Get the steps to build an effective funnel of 1-minute video ads so you can generate more engagement from your ads, quickly move cold traffic through your funnel, and build trust and likability that leads to sales.
How to Build Video Campaign Funnel
What You’ll Learn:
- The fastest and easiest way to get your funnel started (it’s also a good way to start if you’re launching an untested funnel, so you’re not throwing money down the drain)
- 3 types of videos you’ll need for your campaign and how to combine them into a funnel that builds trust and generates sales
- Learn to weave story into your videos so you can create engaging ads without a big budget
Table of Contents
Table of contents
Understand the Role & Purpose of a Video Campaign Funnel
Understand the Objective
How to Create a 3×3 Video Funnel Campaign
The Template: An Overview
The Types of Videos You’ll Create
Tapping into the Power of Stories
Why Videos (Awareness)
How Videos (Engagement)
What Videos (Conversion)
Take Action
Putting Together Your 3×3 Video Funnel Campaign
Boost Your Videos
What’s Next?
Understand the Role & Purpose of a Video Campaign Funnel
Understand the Objective
In this article, you’ll learn how to build a funnel of effective 1-minute video ads so you can:
- Get more engagement from your ads
- Quickly move cold traffic through your funnels
- Build trust and likability that leads to sales
This funnel strategy is called the 3×3 Video Campaign.
We’ll start with a quick overview of the 3×3 Video Campaign, then we’ll dive into how to make yours.
We’ll cover:
- The 3 types of videos you’ll need for your campaign
- How to combine them in an effective video ad campaign
- Tips for getting great results
Let’s get started!
How to Create a 3×3 Video Funnel Campaign
The Template: An Overview
The 3×3 Matrix is a series of 9 videos plugged into a 3-stage funnel: Awareness, Engagement, and Conversion.
The 3×3 Matrix is a series of 9 videos plugged into a 3-stage funnel: Awareness, Engagement, and Conversion.
Using this structure, you’ll be able to make 3 touches at each stage, so no one will see a sales message until they’ve had at least one touch in each of the previous stages.
Here’s why that’s important…
The Principle of 7 states that, generally, people won’t buy until they’ve had 7 touches with your brand (sometimes it’s more than 7, sometimes it’s less). By the time your target audience reaches the third stage of your 3×3 ad campaign, they’ll have had 6 potential touches—even if they’ve never interacted with your brand before (i.e. visited your website, signed up for your mailing list, etc.).
That’s enough to make them feel like they know and trust you. So, when they see 1 of your final 3 videos, they’re more inclined to respond to your offer.
The Types of Videos You’ll Create
Your campaign is built from story-based 1-minute videos.
They’re short, so your audience is more likely to consume them on the go or when they have a short amount of time. And they’re story-based, so people will enjoy watching them even after they figure out your videos are part of a sales funnel.
Think of commercials you enjoy watching even though they’re ads. Geico, Progressive, and Budweiser’s campaigns come to mind.
Entertaining your audience and weaving stories into your video ads is what you’re aiming for because it engages your audience and helps you stick in your viewer’s mind and keeps them from scrolling past you.
Now, you don’t need a big budget with actors and a talking gecko to achieve this. You can create engaging, story-based ads with just your phone. We’ll talk more about using story in your ads in the following lessons, but first, let’s look at the 3 types of videos you’ll be making in this campaign.
The videos themselves are tailored to the stage of the funnel they’re created for.
Stage 1 Awareness videos tell Why stories. These videos explain why you do what you do. They help people know you, your brand, and your mission, so it’s easy to see what makes you special.
Stage 2 Engagement videos tell How stories. At this stage, you need to build credibility as an expert, so people are ready to accept the offer you’re going to make. Here, you teach quick solutions to problems your audience struggles with.
Stage 3 Conversion videos tell What stories. Here, you explain the actual product or service you sell, including an offer to buy from you now.
let’s look at the 3 types of videos you’ll be making in this campaign.
In essence, this is an abbreviated Customer Value Journey.
Customer Value Journey
Tapping into the Power of Stories
Have you ever tried to give a dog a pill? As much as dogs love chewing, they hate taking pills, so they spit them out.
Now, if you’re trying to get a dog to swallow a pill, you wrap it in something yummy like baloney or cheese. With your target audience, you’ll need to wrap your sales message in a story, turning your sales pitch into something that’s fun and entertaining.
We call this the Baloney Principle, and it’s the secret behind the 3×3 Video Ad Campaign. Sure, you’re trying to sell something, but by wrapping your offers in great stories, you turn a “pill” into a “treat.”
Okay, that’s a quick overview of the 3×3 Video Campaign. In the rest of this module, you’ll learn how to create your Why, How, and What videos and how to put them together for a great campaign.
Why Videos (Awareness)
These videos serve as your introduction to who you are, what you do, and why it matters. In these videos, you’ll tell stories that build engagement and liking. This helps build trust with your audience.
Choosing Your Story
Think about the different life stories you could tell, the defining moments in your life, or the topics you’re passionate about.
Some may be traumatic experiences. Others may be challenges you faced or events you’re proud of. For instance, here are 3 examples one of our business partners, Logan Young, will use:
- When I was 16, I got held up at gunpoint while working at Subway
- When I was 3, I went to SeaWorld and got attacked by a seagull
- When most people were going to college, I spent 2 years on the mission field
Whatever you choose, the key is to tell a story that will resonate with your target audience. Let’s dive in deeper, using Logan as an example.
The Structure
Story Hook. Open with something attention-grabbing, so people want to hear more.
Begin with, “When I was…”
Length = 3–5 seconds
Example: “When I was 16, I got held up at gunpoint while working at Subway.”
Belief statement or core belief. This follows your story hook and should be a natural outgrowth of the story you just told.
Begin with, “I believe that…” Then explain how this belief has impacted what you do. IMPORTANT: Make sure you tie that belief to the story you opened with.
Length = 45 seconds
Example: “An experience like that teaches you a lot. I believe that all of us have great opportunities around us. And if we’re not careful, those opportunities will pass us by because it’s easy to make excuses. So I want to make sure I make the most of my opportunities today.”
Soft CTA (call to action). Briefly explain what you do and tell people what to expect.
Use this format: “I am [insert profession] at [name of company]. [Insert soft call to action.]”
Length = 10 seconds
Example: “I am Logan Young, and I do Facebook ads. I’d be very happy to help you regain control of your Facebook ads.”
The Focus of Why Videos
At this stage, you want to introduce yourself through a story. Aim to help people get to know you better, to learn your values and belief, so they’ll trust you.
Here’s an example of one of the first Why Videos I ever made. It’s a little over a minute and doesn’t include a soft CTA. However, I wanted to use it as an example for 2 reasons:
- This shows the overall format of a Why Video and its main purpose: introducing yourself and what you believe so people get to know you better so you can start building trust with your audience.
- This shows how simple a 1-minute video can be. There’s nothing fancy about this video. It’s a single shot in front of a white screen. Yet it helped to generate trust with our audience and 13k views on Facebook. So again, you don’t have to create a super polished video ad for it to be effective. In fact, we’ve found that simple videos make you and your brand more relatable and human.
NOTE: Pay special attention when creating your Why Videos because they’re essential—they’re the first touchpoint of your funnel. If you don’t invest the time in creating these first videos, it can greatly impact the rest of your funnel. With that in mind, here are several more Why Video examples. You can use these examples as inspiration for your own video.
ACTION ITEM: Create your Why Video(s) using the tactics and examples found in this lesson.
How Videos (Engagement)
These videos make up the middle of your funnel and help you build credibility. They’re designed to educate your audience and showcase your expertise, so people are ready to buy when you make your offer in later videos. This is effective because:
- You’re providing value to your audience, which helps establish trust and build your authority.
- You’re showing your audience that you know what you’re talking about, not telling them you know what you’re talking about. Showing someone something they didn’t know about Facebook ads is so much more powerful than saying you’re good at running Facebook ads.
Think of something your audience struggles with—something you can help them solve quickly—that’s related to the offer you’re planning to make in this campaign.
This video will be a demonstration, screen share, or strategic idea.
NOTE: You may not be able to tell a story and teach a lesson all in 1-minute. If you can tell a story, great, your How Video will be that much more powerful. If not, focus on starting your video with a hook that ties to your lesson.
The Structure
Story Hook. Like the Why Videos, open with something attention-grabbing, so people want to hear more.
Begin with, “When I was…” or use a provocative stat or ask a question.
Length = 3 seconds
Example: “What is ROAS?” or “The average watch time on Facebook for videos is only 6 seconds.”
Ignite Pain. Transition to the problem you’re going to solve. It should be a natural outgrowth of the story you just told.
Begin with, “This will help improve…” or “I learned that…” or “I realized that…” or something similar. Then explain how this event ties into your lesson.
Length = 12 seconds
Example: “This will help your average watch time improve.”
Describe Solution. Teach your lesson.
Length = 35 seconds
Example: “By including movement in your videos, you’ll see your view times improve.”
Soft CTA. Tell people how they can learn more. If you have the time, briefly explain what you do and tell people what they can expect from you.
Use this format: “Learn more at [company website].” Or “I am [insert profession] at [name of company]. [Insert soft call to action.]”
Length = 10 seconds
Example: “If you have any questions, reach out [company website].”
The Focus of How Videos
At this stage of the funnel, people want to know whether you’re legit. But they have a “show me, don’t tell me” attitude, so that’s your focus in these videos.
You want to give your viewers a quick win, so they feel confident that:
- You’re a source of valuable information.
- You can help them succeed.
So make sure the lesson you’re teaching is something they can quickly understand or implement themselves.
Now, let’s look at a couple How Video examples.
The first one is the “Secret of the One-Min Video.” This one does not have a CTA but simply focuses on teaching the lesson and providing value:
Followed by “What is ROAS?”
ACTION ITEM: Create your How Video(s) using the tactics and examples found in this lesson.
What Videos (Conversion)
In your What Videos, you finally make your offer. This is where you make your sales pitch—wrapped in a story, of course.
Choosing Your Story
Think of a story that’s good enough to stand alone, that you can transition to an offer. This can be any story that has high action and emotion. Paint a picture for your audience by describing the scene so they can easily picture it.
The Structure
Story Hook. Open with something attention-grabbing, so people want to hear more.
Begin with, “When I was…” or “Remember when…” or “Imagine…” or set the scene in some other way.
Length = 3 seconds
Example: “There’s nothing worse than driving down the freeway and getting a speeding ticket.”
Ignite Pain. Describe the problem. This will help you transition to your offer, which will solve the problem. It should be a natural outgrowth of the story you just told.
Begin with, “I learned that…” or “I realized that…” or something similar.
Length = 12 seconds
Example: “I think of Facebook as this giant freeway. But they have a monopoly on the traffic, so they make the rules. And if you break Facebook’s rules, your ads become more expensive to place or your account can get shut down.”
Sales Pitch. Explain what you do to remove the pain. Make it benefits-oriented and customer-focused.
Length = 35 seconds
Example: “How do you fix it? On September 22, we’re having a workshop in Phoenix that’ll teach you how you can run your ads the way Facebook wants so your ads are successful.”
Hard CTA. Briefly say who you are and what you want people to do now.
Use this format: “I am [insert profession] at [name of company]. [What you want the viewer to do next] + [the benefit of doing it now].”
Length = 10 seconds
Example: “Click the link below to sign up for the workshop so your account stops getting ‘pulled over’ by Facebook.”
The Focus of What Videos
Your goal here is to turn interest into desire for your service/product, so you can get your viewers to buy.
NOTE: The average consumer needs about 7 touches before they’re willing to buy from you. That’s why the What Videos follow 6 videos that build awareness and engagement. By now, they should already know who you are, why you do what you do, and what problem(s) you can solve for them. So by the time your audience is viewing your What Videos, they’re on the 7th touch with your brand. Put all your focus on converting them.
Now, let’s look at some examples:
In this video, we’re offering consulting time and use an example from the popular TV show, Breaking Bad to tell a story and drive home our message. (Warning: If you haven’t seen Breaking Bad yet, there are spoilers in the video below.)
Next, we use an analogy that Facebook is like a freeway to promote a live workshop.
And finally, here we talk about marketing fads to promote a downloadable guide.
ACTION ITEM: Create your What Video(s) using the tactics and examples found in this lesson.
Take Action
Putting Together Your 3×3 Video Funnel Campaign
Now it’s time to start building your Why, How, and What videos.
As you plan your campaign, plug your video ideas into the 3×3 Video Ad Campaign Worksheet (also available in the Resources section below).
Make sure each video builds on the one before it. Even though your videos are standalone, you’ll want your videos as a whole to complement one another so the campaign as a whole has a cohesive feel.
- The first 3 videos should be about building awareness. Your Why videos
- The next set of 3 videos should be about building engagement and trust. Your How videos
- The final 3 videos should be about turning people into customers. Your What videos
It’s important to understand the key differences between the 3, especially the fact that you don’t want your Why videos to turn into What videos that could confuse your consumers.
The Why videos are not necessarily meant to answer the age-old question of “Why should we (the consumer) buy from you?” but instead focus on content that builds the foundation from the ground up to lead into your “how” section. The more you are able to send that hook into your audience and build up resonance with your consumer that leads into the How section of your funnel, the better retention you’ll have going forward.
A Few Tips
Use Captions. The majority of people will watch your videos on a mobile device, and they won’t always be able to turn the sound on. Make sure you auto-generate captions when you upload your video to Facebook. Or add captions to your videos prior to uploading them to Facebook.
The majority of people will watch your videos on a mobile device, and they won’t always be able to turn the sound on.
Follow the 20% Rule. Your thumbnails should not have more than 20% text.
After you upload a video, Facebook will show you their auto-generated thumbnail. If you have more than 20% text on it, scroll through the auto-generated images to pick a different one, or upload a new one.
Prioritize These 4 Elements:
- The thumbnail
- The hook
- The copy
- The target audience
These are the things that can impact your engagement rates. If you review your metrics and see low engagement, you need to change 1 or more of these elements to improve your metrics.
Boost Your Videos
The fastest and easiest way to get your funnel started is to boost your videos on Facebook. This is also a good way to start if you’re launching an untested funnel; it’ll help you not throw money down the drain on a funnel that has yet to prove that it generates results for your business.
You can start boosting your ads for as little as $1 a day per post on Facebook. For instance, you can put $1/day on your Why videos, $1/day on your What videos, and $1/day on your How videos. And in this case, you’d be spending $3/day running 3 campaigns.
On Facebook’s Ad Manager page, you can see which ads are more effective and continue to reinvest in those particular ads.
And you can see where you may be falling short in your funnel and where you need to optimize. For instance, if you have an audience where you see a 30% drop in views and engagements in your How videos as opposed to your Why, you can focus on that phase to try to reobtain that audience and lead them through all the way to the What Stage.
And then remarket (retarget). Anyone who watches a Why video, remarket to the How. Anyone who sees a How, remarket to the What.
Now, when it comes to remarketing and building a remarketing audience, this is where people will try to get fancy. And this is where they get in trouble.
They’ll try to isolate 1 video or ad when it’s not yet proven to be a winner.
Instead, let Facebook determine the winners in the early days of your campaign. And let Facebook determine which specific How video to show someone who’s engaged with 1 of your Why videos. Use Facebook’s algorithm to your advantage and don’t try to mess with it too soon.
Once your ads have been running for about a week, you can start deciphering which videos are more successful and which ones aren’t. It’s crucial to try to nearly duplicate these winners (based on how many engagements/views you’ve garnered) and scrap the losers while aligning with the transitions between the 3 sections.
There’s also no true limit on how many videos across the 3 sections that you can have. As long as you cycle in more winners than losers in the end you don’t have to limit yourself to only 3 videos at each stage of the funnel. Start with 3 videos in each stage, but as your funnel sees success, you can consider adding in additional videos.
The last thing to understand is the general flow of these videos. Even though there are 3 seemingly different sections, they all tie together very closely to reach your audience on a larger scale…
There may be some consumers who see your Why video and make a purchase on the spot without seeing the others. While there could be consumers that see everything and still don’t purchase your product/service.
The point is to understand how to remarket those winning videos that can apply to newer content, while also understanding why your losing videos didn’t have the hook needed to continue the cycle. Comparing your videos and identifying the success factors along with the negatives can only lead to better preparation and presentation with videos you make going forward.
ACTION ITEM: Check your videos and your 3×3 Video Campaign as a whole once a week. Look at the video engagement stats and complete any maintenance (add/remove/edit videos) when needed.
Targeting Tips
We won’t dive too much more into ad targeting because that’s a whole training in itself. wink
But as you’re creating your 3×3 Video Campaign you’ll want to keep in mind that you’ll start the campaign by targeting your cold audience with your Why videos (awareness). Then target your warm audience with your How videos (engagement). And finally, target your hot audience with your What videos (conversion). You can target your audience using an ad platform like Facebook.
I’d advise to not make your videos completely dependent on one another, where someone would have to watch all 9 videos in order for the campaign to make sense.
Why does this matter?
Your viewer may not watch all 9 of your videos.
What’s more important is that Videos 1-3 go to cold audience members. Videos 4-6 to warm audience. And 7-9 to hot. But it wouldn’t matter if the viewer watched Videos 1-3 out of order (for instance, if they watched them as 2, 1, 3) or Videos 4-6 out of order when then move to the How Stage or Videos 7-9 out of order when they move to the What Stage.
What’s Next?
Brainstorm 3 Why Videos, 3 How Videos, and 3 What Videos that:
- Create an overall flow of content, so cold traffic quickly turns into fans and followers
- Tell an overall story, 1 video at a time
- Progressively creates more interest and desire for your offer
Put your ideas into the 3×3 Video Ad Campaign Worksheet and verify that your campaign flows well.
Plan your individual videos by using the 1-Minute Video worksheet.
Then create your videos and build the campaign!