Where video fits in the customer journey map

This is how your business can get it right

Most businesses know they should be using video, but many still treat it like a one-off marketing tick-box. An ‘About Us’ film for the website, a handful of social clips to please the algorithms and maybe a testimonial if they’re feeling ambitious.

But the real power of video isn’t in a single piece of content. It’s in how video powers the entire buying journey, whether you’re in landscaping, cyber security, construction, retail, or hospitality.

In 2024 and heading into 2025, UK businesses are starting to realise that video works best when it’s mapped properly across the stages customers go through before they buy. It’s smart, strategic, and systematic.

What is “customer journey mapping” (apart from seeming like marketing jargon)

Customer journey mapping is simply identifying and understanding the path someone takes before becoming your customer. These stages and the thought process that takes place within each stage will be unique to a business or product sector.

Typically, it looks something like this:

1. Trigger: identifying the need, problem, or pain point
2. Awareness: discovering which product/ brand/ company can best meet your need
3. Consideration: researching, reviewing, comparing, and validating of options
4. Decision: choosing what and where to buy and closing the deal
5. Retention / Referral: coming back for repeat buying and/or advocating you to others

The mistake many companies make is producing content that only targets awareness and consideration and jumping straight to selling. Video works far better when it supports each stage of the journey, helping people move naturally from curiosity to confidence.

But before we dive into these properly here’s a quick but critical reality check. There’s been a lot of debate lately about whether the traditional sales funnel still makes sense. The idea that customers glide neatly from awareness to interest to purchase has been thoroughly challenged and the linear customer journey is now outdated and somewhat flawed.

That doesn’t make video less important if anything it does the opposite.

When customers move one step forward and two steps back, video becomes the content that keeps pulling them back in by explaining, reassuring, and rebuilding confidence each time they return.

So back to our mapping exercise.

1.    The Trigger: Identifying the tension

Keep in mind the customer need or pain point is not always driven by a real-life need. Entire books have been written about how brands create demand in the first place,using everything from behavioural economics to scarcity, social proof and good old-fashioned FOMO to spark desire where none previously existed.

Video plays a huge role there too. But that’s a topic big enough for an article of its own.

For the purposes of this piece, we’re starting slightly further along the path with a customer who already knows they have a need or a problem. E.g., expecting a baby, needing a kitchen refurb, a wedding venue, an IT upgrade or investment advice. Maybe something has broken, changed, or simply become necessary.

2.     Awareness: Getting on the radar

At the start of the journey, your potential customers probably aren’t searching for you. They’re searching for a problem to be solved or companies that provide the service or thing they’re after.

This is where short, engaging video shines. Quick educational videos explaining a common industry issue, social media clip sharing useful tips, founder or brand story videos that show the personality behind the business.

For UK businesses competing in crowded markets, video here is less about selling and more about being visible and helpful in bite-sized chunks, always driving to your website to ‘find out more’.

Platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube and even Instagram are becoming search engines in their own right. Video helps your brand show up in places where customers are already looking.

3.     Consideration: Building trust

Once someone knows you exist, they start doing their homework.

They’ll compare you with competitors, read reviews, check your website and if you’ve done things right watch your videos. This is where video becomes your trust-building machine.

Some of the most effective formats include:

• Explainer videos that clearly show what you do
• Product or service walkthroughs
• FAQ videos answering common questions
• Behind-the-scenes content that humanises your brand

In sectors like professional services,education, property, and consultancy video can make the difference between sounding credible and sounding like everyone else.

4.     Decision: Giving the final nudge

By the time someone reaches the decision stage, they’re nearly there. They just need reassurance they’re making the right choice.

Enter one of the most powerful marketing tools available: video testimonials.

Seeing a real customer talk about their experience carries far more weight than written reviews. Add in a short case study video or a simple product demonstration and suddenly the buying decision becomes much easier.

5.     Retention: The bit most businesses forget

The customer journey doesn’t end after ‘transaction successful’ or once the invoice is paid.

Smart businesses continue to use video after the sale to strengthen the relationship.

This might include onboarding videos explaining how to get started, tutorial videos showing how to get the most froma product or update videos keeping customers informed

Not only does this improve the customer experience, it also saves time by answering questions before they become support requests.

Why video keepson having a moment

The shift towards video isn’t just a trend. It’s happening because people increasingly prefer information that is fast,visual, human, and even entertaining.

Reading a long webpage takes effort. Watching a longer-format video explaining the same thing doesn’t.

As attention spans tighten and competition increases, businesses that communicate clearly and quickly have a real advantage.

The takeaway

Video shouldn’t sit in a marketing tick-box, it should be woven into the entire customer journey.

From the first moment someone discovers your brand to the point where they recommend you to others, video can guide, reassure, and persuade.

Businesses that treat video as a strategic tool that can be deployed systematically and a fit-for-funnel way will see thebenefits.

Chat to us if you want to learn more about how we do this for other clients, and what type of ROI you may see from a video plan mapped to your key buying stages.