take the desired action you want, in this case clicking the play button (though most of the time this is opening a browser to a hyperlinked landing page with the video). Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Do you want to read about the steps required to request a mortgage loan, or watch a video?
Using videos in your automated nurture program is a lot like mapping your content to the buyer’s journey. You’ll want quick, informative, explainer videos at the beginning of your program (or the awareness stage), and then progressing in detail down the funnel. Your case study videos will likely be used at the end of your nurture program for bottom-of-funnel purchase considerations.
You will periodically check your performance reporting depending on the size of your segmented list, number of emails in the program, and cadence between emails. Depending on your results, you may flip the order and start with your best performing emails with videos or do some other type of tests.
Please share with me your results. I would enjoy chatting with you about it, and possibly feature you on the Act-On blog or podcast. You may even end up being included as a video in one of our automated programs.