5 Types of Marketing Videos Throughout the Buyer Journey

Great video marketing strategies don’t spam customers at every buyer journey stage on every channel with every possible kind of video.

For example, awareness videos for brand campaigns are specialized assets developed and produced very differently from all others. They’re short, they’re used as ads on paid channels, and they’re almost allergic to conversion KPIs. In other words, you don’t use them to gauge customer engagement or lead scoring.

Once audiences can recognize and recall your brand, then they’re ready for all your other videos: interviews, webinars, how-tos, case studies, demos, tutorials, etc. Clearly, the types of marketing videos are just as vast as the types of written content. Go ahead and Google it; you’ll find lists of 10, 20, or more. With so many options, it’s hard to know what to do with them all.

So let’s condense all of the marketing videos into overarching categories. Once we do that, we’ll be better able to understand their key differences as well as when and where they work best.

Thought Leadership Videos

Thought leadership videos should focus on industry or customer problems and opportunities. They aren’t designed to showcase products or make a direct pitch. Instead, they should address industry challenges and opportunities and offer forward-thinking ideas backed by experience and data. Though they position you as a trusted authority, they should only mention your brand or products when necessary to reinforce the credibility of your insights.

Thought Leadership Examples

• Interviews/panels. They can be shot live or prerecorded. They can also have higher production value, including motion graphics and related B-roll.
• Webinars/events/presentations. They’re typically shot live, so they’ll often have less production value than prerecorded content.

Thought Leadership Characteristics

• Production quality. This can vary, depending on how the content is produced. That said, production value should reflect your brand value (think about the difference between a YouTube tutorial and a Masterclass).
• Production style. The content should be evergreen and avoid fads and trends to give the video a longer shelf life.
• Production stage. There’s a heavy focus on preproduction, as these types of marketing videos require careful planning rather than an ad hoc approach. Since the content is often more abstract, your messaging must be solidified before production to ensure your ideas are conveyed effectively.

Thought Leadership Buyer Stages

Like written op-eds, these videos are most effective during the awareness stage. Their purpose is to capture the attention of potential buyers and create a strong mental association between innovative ideas and your brand. However, they can also be useful in the retention stage as a way to reinforce the buyer’s decision by demonstrating that you’re a forward-thinking brand.

Thought Leadership Channels

• Social media. Long-form thought leadership content is best suited for YouTube. However, as forward-thinking content, it will likely contain nascent keywords, so just be sure to add appropriate trending tags to improve discoverability. Short-form clips or highlights should be shared on the platform where your brand has the strongest following, since their reach and success will depend heavily on social interactions.
• Syndication. Paid placements can also be effective as long as they’re precisely targeted to reach the exact audience you want to engage.

Explainer Videos

Explainer videos are designed to focus on the “what” and the “how” of various topics. While they may touch on specific products, they typically emphasize functions rather than going deep into specific applications or customer use cases. Mentions of your brand are kept to a minimum, and when used, they’re only to highlight functionality that differentiates you in the market.

Explainer Examples

• How-to/instructional/educational. These are typically prerecorded and have higher production value, including motion graphics and product B-roll.
• Webinar. – These are usually live and thus have comparatively lower production value.

Explainer Characteristics

• Production quality. Production value is generally higher for prerecorded content (like how-tos) and lower for live content (like webinars).
• Production style. Prerecorded content has a singular goal, so these videos should be more scripted. This also means more on-screen demonstrations and other hands-on elements. In contrast, live videos are conversational because the goal is to engage the viewers. This means taking a freeform approach that generates real-time interactions.
• Production stage. For prerecorded content, the critical stage is post-production. A clear message can fail to engage or even be lost without supporting titles, illustrations, and footage. In this way, the look and feel are just as important as the content. For live content, preproduction is more important. Audiences are less inclined to interact if the topic isn’t relevant or the talent isn’t engaging. Thus, the look and feel matters less than the substance of the content.

Explainer Buyer Stages

Like blog posts and e-books, these types of marketing videos are ideal at the awareness stage, but they can work at the retention stage too. Part of retention is making existing customers aware of new or updated products and features, as well as how to make the most of them. The difference is, for awareness, explainers can be used broadly and frequently; for retention, they should be more targeted.

Explainer Channels

• Organic/paid search. In many ways, explainer videos are like companion pieces for blogs. As such, they should aim to fill content gaps, avoid keyword cannibalization, and support SEO efforts by adding internal links and creating topic clusters through interactivity. They can also be promoted with paid search to maximize their impact.
• Social media. As the DIY king, YouTube is an ideal platform for these videos. However, you need to coordinate your YouTube strategy with your website video strategy. For example, you might post only topic overviews on YouTube for discoverability, then link to more in-depth content on your site. Another effective practice is to create specific topic clusters as YouTube playlists while reserving others exclusively for your website.

Testimonial Videos

Case study and customer testimonial videos focus on solutions from the customer’s perspective. In these videos, the products should be named but not explained in depth. Your brand should be treated similarly—yes, it should be mentioned, but only as a supporting role to the true hero of the video: your customer.

Testimonial Examples

• Case studies. These are stories carefully crafted and produced by your brand to offer a relatable perspective of your solution.
• Quotes. These are short clips that you typically request from customers, then select the best parts to highlight. Production is minimal, and you typically just need to add front and end slates, branding, music, etc.
• Reviews. These can be requested, but more often they come in as user-generated content (UGC). You can polish them up a bit—similar to quotes—but sometimes, it’s best to leave them raw and maintain their authenticity.

Testimonial Characteristics

• Production quality. Quality can vary, but like thought leadership videos, production value will reflect the importance of your subject. What UGC brings in authenticity, it lacks in aesthetics. So, whenever possible, you should strive to portray your customers in (and with) the best possible light.
• Production style. More than other types of marketing videos, story is crucial. Viewers need to understand why they should care, so a dramatic narrative with emotive subjects is key to conveying the stakes or problem.
• Production stage. The production itself is the most important stage. A good director and interviewer are needed to set the comfort level of the customer and adapt the story in the moment. Just like entertainment, the right personnel can craft the perfect take and capture the emotion that will engage your audience.

Testimonial Buyer Stages

Like written case studies, these videos are most effective during the consideration stage. This applies to new prospects, as well as returning and existing customers who are evaluating their options.

Testimonial Channels

• Website/app. These videos are ideal for the customer story or resources sections of websites and apps.
• Email. They work well in newsletters, but they should direct recipients to your site or app to view.

Product Videos

Product videos naturally focus on features and functionality, so they should clearly name and describe your products. While they can touch on solutions as specific use cases, they shouldn’t be described in too much depth. You’ll also want to mention your brand name, but in a way that doesn’t lose the focus on the product.

Product Examples

• Demo. These types of videos showcase your product or service in action in a way that demonstrates most or all of its primary value propositions without getting too technical. They’re typically shot in a studio setting.
• Tutorial/troubleshooting. These videos focus on fewer and more specific features or functions of your product. Ideally they should be shot in real-world environments like remote or in-home settings to add context and credibility.

Product Characteristics

• Production quality. High production value is needed to convey the importance of your products and services to your audience.
• Production style. The presentation should be simple and the flow easy to follow. So if you have more than one or two objectives for your video, it’s better to create multiple videos. Demos should focus on the value or outcome (the “why”), while tutorials should be process-focused (the “how”).
• Production stage. Both pre- and post-production take precedence here. For example, don’t try to cram every feature into a product demo or your viewers will struggle to connect all of them to your value propositions. Instead, take the time to identify the most salient features that support your claims and script accordingly. Similarly, like explainers, tutorials can be hard to follow without a proper graphics package, so spend adequate time in post-production illustrating complex processes and steps.

Product Buyer Stages

Like one-pagers, these videos are most effective during the decision stage where they can educate prospects about your offerings and persuade them to buy. They also serve as product support for existing customers and, used strategically, they can succeed in the retention stage as well.

Product Channels

• Website/app/in-platform. These types of marketing videos are ideal for product pages, support pages, and resource pages. For SaaS companies, they can also be used in in-platform pop-ups.
• Email. Product videos work well in both newsletters and sales emails for driving traffic to specific product-related content on your website.
• Events. At events, these videos can be promoted through QR codes that direct users to your site or app.

Company Culture Videos

Company culture videos showcase your core company values. Products should only be mentioned if they directly address a specific value, and solutions should be highlighted only when they solve for a particular value. While your brand should be named, the priority should remain on the individuals and culture that come together to embody it.

Company Culture Examples

• Internal. These videos highlight your company’s employee brand values and promises. While leadership may or may not be included, employees should always be.
• External. These videos present your company’s values and promises to an external audience and have a focus on leadership. They may also include employees to add context and authenticity.

Company Culture Characteristics

• Production quality. For internal audiences, production can be less polished, provided this doesn’t signal a lack of investment to your employees. External videos should always have a high production value.
• Production style. Capturing authentic moments and comments is essential for internal videos, so gathering UGC should be a priority when applicable. In fact, leaving in funny (but not embarrassing) mistakes and gaffes can inject some much-needed humanity into your corporate communications. External videos, on the other hand, need to convey their messages with clarity and confidence. Leadership should be portrayed in a way that aligns with the brand’s voice and tone, and any employee footage should be coached, if not staged entirely.
• Production stage. The production stage is most important for internal content, primarily because we’ve all seen those awkwardly staged corporate videos with incredibly uncomfortable staff. That tone resonates with employees, and they’re more likely to empathize with their colleagues than receive the desired message. This is why UGC is often more effective as it targets team members who enjoy the spotlight and can charismatically communicate your message. This matters less with external videos because the highly polished final product requires detailed planning and greater focus on preproduction.

Company Culture Buyer Stages

Like onboarding documents and company announcements, these videos can be effective in the awareness stage as selling points for both new hires and buyers. However, these are best in the retention stage to reinforce job acceptance and buying decisions.

Company Culture Channels

• Intranets/community portals. These videos are most effective when placed in a clearly labeled section, so good video content management practices will be important.
• Email. Use these in employee or customer newsletters that direct recipients to intranets or community portals.
• Social media. If used for awareness, these videos should be shared on LinkedIn for internal audiences and on other platforms where your brand has a strong presence for external audiences. Just remember that awareness isn’t typically the best stage for these videos.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to video marketing, and all of our recommendations on the types of marketing videos should be taken as guidelines. Every brand and audience is unique, and there are many different perspectives on what works best. Though we’ve supported many brands with their video marketing programs over the years, one thing is clear: What’s worked for them may not work for you. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

So consider this as a starting point to help you frame your strategy. Build a taxonomy of content and video styles that align with your resources, and let your audience’s engagement guide you. Metrics don’t lie. Listen to your audience, and the right strategy will follow.