Helping a qualified lead evaluate their options is the name of the game in the Consideration phase of the customer journey. Consideration phase materials should mix elements of your industry expertise (educate) with a touch of promotion (soft sell).

A prospect who has entered the Consideration phase has already been intrigued by some piece of your content. Now it’s time to help them understand why your solution is one they should strongly consider and how you are different from other options (or competitors).

Showing a prospect why or how you are different can be made infinitely easier with video. Video allows you to illustrate your competitive advantage and make it real in a way that copy or printed materials never could.

Three tips to help you make an effective Consideration phase video:

1. ‍Use smart dialogue - Authentic dialogue can show both a prospect’s problem and how your solution was able to save the day in a way your competitors couldn’t.‍
2. Give your audience the goods - When your product “in action” is your competitive advantage – show it off.‍
3. Amplify success with a human approach - Humanized statistics or comparisons can be very effective in creating clear cut differentiation between you and the other guys.

Let’s break out why each of these video approaches can help you convert more leads at the Consideration phase of your customer journey. In some cases, you may be able to use a combination of them.

Use smart dialogue

As outlined in the first article in our “How to optimize your consumer journey with video” series, Awareness stage videos are all about capturing a prospect’s attention, empathizing with their problem, and assuring them there is a solution. Consideration phase videos, on the other hand, are all about demonstrating how your solution is better than the alternatives (direct and indirect) and why you are different.

One of the best ways to do this is to script an authentic use case scenario featuring your product as the trusty companion to your client who is the hero.

In the B2B video marketing world, this means carrying the authentic insider language you used in your Awareness video into a more specific Consideration video.

Think of the biggest concerns a prospect might have about choosing your solution over a different option(s). Then create a video that authentically explains away the concerns and convinces the audience of your solution’s superiority.

This can be achieved through carefully crafted dialogue and scenes.

HP’s “The Wolf” campaign is a great example of exactly that. The pithy monologue hits on the concerns a prospect already has, the concerns they don’t even know they should have, and how HP obliterates the alternatives with its expertise and solutions.

It doesn’t hurt that the creative team on this spot was top of the line and Christian Slater narrates. But it shows how a solid Consideration video can take a topic as bland as cybersecurity and use it to position a brand as a front-runner for any prospect.

Give your audience the goods

For many of our B2B clients, the fear of a solution being termed “vaporware” or something for which a tangible product is actually a pipe dream is real. Prospects in the Consideration phase want to know that your solution is real, viable, and available to solve their problem now.

The best antidote to fears that your product is still only a concept is to show a key component of it “in the flesh.”

This doesn’t mean that you have to create a product demo video that shows every in and out of your solution. (I’d save this approach for the “Decision” phase videos.) Instead it gives you an opportunity to plant the seed of “realness.”

For example, if you have an SaaS application, pick some of the best features (as deemed by a prospect) and show them off in a video. Select the ones that best demonstrate your competitive advantage.

If this feature is not aesthetically pleasing on its own, consider using motion graphics and pithy voiceover copy to beef up the realness of the features and stop your prospects in their tracks.

This can be done using live action footage of your coolest robot in your smart factory. Or show a polished screen recording of a single feature of your healthcare claims processing platform.

Video allows you to get ahead of claims of exaggeration by showing the component that your competitors can’t – your product or service in action. Once you’ve done that, you can use the rest of the video to up the aesthetics.

Your product is your game changer and key differentiator. And it’s what will help land you at the top of your prospect’s short list.

Video allows you to get ahead of claims of exaggeration by showing the component that your competitors can’t – your product or service in action.

Amplify success with a human approach

When you hear the terms “case study,” “testimonial,” or “competitor comparison,” what do you think of?

I know my mind goes straight to bore you to sleep case study videos with motion graphic percentages flying around the screen. Or customers on late night TV infomercials raving about the stain fighting power of PowerBoost5000!

In B2B video marketing, the silliness of late night TV infomercials is probably not the tone you should take when convincing a prospective CEO that your solution will change the digital transformation game for their organization. But the specific and authentic experience of a current customer much like them can be enough to convince prospects that you belong on their short list of options.

(For the record, infomercials are nothing to laugh at. The cable shopping network industry is worth billions. So they must be on to something.)

Why does hearing about or seeing the success of a different (even competitor) organization work?

Customer testimonials and case studies help establish trust with prospects. They rely on (seemingly) honest third-party opinions, storytelling, and the willingness of a customer to attribute at least part of their success to your featured product, service, or company.

A customer who is willing to go on the record about how the solution changed the course of their business is invaluable. And if they are able to share hard facts – even better.

This Apple Watch video (while a B2C play) does a brilliant job of weaving shared opinions, storytelling, and customer attribution together into a powerful montage of testimonials.

This same approach and feeling can be achieved by a B2B company if done strategically. Follow these two key customer testimonial or case study video elements:

1. Ensure direct and results-based relevance to a prospective customer

“What’s in it for me” should be crystal clear. Testimonials from current customers should speak to potential prospect fears and your solve for those fears when possible. Use third party (your customer’s data) whenever it’s reliable and available.

2. Use custom visuals and footage

If a customer is willing to let you into their plant or building to capture video of your solution or their team using or talking about your solution, consider it strongly.

This doesn’t mean your whole video should be factory floor footage or “talking heads.” Quick shots here and there can help lend credibility to the rest of the video, especially if the solution is something that can be experienced visually.

If your customer is a well-trusted brand or company in your industry, their testimonial can carry a lot of weight. Strategically use as many branding shots as you can without losing your own brand and solution in the video.

Consideration phase videos don’t have to be boring or complicated. Use your creative brain power to develop engaging and smart dialogue, strategically identify and show your differentiated products or services, and amplify your success in a human way. Then you can convert Consideration phase prospects into the Decision phase with your company at the top of their short list.

Our next article in this series will outline how to make an effective Decision phase video that turns your prospects into customers.