Take yourself back to your childhood chemistry lessons.

I bet at least once your teacher droned on about how heating up a substance would make the particles in it move faster.

What has this got to do with video content marketing?

Here's the picture:

• Your marketing funnel is that substance your teacher was telling you about.
• And all the leads inside it are those particles, bouncing around.

How do you make those leads speed up and move down the funnel faster? Well, it's simple. You just need to energise the situation.

Video Content Marketing Throughout the Funnel

Video content can help raise the heat on your marketing funnel.

We all know that content marketing is about creating valuable content tailored to your audience. It should attract, engage, and convert your potential customers.

Basically, it should encourage them to move down the funnel.

But have you tried using video as part of your content marketing to speed up that process?

This post will give you 13 examples of how video content can be used throughout your entire marketing funnel (and beyond!) to market to your target audience, and keep them moving even faster towards purchase.

Top of Funnel

Your potential customers are experiencing a problem or a need, and are researching more so they can fully understand and put a name to it.

1. Brand Films

The aim of these promotional videos is to share your values, mission, and ultimately your brand with your target audience.

With video you can get your brand across through visuals, sound and storytelling, in ways that would be impossible for any other medium.

As if you need an excuse to watch it again:

Volvo's brand film works so well for several reasons:

• It tells an engaging story (through an interesting narrator).
• It looks and sounds incredible and awe-inspiring.
• It expresses the values of the brand: pushing the limit, precision, expertise.
• The brand products and their benefits are included in a minor yet relevant way.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

We all want to spend time with people we like.

We all want to buy from companies whose values align with our own.

When first catching the attention of your target audience, you're more likely to forge that initial relationship by focusing less on your products and services and more on your core values.

As Simon Sinek put it in his awesomely inspirational TED talk:

"People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."

So when your potential audience find your highly effective brand film while researching their need, they're more likely to remember your brand and feel compelled to find out more.

2. Educational and 'How To' Videos

People love having their questions answered and being taught new things.

(They especially love it when they're in the top of your marketing funnel and explicitly looking for more information.)

That's why educational videos in content marketing have become so popular, they offer real value to your audience that they can apply to their everyday lives.

In the SEO world, it's an area Moz have found great success with in their Whiteboard Friday videos:

These videos gives Moz's target audience unique, remarkable and highly actionable advice.

They're also:

• Quick and simple.
• Delivered in a personable, entertaining way.
• From a trustworthy source.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

When your target audience finds the content you're producing genuinely helpful, you've begun earning their trust.

And once you've started that process, you've created a strong link to your business or brand.

When they trust you, your potential customers are more likely to see you as an authority and return to you for more help in the future.

From there you've got a great recurring hook to keep those leads moving down the funnel.

(And did you know that when people trust a brand, 78% of them will look to it first for the things they want? Well there you go.)

3. Video Documentaries

Video documentaries used in content marketing are a relatively new phenomenon, but they're becoming more and more popular. And with good reason.

Just like educational videos, documentaries teach your target audience something new.

But they do it in a more comprehensive, story-driven, and stylistic way.

(They're kind of the love child of brand films and educational videos, actually.)

Take a look at this documentary about worn clothing by Patagonia for a wonderful example:

By focusing in-depth on an interesting and unusual subject (where the real spotlight is on the stories rather than their products), Patagonia succeeded at:

• Intriguing their audience and drawing them in.
• Reinforcing their brand values.
• Presenting themselves as a thought leader.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

By offering your target audience a surprisingly emotional and informative experience, you're giving them value while asking for nothing in return.

That doesn't just position your business or brand as an expert on the topic in question (with solid values and beliefs to boot).

It also sets up the expectation that leads can return to you at any time for more valuable content.

On average it takes 10 marketing-driven "touches" before a top of funnel lead will turn into a customer.

High-value video content marketing keeps your potential customers returning time and time again.

4. Entertaining or Emotional Short Videos

Short pieces of video content used to engage, amuse and affect audiences have exploded in popularity over the last few years.

They're often used in places where quick content is preferred, like on social media: think Vines and short YouTube videos.

Here's a hypnotically creative example from Samsung:

This snackable, short-form video content works because it creates a short burst of emotion in the target audience.

Unlike educational videos, the goal isn't necessarily to teach. It's to make the audience feel something.

Really, this emotion can be anything. Most often it's one or more of the following:

• Amusement: How funny, that pony is dancing!
• Shock: Wow, I never realised how terrible war is.
• Inspiration: It's true, girls can be anything they want!
• Awe: How on earth could he fall from so high?

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

I'm sure you know the old saying. It goes:

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

And it's true. If there's one way to effectively engage with your audience and make sure they remember you, it's to make them feel something.

Studies have shown that emotions strengthen our memories.

So if you make your potential customers feel a certain way, they're more likely to recall your brand and return to you in the future.

5. Explainer Videos or Animations

When it does come time to introduce your product or service, an explainer video is first choice for many businesses and brands.

These quick, simple videos (or frequently, animations) are great at explaining topics plainly and succinctly. Hence the name.

Just take a look at this snazzy animation from budgeting tool Mint:

This explainer animation is effective because it:

• Doesn't delve too deep into the product at this point in the funnel.
• Emphasises the target audience's pain point.
• Gets across the brand's look, tone and values.
• Shows screenshots of the product in action.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

Eventually you need to stop charming these potential customers at the top of the funnel and start moving them onto the middle of the funnel.

How to do this?

Well, if your leads are ready to move on they will have gathered enough information about their problem or need. They should be willing to start considering solutions.

That's when your explainer video or animation can present your solution.

And if that video is clear, simple, visually appealing and reflective of your brand, you're already strides ahead of the competition in your target audience's minds.

Middle of Funnel

Your potential customers have clearly defined their problem or need, and are now researching all the available options for solving it.

6. Videos in Email

At this stage of the funnel, it's time to really nurture those leads.

This is frequently done through email. But standard email is boring and expected nowadays. By injecting video into your email, you can excite your target audience and differentiate yourself.

Here's an email newsletter from jewellery retailer Alex and Ani:

Here video is the focal point of the email. A large thumbnail with a play button encourages leads to click through to view the video on Alex and Ani's website.

Video is email is such a potent combination because:

• It's visual and engaging, giving you space to reinforce your brand.
• It piques the viewer's interest and makes them want to click.
• It's lively and different, unlike the usual dull emails in your leads' inboxes. 

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

It's all about the click-through rate.

Including video in your emails can boost open rates by 20% and click-through rates by two to three times. Just using the word "video" in an email subject line has been shown to improve open rates and click-through rates and reduce unsubscribes.

That means, by using video in email, you're achieving a win win.

Firstly, you're keeping your brand or business top of leads' minds with engaging and unique content.

But those emails are also more effectively encouraging your leads to click through to more content, more offers, and more likelihood of moving further down the funnel.

7. Product or Service Videos

You know what works a treat to show your audience how your product or service works in practice?

A product or service video.

Especially if you offer a physical product that relies on lots of sensory feedback (like clothes or food), a video of it can encourage your leads to convert like nothing else.

This is a gorgeous example, a short lip balm product video from Lush's website:

It's a looping video on the product page that we've capture here as a GIF.

Why is it so effective?

• It really gives you the sensation of using the product. You can imagine it on your fingers and lips.
• It's integrated seamlessly and unobtrusively into the site: visitors don't even have to click play.
• We see a real person using the product, authentically illustrating how to use it.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

Visualising yourself using a product or service before you buy is a powerful thing.

There's a reason why psychologists tell athletes to visualise performing well. Imagining something sets off similar processes in the brain to that thing actually happening.

Which means, when you encourage your leads to visualise themselves using your product or service, they're already creating mental connections which strengthen their desire to turn that thought into a reality.

And all you need is a product or service video to help your audience move down the funnel this way.

8. Case Study or Testimonial Videos

Once your potential customers get far enough into their research, they will eventually want to know what experiences others have had with your product or service.

That's when they look for case study or testimonial videos.

Here's how communications and collaboration tool Slack did it:

It's a quirky example, kind of a mix between a case study and a product demonstration.

Apart from its quirkiness, here's why it works:

• It shows the real stories of real people in a real company.
• The focus remains on the impact of the product on people's lives, rather than the product itself.
• But the benefits and features of the product are still included in a natural way.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

At this stage of the funnel, authenticity is key.

People trust recommendations from people they know above any type of advertising (84% of global respondents in a survey by Neilsen said as much).

Your leads may not know your existing clients, but case study videos help to offer an authentic endorsement of your product or service that isn't from yourself.

Ultimately they allow you to showcase real-life instances of the benefit you've had.

Unlike text or even images, in video your clients' positive emotion really shines through. Plus, the effects of social proof are increased with visual reinforcement, making leads more likely to trust the recommendation and move further down the funnel.

9. About Us or Culture Videos

You might think that only potential recruits watch about us videos.

But in fact, I'm betting your 'about us' page is one of the most visited on your site. And not all those visitors are people looking to get hired.

Remember how we all want to work with and buy from people we like? You can tap into this universal truth to create about us videos that also show your leads just why you're a great business to get involved with.

This is exactly what Zendesk did:

Here's a run-down of why this particular about us video works so well:

• It's funny, personable, and embraces the values of the brand and business.
• It briefly covers the products and services of the company, but the real spotlight is on the team.
• It's shown how the positive energy of that team positively impacts customers.
• It helps the viewer imagine what it will be like working with the company.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

Encouraging your leads to become customers requires a well-rounded brand image.

That's why businesses engage in Corporate Social Responsibility and why they produce appealing culture videos (apart from the warm fuzzy feeling it gives them, of course).

Research has found that "likability" is the measure most predictive of whether an ad will increase brand sales.

So the more a lead likes you, as people, as a business, as a brand, they more likely they are to buy from you. It's a simple as that.

That's why you should create about us videos with both recruits and potential customers in mind.

Bottom of Funnel

Your potential customers have decided on a solution to their problem or need, and are considering providers, products and services from which to make a final purchase choice.

10. FAQ Videos

By the end of the marketing funnel, your leads are generally looking for answers to any remaining questions they may have.

You need to allay their fears and calm any last quibbles before purchase.

McDonald's Canada did this brilliantly with a series of informative FAQ videos:

Instead of a dry, plain FAQ page, McDonald's turned in into an engaging microsite of its own, filled with text- and image-based answers, along with plenty of filmed responses too.

This approach succeeds at:

• Answering the audience's most commonly asked questions in a genuine way.
• Feeling more like a personal response than a corporate one.
• Showing that the company cares about dealing with questions.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

To put your potential customers at ease, you need to answer their final concerns.

By doing this in a friendly, honest, and transparent way, you also build up goodwill which spurs leads onto that eventual purchase.

Video makes your FAQs feel even more like the kind of tailored response you'd get to your questions at a physical store in front of a real person.

The better the experience at the end of the funnel, the closer you drive your leads towards closing.

So pay attention to how you answer those questions.

11. Instructional or Demonstration Videos

Your leads have another important question they want answered: will they still get assistance from you should they need it once they've bought your product or service?

There's one great way to prove that, yes, they will. It's through instructional videos.

Not sure what I mean? Check out this spot-on example from Ikea:

It does what it says on the tin. The video literally gives an instructional demonstration of how to use the product, in this case, how to assemble Ikea furniture.

It works because:

• It shows a visual, step-by-step walkthrough on how to best use the product (when the images just don't cut it).
• It reassures leads that this information will be easily accessible for them when they buy from Ikea.
• This type of demonstration video can also be used in webinars, training or customer support.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

Your potential customers just want to know you won't abandon them once the sale is over.

They want that sense of security. They want to be assured that they will continue to receive good customer support post-purchase.

In fact, customer service is ranked as the #1 factor influencing trust in a business.

(And we already know how important trust is when converting leads.)

To push your leads down the funnel, you need provide up-front proof of how good your support is.

An instructional or demonstration video, with plain but in-depth educational advice on how to use your product or service, will go a long way towards proving your trustworthiness to leads.

12. Personalised Videos

Okay, so this kind of video actually works no matter where in the funnel it's used.

But the power of personalisation can really help leads on that final push towards purchase, so let's consider it specifically at the bottom of the funnel.

See below for a highly personalised video from the Polish branch of Orange:

Let's ignore the unfortunate Siri-esque voice for a moment. Why is this video effective?

Well:

• It creates a unique, totally tailored experience for each and every lead.
• It makes that lead feel important, cared about, and invested in.
• It builds a close, personal connection between lead and brand.
• The unexpected kindness ignites the law of reciprocity and makes the lead want to do something in return.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

A survey of 1,000 marketers found that personalisation improved their conversion rate by 1.7 times the average. On top of that, video can make the personalisation feel more real and more human.

It's a hearkening back to the days of your local butcher or baker, who would know your needs and favourites just as well as you.

Personalised video can speed up the process of personalisation and make it feel more authentic.

So if your lead is deciding whether or not to buy from you, a highly personalised, highly personable piece of video content might just sway their opinion from a competitor back towards you.

Beyond the Funnel

You've turned that lead into a customer! Congratulations! But the story doesn't stop there...

13. Customer Thank You Videos

That's right, video content marketing even goes beyond the funnel. It can help to energise your customer marketing too.

Just because a lead has made their way through the whole marketing funnel doesn't mean they're suddenly immune to the effectiveness of video. In fact, they may even appreciate it more at this less-expected stage.

Watch this for a lovely example of a customer thank you video from Constant Contact:

Here's why the video succeeds:

• It makes the company's customers feel loved and special.
• It doesn't have any overt selling purpose, the aim is just to spread the positivity.
• It reminds clients why they enjoy working with the brand.

How this encourages leads down the funnel:

Well, it doesn't really. The funnel's technically over at this point.