Content Marketing and Paid Media

Many people think content marketing and paid marketing are mutually exclusive.  They often feel if I am running paid traffic on platforms like Facebook, why do I need to be creating content.

In this episode we talk about the benefit of investing the time in content on top of funnels and paid media to get the best results from your paid traffic campaigns.

Marketing is not a one time event…

Most conversions that happen on your website are not from a single “touch” or experience with your brand and website.  The same is true offline as well, there is usually many impressions that occur both consciously and subconsciously before the customer acts on their impulse to buy from you.

One of the first things we do with clients is setup Google Analytics with eCommerce tracking and custom events to track the conversions that happen, along with the events leading up to that conversion.

Many times what we find is that a large part of conversions are happening more than 12 days since the first interaction.  By extending the lookback period to 90 days, we often see those conversions extending out up to 90 days.

Why video content is the most powerful

We see the best results with clients that invest in quality video content.  Through video, we are able to create retargeting audiences based on how the much the viewer watched.

Facebook provides many retargeting audiences or “buckets”.

• 3 seconds
• 10 seconds
• 25%
• 50%
• 75%
• 95%

A video appeals to not only audio and visual lerners, but by using a service like Temi.com you can also get a trascript of the video to use for closed captioning as well as repurposing for content like a blog post or long Facebook Post.

How to use video ads based on customer awareness

The Unaware

We use video ads based on where the viewer is within the customer journey.  For viewers who are unaware of the brand or even they have a problem in the “Top of Funnel”, we are using shorter video ads  as content without a call to action.

The purpose of these videos are to create awareness and fill our first bucket of users who went deeper into the video based on watch time.

These videos are 30 second to a minute in length.  The benefit of the shorter video length is you are able to get more people in the 25%, 50%, 75% and 95% view audiences.

When retargeting people from this level, we focus on the 50% – 95% views.  With a one minute video, this means they watch between 30 seconds to 50+ seconds of the video.

The average watch time on Facebook we see is about 8 seconds.  Boosting posts with videos on your page is another good way to build these audiences.

For our targeting at this level we are targeting cold traffic which can be interest based targeting or lookalike audiences if we have some some historical data to base them on.

Building Facebook Lookalike Audiences

The lookalike audiences can be build on past optins or buyers.  You can also buold them off your Business Page traffic based on fans, engagement, video views, etc.

The more data you give Facebook, the better the lookalike audience will be.

The Somewhat Aware

For the next stage in the “Middle of Funnel” we are taking people who watched 30-60 seconds of a video and now making some kind of offer af a possible solution to their problem.

There are many ways to do this.  Good offers at this level can be a webinar, a free webinar, or a series of training videos.

At this level is our first transactional exchange of either an email optin, or a lower cost order to take the relationship to the next level.

For high-end coaching, this is also an opportunity to offer a 10-30 minute strategy call.  We usually offer these through a webinar and include an application before booking the time to better qualify the audience.

The videos at this level are usually educational in nature and 3 to 5 minute in length.

We are in the business of exchanging value for value.  for someone to invest even their email address, you must first provide value to them and video has a higher perceived which is why it works so well.

Brand lift with paid media

Throughout the campaigns we are discussing here, we experience lift with all traffic sources as the campaigns are running.  This is brand lift and happens because people become more aware of the brand and that improves performance across the board.

We see brand searches increase, and bounce rates decrease as the viewers start to do their due diligence on the brand before investing their time and money with them.

Getting attention in the beginning of your videos

When creating videos for paid media, we find it’s best to start into the content.  Some people start videos, wave their arms, holding up signs to turn on the audio or pointing to the muted speaker.

All these action are a waste of time since a vast majority of video viewers on Facebook watch with the sound off.

This is where video subtitles or closed captions play a huge part.  If at the beginning of your video you start right into the content, the subtitles will reflect what you are saying and gives you a better chance of hooking their attention.

To do this you want to start with your hook and the key thing they will find out by the end of the video.

Taking a 16:9 horizontal video and adding black bars above a below also gives you space to add a hook above the video, and your closed caption will show up more below the video over a black background instead of over a moving video making then harder to read.

The product/solution aware

At this level in the bottom of the funnel, they are aware of their problem, they are more aware of possible solutions and they have received an exchange of value with your brand.

They are now more likely to buy your core offer.

This is also the stage where you can take your existing customers and introduce them into other products that may help them.

The easiest way to make a sale is to target someone who already bought from you and had a great experience.  If they didn’t have a great experience, you want to try to make up for that as well.

Video content at this level is 3 – 5 minutes as well, but we have also used longer videos like FAQ videos that address common questions.

If you did a webinar earlier, you may also segment the recording and use the final part of the webinar where you made your offer at this stage.

How to repurpose your long form video content

Using Facebook Live

One of the best ways to create the video content we talked about above is to start with longer form content by using Facebook Live.

While it can be daunting at first, the more you do it, the more comfortable it will become.

The benefit of Facebook Live is you will get immediate feedback.

You can then download the Facebook Live and turn it over to a video editor to splice out the best part to make the videos needed for each level of the funnel.

Everyone that views the Facebook Live in realtime or the replay goes into the same video retargeting audiences for your Facebook Page we talked about above.

Using your course content

If you are creating information courses or memberships you can also start with your course content and use short segments form the course content for your marketing videos.

Some people are hesitant to “giveaway” their best material from the course.  Your best material is what is going to be most attractive to get people to actually buy your course.