SEO content material typically drives site visitors however not conversions.
The answer?
A video-first strategy that nurtures leads, builds belief and aligns with an actual funnel.
This text explains why video content outperforms blogs and how one can make it be just right for you.
Why ‘prime of funnel’ pondering fails with no actual conversion technique
In case you’ve ever performed SEO-driven content marketing for a corporation, you’ve had this dialog:
“I do know we’re getting extra site visitors and that’s nice, but it surely’s not resulting in extra conversions.”
Most SEOs and content material strategists reply that the site visitors they’re producing is “prime of funnel,” however the fact is that, in reality, there isn’t a funnel.
They’re merely focusing on a question with the hope that the reader will sometime keep in mind this area the subsequent time they carry out associated to this subject.
The answer is to align this content material with an precise funnel – not cross our fingers hoping they may keep in mind us after skimming our article seven months earlier.
This leaves two choices: nurture these leads via electronic mail or social media.
We opted for the latter.
Via this course of, we discovered a method to streamline content material creation, make it extra partaking and reconnect with guests organically – with out counting on paid advertisements. We name this strategy “natural social media retargeting.”
Beneath, I’ll share the quantitative and qualitative proof that video is the easiest way to show your content material briefs into partaking weblog posts – and how one can do it successfully.
Why a video-first Search engine optimisation-driven content material advertising technique is healthier
TL;DR: When put next with blog-only content material, video is healthier in a number of methods. Video:
- Requires much less time for the subject material skilled to supply.
- Is extra more likely to entice the customer to change into a social media follower and could be additional nurtured down the funnel.
- Delivers extra of your message – the customer will not be “skimming it.”
- Says extra about who you’re and does a greater job of producing belief.
- Is most popular by many over written blogs.
- Will be extra simply repurposed via different channels.
Video requires much less of your subject material skilled’s time
A one-hour recording session ought to yield wherever from 2 to six movies that may be remodeled into articles.
We focus on healthcare advertising, the place each piece of content material requires medical overview, whether or not it’s written by us or by the consumer’s group.
To start out, it might take 15 to 45 minutes for a physician to overview a weblog, which they typically will postpone for weeks, slowing down our work.
This overview course of can also be mentally taxing, rather more so than having them discuss to a digital camera for an hour.
One hour of the physician’s time to shoot video is far much less of an ask than 1-2 hours of their time to overview and proper a non-expert’s article on a subject.
Switching to video resulted in improved workflows, much less drained subject material specialists and extra content material.
Dig deeper: Visual content and SEO: How to use images and videos in 2025
Potential to earn subscribers, ‘For you’ web page views and suggestions
When a possible buyer finds your article via a Google search, reads it and leaves, there’s little to no probability of reconnecting with them organically.
This klikely occurs with over 98% of your weblog site visitors. However with video, it’s a distinct story.
When a Google Search brings somebody to a weblog with an embedded video, and so they view that video on YouTube as a substitute of your weblog, you could have the distinct chance of turning that individual right into a subscriber.
It additionally creates the chance to look on that individual’s for you web page the subsequent time they go to YouTube.
Primarily, your Search engine optimisation-driven content material advertising efforts have positioned them in a funnel the place your social media can additional nurture them.
Dig deeper: Why video is key to building brand identity and engagement
Get the publication search entrepreneurs depend on.
Guests are receiving extra of your message via movies
In case you have ever considered Hotjar recordings of tourists to your web site, you’ve seemingly noticed that the overwhelming majority skim the headlines and browse just a few choose paragraphs.
They’re virtually actually lacking out on info that’s vital to you to ship to them.
It isn’t practically as frequent for somebody to skim a YouTube video.
When you’ve realized how one can seize and preserve their consideration, they may take heed to what you must say.
What does the information need to say about this?
Our group’s first inclination was to match the on-time engagement of articles earlier than and after we added movies.
(This text is extra about producing recent content material from video, not retrofitting current blogs with video content material, however it’s often step one we take when transitioning to a video-first technique.)
The issue with this technique is that it doesn’t depend for guests who clicked on the video and considered the content material on YouTube.
We would like folks to do that since it should improve the chance of them subscribing or having us present up on their “For you” web page, however it should skew your common go to period in GA4.
Our second inclination was to match the period of the visits to site visitors that got here from YouTube to natural search site visitors.
Primarily, we’re viewing the conduct of somebody who has spent 2 to twenty minutes viewing movies on YouTube and seeing how they interacted with the remainder of the content material on our web site.
That is that report from our firm’s GA4:
As you possibly can see, the typical go to from YouTube lasts virtually twice so long as a go to from natural search.
My conversations with leads affirm this. Prospects who’ve considered video content material fully differ from those that have merely visited service pages and blogs.
What does our expertise with prospects need to say about this?
“It’s so bizarre to be really speaking to you proper now, I used to be simply watching you on my display screen six hours in the past.”
“I already know what you guys do and I find it irresistible. How a lot does it price and if we do work with you, when can we get began?”
“I’ve at all times seen SEOs and the crypto bros of selling, however I might let you know’re a straight-shooting Jersey man that I can belief.”
I can most likely offer you two dozen quotes from discovery calls during the last two years.
This by no means occurred throughout calls with individuals who found us via our weblog.
Primarily, the undercurrent of “Are you a scammer or somebody that has no thought what they’re doing?” dissipates after they’ve spent 25 minutes watching your YouTube movies.
I’ve additionally seen our pipeline lighten in periods when our video output stopped for one motive or one other.
Movies could be extra simply repurposed than blogs
I’m placing content repurposing final for a motive: whereas most entrepreneurs contemplate it the highest advantage of this technique, it’s not as simple because it appears.
It’s not straightforward to get engagement on a video posted to LinkedIn or Instagram Reels that’s meant to be found via natural search on Google or YouTube.
It is doable to seek out nuggets out of your long-form video content material that work as standalone short-form content material, however the temptation to get lazy and never correctly tailor it to the platform is large.
If you’ll attempt to repurpose this video for different platforms, nice.
However make certain what you’re doing. In case you do it flawed, you would possibly annoy your viewers and damage the remainder of your social media efforts.
Dig deeper: A guide to creating social media videos (for search and beyond)
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