Tell Your Story All the Way, the Right Way
March 1, 2024 7:03 am
Everybody knows about the sales funnel. That psychological journey that customers take before buying a product. It starts at “Awareness” then narrows as your potential customer goes down the funnel through the phases of “Interest,” “Desire,” and finally “Action.” It might take a customer months to go down the sales funnel, or seconds. It depends on the product. But certainly one of the most helpful things that will take a customer on a successful journey is consistent sales messaging. You can’t have one type of messaging at the “Awareness” level of the funnel, then have another type of messaging at the “Interest” level, then have still other types of messaging at the “Desire” and “Action” levels and expect to be successful. The trouble is, too many companies unintentionally do this.
The Snoop Dogg Snafu
The most famous recent example of this is rapper Snoop Dogg announcing on social media that he was going smokeless. This announcement by one of the most famous marijuana smokers in pop culture had the media immediately buzzing. But it was all a clever ploy put together by an ad agency. Yes, Snoop was going smokeless, but he was talking about a smokeless outdoor fire pit. So, the “Interest” part of the sales funnel hit an incredible high note. It was the kind of initial spark and media attention that companies dream of. But things quickly flamed-out after that. The presence of Snoop Dogg wasn’t there in the other parts of the funnel explaining why he liked the fire pit or encouraging people to try it. Besides being smokeless, other benefits of the product weren’t explained either. (Weight, materials, price, etc.) As a result, sales didn’t ignite—they flickered. So much so that the CEO of the company announced his resignation shortly thereafter.
Marketing analysts will be talking about this flopped campaign for years. And indeed, there are numerous reasons why this campaign didn’t move product. But certainly one of the most important was the lack of presence of the spokesperson all the way down the funnel.
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Mayhem Is Everywhere
There are several successful examples where exactly the opposite happened. Here’s just a couple: Allstate Insurance has been using its spokesperson of Mayhem since 2010. Most people know him from national TV commercials. But Allstate customers also know he’s traveled with them right down the sales funnel to radio commercials specifically made for individual cities about how Mayhem can happen on their morning commute and calling local roadways out by name. Another example was years ago, football player turned actor Alex Karris was a spokesperson for La-Z-Boy. People saw him talking about La-Z-Boys on national TV, but they also saw his smiling face right on the La-Z-Boy furniture tag when they visited their hometown showroom. Consistency: Telling your story all the way down the funnel is a key element of success. The examples given happen to be for B2C products, but it’s no less true for B2B products.
Consistency Is Key
As you probably know, videos are one of your Top 3 marketing tools. You use them on your website, for social media, for industry events, for sales presentations and more. All of these channels represent different parts of your sales funnel, so take message consistency into strategic consideration and plan accordingly. What a potential customer sees on your website should be reinforced at a trade show, and that should be reinforced on social media, and that should be reinforced by a salesperson. Of course, you don’t know where that potential customer might get their first impression of your company, so that’s all the more reason for message consistency.
Different Channels Do Different Things
It’s also important to keep two other things in mind: Different channels were designed to do different things. For example, the purpose of Facebook is to connect with friends and colleagues and share thoughts and opinions. It’s supposed to build a community and be a forum for dialog, not a sales pitch. LinkedIn is also for connecting, but it’s more of a business networking community where you have the opportunity to share insights and reach out to potential customers/employers. Meaning, sales pitches are more appropriate. A product video is supposed to be about how your product will enhance your customer’s lives in everyday use. It should also entertain because our culture is so attuned to videos and people expect it. It shouldn’t be a laundry list of features. Features are not benefits until they have purpose and emotional connection. The other thing to remember is when you’re making your next video, choose a company that strategically knows different channels do different things but a consistent story should still be told all the way down the sales funnel. That’s the right way.
Our Video Acceleration Plan
At Hybrid Moon, we do this with a three-pillared approach called our Acceleration Plan. This includes a front-end assessment of your video and photography needs, a core production that aligns with your brand definition and marketing objectives, and a back-end (or post-production) service of regular check-ins, assessment of customer feedback, and any adjustments if needed for spot-on brand alignment. This thoughtful, strategic approach elevates your brand presence, makes the sales funnel messaging more creative and consistent, takes all channels and their proper uses into consideration and, frankly, saves you stress and money in the long run.
Snoop Dogg going smokeless was a cool play on words. But it was great potential that was never fulfilled. Don’t let that happen to your products and services. Tell your story all the way down the funnel the right way with Hybrid Moon. That’s how you keep sales high.