If you’re running a business along with your channel, at some point you need to get your audience off of YouTube and to your website, right? But, that is a negative viewer signal for YouTube. So your videos are tanking. Ugh. How do you make a sales video that helps your growth and actually converts into sales? I’ll tell you.

Creator Spotlight

But first, I want to introduce you to Lane Fournerat. On his channel, Dad Reviews with Lane, he reviews things from a dad’s perspective. After working with us, he has really grown in his storytelling, understanding of analytics and knowledge of what to focus on. If you looking for help on your channel but you are not sure what would be a good fit for you, we’d love to hop into a Discovery Call. This 15 min call may just lead you to your channel’s transformation.

Now let’s get back to that good sales video.

Anatomy of a Good Sales Video

Keep in mind that when you make a sales video, you are wanting your audience to take an action. You are not just wanting your viewer to leave a comment or watch the next video. Instead, you want your viewer to go off of YouTube, which is a bigger ask. Because of this, it is vital to be more intentional when making these kinds of videos.

First, choose a title & thumbnail that connects the viewer to the purpose of the story you are telling in the video. What is the problem that you are trying to solve? Focus on the problem and how you can solve it.

Then, tell a story that connects with the viewer on a DEEP level. Make sure you choose a topic that solves a problem or address a specific need of your viewer. Dig into this. Really hit the pain point that your viewer is feeling. Empathize with them. Allow them to feel seen.

Then, position your product or service as the solution to that problem or need. Don’t feel “salesy” about this. You are trying to help them! Let them know that you can.

Then, call the viewer off the platform to get the solution that you are providing. This is your lead magnet. It may be getting added to an email list, which will have a monthly newsletter that will help solve the problem. Or maybe it is a product that you are selling that will meet the need for your viewer.

Sales Video vs Discoverable/Community Video

Like a discoverable video, you are presenting strong value for the viewer, but the call to action is going to be the big difference. Instead of trying to extend the viewer session, you are intending to end it.

Now because of this, you aren’t going to be getting a ton of views on this video. The algorithm isn’t going to see this viewer signal as positive, but that’s ok. The point is not to have a ton of views. It is to get that email address, the sale, etc. Keep that in mind. Low views does not mean that you’ve failed. Look at your conversions to track your progress instead.

Also, unlike a discoverable video, you can pitch your call to action earlier in the video. By putting the link in the description, you don’t have to wait until the last 20 seconds to make your pitch. You can point it out earlier in your content, as well as adding it to your end screen. This is the freedom you have in a sales video.

Retention

Even on sales videos, retention still matters. If you have a long intro, you may lose much of your audience before you ever get them to the pitch. This defeats the purpose of the video. Plus, it’s better to get 30% of your audience 80% into your video rather than 80% of your audience only 30% into your video. YouTube sees this as a much stronger viewer signal and will push it out to more people. So let me be clear: Making a shorter video, with the pitch near the end is better than making a longer video and just pitching the call to action right away.

Mistakes

When working with creators, we see a lot of mistakes around this. One of these mistakes is pitching the sale before they even explain the need. If people don’t see the need why they should buy your product, why would they?

Other creators don’t have a strong, singular call to action. Instead, they just sprinkle in the sales pitch along with a bunch of other calls to action. It’s almost as if they don’t want to miss an opportunity, so they think “If they don’t go to my website, maybe they’ll like, comment or subscribe. I better tell them to do all the things so they do one.” Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. If you tell your audience to do multiple things, they will end up doing nothing.

Three Bucket Strategy

Another mistake we see is creators doing a sales call to action in Every.Single.Video. I understand that you want to get the word out, but doing this is going to promote a negative viewer signal every single time. This will kill your channel growth. You may have a fluke video that blows up every once in awhile, but overall this is not good for your channel.

In order to truly be effective, you must use the three bucket strategy.

Bucket One: Discoverable Content. Bring in new people and extend the watch session.

Bucket Two: Community Content. Grow the know, like and trust factor to create more of an emotional connection to you.

Bucket Three: Sales Video. Now that your audience trusts you, you can make the effective pitch. And it’s going to be far more openly received.

Whatever you do, be intentional with the purpose behind the action you want the viewer to take. The search and discovery systems are paying attention.

Storytelling

Storytelling creates an emotional connection with your viewer. Think about your favorite movies and books. When you hear a great story, you imagine yourself as the character in the story. If you use this in your sales video, your viewer will see their need as they imagine themselves in the scenario and they’ll be much more likely to seek the solution.

Also as you share your story with transparency, you will establish trust. You will be able to make more impact with your audience and this will only help with your overall channel growth as well.

Power Tip

It’s here! You can now accept the new YouTube Partner Program terms on your backend in YouTube Studio.

There are a few key things to note. If you are already in the YPP, you must accept the new terms by July 10 or you will be removed from the current YPP program. Starting Feb 1st, 2023, qualified channels that accept the new shorts monetization module, will now be able to earn money from ads that run between videos in the shorts feed. Shorts creators that are not currently in YPP are now eligible to apply to the program if they have 1000 subscribers and 10 million eligible shorts views in the past 90 days.

Keep changing lives!

Tim Schmoyer

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