You’ve developed the most compelling content about your company for an online video and you’re almost ready to launch it into the webisphere. You have a great story, it addresses the pain that your audience is experiencing, and it makes you look great! It ends with your company logo and then fades to black. Feels good to have this complete! But is it complete?
If you’d like your videos to do more than educate and entertain, pushing people to do something next, it’s imperative to end each video with a strong “Call to Action” or CTA. Encourage the viewer to do something when the message is over and be explicit with what you’d like them to do.
To get viewers motivated and moving along, here are three calls to action strategies you can use when creating a marketing video.
1. Download this _____
If you’ve done your job right, your video has successfully illustrated how great your product is and how much it can help the consumer. Hopefully the viewer is left wanting more and is ready to get started. So don’t make him wait. Give them the URL where they can Download a free trial or Download a Whitepaper. Often the viewer is asked to enter her contact information and begin using the downloaded content or software. This gets your other content onto their computer, into their inbox, and makes your company more tangible in their life.
2. Subscribe
Building contact lists and finding new leads is a critical part of your company’s marketing efforts. Videos provide an opportunity to reach prospects. So once you have them on your site and watching the screen, use the “subscribe” CTA to invite them into further engagement outside the video. You can encourage them to subscribe to an e-newsletter or simply ask them to keep in touch to hear about future promotions and news from your business. Always give the viewer a reason to subscribe. For example, tell viewers the can see more exciting videos by joining your list.
3. Comment, Share and Like
If the video is primarily being posted on social media, use the video to ask your audience to engage with you using the platform you’re on. Comments help tremendously with search ranking, viewer interaction, and sharing. Ask your viewer to leave a comment, or direct the comment by asking people to answer a specific question.
If your video is being placed somewhere other than a social media platform, be sure the page your video is embedded on is enabled with Facebook and Twitter “like” and “share” buttons as well. Close the video with a call to action inviting viewers to “like” the video, or tweet it now. Remember that when an individual shares your video, it will go to all of his or her social network contacts, which opens you up to a wider audience for your business.
Don’t think your video marketing work is done when the script is final and shooting takes place. Always remember to write CTAs into the script at the end of your video so you can get creative with how they are delivered. Having the narrator or subject of the video do the asking is a lot more effective than a stand alone graphic at the end.
The whole point of any marketing is to help your audience to take the next step with your business. CTAs help your videos do just that.