Video is the format that builds more trust among customers or users and around 40% more conversions occur thanks to them according to reports. Depending on the industry you are engaged in, it will be easier and more convenient to create small product illustrative videos. If, however, you cannot include videos for each product, we recommend that if you include any other video on your website, to strengthen your brand image and customer trust.
And with the growing number of competitors in e-commerce, getting into the video now might not be a bad idea. According to a Brightcove study, 46% of consumers revealed that they bought an item for watching a video.
Are you looking for ideas to use video to grow your ecommerce business? In this article, I’ll share 11 creative ways for ecommerce companies to market their products with videos. Let’s start.
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Product close-up
One of the simplest ways to increase sales is to use video for product demonstrations or to show products more clearly. Videos showing products from multiple angles and close-ups can give people a better understanding of what they are buying, which can increase sales conversions.
According to a survey conducted by Wyzowl, 80% of people said product videos gave them more confidence when buying a product online. The video gives customers a better understanding of how the ring looks, showing it from different angles and providing a close view. The sparkles also add to the perceived beauty of the item and probably increase the chances of someone buying it.
Show how to use the product
Some products are innovative and showing people how to use them can allow people to understand the value of the product.
This video starts by showing how the item looks in its original packaging and what it includes. Then show the viewer how fast and easy it is to assemble it, how to cook on it, and how to re-pack it when it is done. The video also shows that the product is easy to clean and portable.
These features would be difficult to display using only static images and text. But a short video can allow customers to quickly and effectively understand what the product does and how to use it.
Tell a story that evokes emotion
Good storytelling and making films can arouse emotions in people and people often share emotional content. It can also be a great way to create a powerful brand image.
In fact, a Google study revealed that women aged 18 to 34 were twice as likely to think positively about a brand that showed powerful ads. They are also 80% more likely to like, comment and share such ads after viewing them.
Pantene launched an advertising campaign called Chrysalis that featured a deaf girl who dreamed of playing the violin. After being intimidated and ridiculed by one of her peers, she almost abandons her dream. But then she befriends a skillful street musician who is also deaf and encourages her to continue playing. The girl is faced with adversities along the way, but remains persistent. He surpasses the odds and triumphs in the end, surprising everyone, including the person who almost convinced her to give up.
Entertainment videos
People love being entertained, so using entertainment can allow e-commerce videos to be shared and sometimes go viral.
One of the best-known examples of using entertainment to grow a brand is the video series “Will It Blendtec”. In 2005, Blendtec had a great product but weak brand awareness. Blendtec’s CEO and research team tested their mixer by mixing wooden boards to test the durability of their product. George Wright, Blendtec’s marketing director, had the idea of recording the operation on video and posting the videos online.
With an investment of only $100, Blendtec posted on YouTube videos of his blender mixing articles like a garden rake, marbles and a roast chicken. The videos generated more than 6 million views in just 5 days. Blendtec’s campaign was an innovative way to showcase the power of your product while entertaining anyone watching your videos.
Blendtec continued to produce these videos and sales increased by 700% in 2006, bringing the company’s revenue to around $40 million for the year.
Creating an entertaining video requires some creativity, but it can be a great way to boost your brand awareness and ultimately generate more sales.
Message from the CEO
Getting the CEO or a senior executive to create a video can be a great way to customize a brand and develop a deeper connection with the community. Videos featuring executives can build trust and rapport with the audience while meeting the people behind the company.
In fact, an analysis from Ace Metrix showed that ads they present to the CEO of a company work better than those that do not on average.
The video was a great way to present the product and allow people to meet the CEO. It is presented as a genuine Raspberry Pi communication rather than a commercial.
Ben Brode worked for Blizzard Entertainment and was the lead designer of Hearthstone, one of the most popular online card games. In addition to working on the design of the game, he also played an important role in the marketing of the game by appearing in the videos for the new expansion releases.
Keep in mind that not all ads with an executive director on it worked well. Some of the keys to making CEO ads work well include:
People should feel that the CEO is genuine and authentic.
The CEO must commit to this long-term strategy. A consistent ad campaign will usually work better than a single ad.
The CEO must be a good communicator and charismatic. Not all CEOs will have the right personality to attract the audience through video.
Interactive video ads
As video marketing becomes more competitive, making interactive videos can be a great way to excel. According to a study by the Magma media group, interactive video ads resulted in a 47% increase in participation versus non-interactive ads and also increased purchase intent up to 9 times.
Interactive video ads are quite new, so you may not have seen many around here. But as more companies realize their effectiveness, they are likely to continue to grow in popularity.
Here are some examples of interactive video ads…
Twitch is a popular platform for players who want to stream popular video games and one of the ways they make money is by allowing viewers to buy “bits” so they can cheer on their favorite Esports team. However, they also allow viewers to earn “bits” for free by watching interactive video ads.
Influenza Support
Companies can partner with influencers via video to target specialized audiences. Since influencers have already built credibility and trust with their followers, collaborations with influencers can be a quick and effective way to reach potential customers.
Add videos to product pages
When building the product pages of your ecommerce website, add a video description of the respective product. According to a survey conducted by Animoto, a cloud-based animation tool, online shoppers are four times more likely to see a video description of a product than to read a text description.
You can still include a text description on the product pages, but you must also add a video description. If a buyer is not willing to read the text description, he can choose to watch the video. By adding video descriptions to your product pages, you’ll get a higher conversion rate on your product.
Share the product explanation videos on YouTube. Creating product explanation videos and sharing them on YouTube is a very effective way to boost sales of your ecommerce website.
Product explanation videos are a subset of product videos for marketing that, of course, explain how a product works. They can be live or animated action, but their main purpose is to educate viewers about the internal workings of a product.
When a consumer has heard of one of the products on their e-commerce website but is not fully convinced that the investment is worth it, they can look for an explanatory video of it online.
Although you can share product explanation videos across a variety of platforms, YouTube usually gives the best results. When you share product explanation videos on YouTube, they will not only appear on YouTube, but also in Google and Bing search results. Consumers can search the explanatory videos of the products using any of these three search engines.
And, to further highlight the power of YouTube, everyone knows that Google is the most popular search engine, but what is commonly overlooked is that the world’s second largest search engine by search volume is YouTube.
Knowing this little fact, it’s no wonder that Google bought YouTube before it was profitable; however, it still amazes me that there are many smart ecommerce merchants I encounter in 2019 who are not exploiting this fact to make more profits on their online store.
Include video testimonials on your website
You can also use video testimonials to promote the products of your ecommerce website. When buyers see past customers talking about their positive experience with their online store in a testimonial video, they will tend to feel safer by engaging in their business and buying their products.
Testimonials are created by previous customers, so they offer an unbiased review of their ecommerce website, which means buyers tend to rely more on them than ads or other marketing messages. And testimonials in video format are even more effective than text because they show the previous customer talking about their experience.
Testimonials help conversions on your site because they belong to a category of psychological phenomena known as social proof. And, according to Robert Cialdini, in his book Influence, social proof is a weapon of influence.
After getting some video testimonials, add them to your e-commerce website. If this is a testimonial video about your online store in general, add it to your home page. If this is a testimonial video about a specific product, add it to the product page.
Upload product promotional videos directly to Facebook
When you share promotional videos on the Facebook page of your ecommerce website, be sure to upload them directly to the social media network.
Facebook allows users to share videos in two ways: by embedding or uploading them directly.
When you embed a video on Facebook, you’re basically linking to a URL you’re hosted on, such as YouTube or Vimeo.
Users can view their promotional videos on Facebook regardless of how they share them.
However, of those two supported methods, you will attract more views by uploading your promotional videos directly to Facebook.
The social media network favors native video content over embedded video content, so uploading videos directly to Facebook usually results in more views.
Native videos will rank higher on their followers’ news sources, which means more users will see and watch them.
Embed videos in emails
When using email to communicate with the audience of your e-commerce website, consider including relevant videos in your emails.
Research shows that emails with the word “video” added to the subject line are 19 percent more likely to be opened than other emails.
Most people prefer to watch the videos to read the text, so adding this single word to the subject line of their emails can greatly improve your open rates. Of course, you should only use “video” in the subject line of an email if the email contains a real video.
Invest in paid video ads
Apart from production and editing costs, you won’t have to spend a fortune to promote your e-commerce using video. Video marketing is a low-cost and time-tested way to promote your online store. All you need to get started is the smartphone in your pocket and an Internet connection. That said, you can increase the selling power of video by buying paid video ads.
To get started with paid video ads, create a Google Ads account and set up a new video campaign. Video campaigns consist of video ads, which you create and upload to Google Ads, which are played on YouTube as well as on other Google Display Network websites. Although costs vary, you can expect to pay about 10 to 20 cents per view.
If you’re still ashamed to start with video ads, you can search YouTube or anywhere else to watch the tutorials; but when you want expert help and catch up quickly, the best course I’ve found is the one produced by ADSkills, it’s called BulletProof Youtube Ads.
Product videos for marketing
You can’t expect buyers to find your ecommerce website unless you promote it. Video marketing is a proven promotional strategy that can attract more buyers to your online store and at the same time help you achieve higher conversion rates in the process.
Just remember to create high-quality videos taking into account the target audience of your ecommerce website. And don’t forget to optimize your e-commerce compliance and shipping that will surely increase in volume once your videos begin to gain traction.
