Videos are an important part of the marketing process. Visual media is a great way to cement your brand in people’s minds and show them what you’re all about. But did you know that it can also be a great method of generating leads? Here are three creative ways to use video marketing as part of your lead generation strategy.

1. Use Video Landing Pages. Your landing pages are the key to lead generation. They’re where you ultimately direct your web traffic to, so that they can provide you with a means of reaching out to them. Visitors to your landing pages are already at least somewhat interested in what you have to offer, otherwise they wouldn’t have clicked over to it. Now you just need to give them that extra push, to fill out the form. What better way to do that than with a video? People are 12 times more likely to watch a video than they are to read text. So instead of telling them what they’ll get out of your newsletter, white paper, webinar, etc., why not show them? You can have a brief scene if you want, but really all you need is someone standing and talking to the camera. Be interesting, maybe a bit humorous, and have a clear call to action at the end. It could be just what you need to engage with your audience and entice them to sign up, download, or otherwise get themselves in your database.
2. Create Teasers for High Value Content. You can have a video on your landing page to promote what you’re offering—but sometimes what you’re offering IS a video. If people need to sign up or register in order to download a webinar or other piece of high value, standalone content, then promoting that content with another video is only logical. Create a teaser for the video, showing a few tidbits that will grab audience’s attention, without giving away too much. Provide just enough to make them want to know more. You can also show them the first minute or two of the video without signing up, then stop playback and tell them to register to see the rest. Timing is everything in this case: give your audience just enough time to get engaged in your content, and cut it off at precisely the right moment to make them want to know what comes next.
3. Be Interactive. The point of lead generation is not just to get contact information for your potential customers, but to get to know them. Find out what aspect of your company or industry they’re interested in, what products they’re looking at, and what problem they’re attempting to solve. The more detailed information you have on your leads, the better you can target your marketing to them. And a great way to get detailed information on your leads is with interactive video content. Ask questions or take a poll or survey, and have a section next to the video where they can fill out the information. Interactive video content can be very effective, as it’s easier to engage with a person than with a block of text. Use that content not just to generate leads, but to find out who they are and what they want, so that you can better meet their needs.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And a video is worth even more than that. Used properly, it can be one of the most effective tools in your marketing arsenal. So don’t be afraid to use that tool in creative ways, to give your lead generation a boost.