[Expert Advice] At what point in your marketing automation strategy should you use video?

Why embed videos in a marketing automation strategy?

Nicolas Roussel: Marketing automation makes it possible to automate marketing actions while delivering a one-to-one service. This is an important advance in marketing that allows you to better converse with your prospects through messages related to the action they have just performed (download, visiting a page, clicking an email, etc.). In this context, the preferred media is still the email which provides the possibility of direct contact with the person. However, the attention of someone who has just downloaded a document from your site remains very low. Using video in this context may be appropriate for two reasons:

• Videos can deliver strong messages in a very short time;
• Videos help to humanise the relationship.

How does video better decipher the behaviour of prospects?

N.R.: To be able to decipher the behaviour of prospects, you need access to the engagement data. For most marketing managers, this may be complicated because they cannot afford to invest in advanced tracking solutions. However, it is still possible to compare the standard text emails against video emails and see which generate the most interactions (clicks on links). Who has seen your video? Who has watched your video more than once? Lucky marketers can know how long people have watched your videos and use these metrics as engagement data. You can use this to determine if people are interested in your messages. 13 The principle is the same as when you advertise on Facebook. Has your audience watched 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 10 seconds, or your entire video? This is particularly important if you want to know the maturity of your prospect in the buyer’s journey. A person who watches more than 10 seconds of your video can be considered engaged and therefore can receive another message adapted to their buying journey.

Is it better to use video for reputation or for conversion?

N.R.: For me, video can be used in marketing automation in each of the three phases of the buyer’s journey without distinction: reputation, consideration, decision. It all depends on your objective. As I just explained, the video shows in which phase of this journey the prospect is located. Video has long since been used for the sole purpose of developing reputation. This is because video was the preserve of communicators rather than marketers. It was necessary to invest a lot of money and to have perfect aesthetic rendering. But times are changing. Current tools make it possible to create videos at a lower cost. Marketing managers can now afford to include them in their reputation or conversion campaigns. What are good practices in terms of formats? N.R.: In terms of video, it all depends on the broadcast channel. A format suitable for computer screens is appropriate when it comes to integration into emails It can also be read on mobile. In B to B we still target professionals who will watch videos on a PC. In B to C people will probably view more on smartphone. In my opinion, duration is the most important criterion when establishing a video strategy. On the one hand, the video should be fairly short and push for action. On the other hand, it should be long enough to measure commitment. Videos of 30 seconds to 1 minute 30 are preferred.

Can you give us some practical examples?

N.R.: We have integrated videos into our marketing automation scenarios, mainly for our first messages. These are home videos, with a member of the team filmed from their computer’s camera. The goal is to make the relationship more human and to create a relationship with the agency. Another use we make of the video is to create a Facebook campaign consisting of 9 videos. The target is people who visited our site but have not been converted into customers. When these people are on Facebook, we present them a reputational video and we measure the duration of viewing. If the person watches our video long enough then we present them with an engagement video. And so on. The results are quite interesting.

What are your best practices for embedding a video in an e-mail?

N.R.: The best practice is to set a goal and measure the results. In a context of marketing automation, engagement will be aimed at delivering another message adapted to the prospect’s purchasing path