Seeing Is Believing: Using Video Effectively for eCommerce

Today, video is more prevalent than ever, and there’s no sign of it slowing down anytime soon. You probably encounter a dozen videos for different products as you scroll through social media. You’ve probably seen some outrageous viral videos for unexpected products like toilet spray or deodorant, but you don’t need a full-fledged musical production to have a compelling video.

Here, we review why video is an important piece of any digital marketing strategy for eCommerce business, and how you can get started incorporating videos into your website and social media pages.

Why You Need to Make Videos

Honestly, there’s no reason not to start making videos for your website, but here are a few reasons why you definitely should:

• Increase engagement: Who’s got time to read words these days? Your audience sure doesn’t. But a 30-60 second video can say more than you’d be able to in a few paragraphs of text. 
• Generate more website traffic: Videos rank well on Google, and they can increase your likelihood of getting more backlinks and social shares.
• Get more sales: Of course, for any eCommerce business, getting more people to buy your products is always the ultimate goal. As many as 64% of customers may buy a product after seeing a video about it.

Video Has Endless Possibilities

You know that you need to make a video… but what should it be about? Three of the most common types of videos that are effective for eCommerce businesses are product demos, emotional stories, and company messages.

All About Your Product

Maybe your product is pretty self-explanatory — there’s probably nothing revolutionary about socks, for instance. However, a video can be used to point out unique features that are perhaps not shared by all socks, such as arch support, eco-friendly fibers, or customizable imagery.

If your product is something unusual or new, then creating a “how it works” or other informational video can be beneficial to help your audience see why they might need it and how it could help them.

Tug at the Heartstrings

Marketing that appeals to the emotions is a tried-and-true tactic that is especially effective in video format. If you go this route, the messaging should be the primary focus, while your product is secondary. For example, you could tell a heartwarming tale of a shelter cat who gets adopted, but is nervous in her new home — that is, until the family serves her a specially-prepared healthy treat (your product, incidentally). 

A Special Company Message

Any company can benefit from sharing a short message from the CEO, president, or someone else influential in the company. As an eCommerce business, you might talk about how you developed a product or how you decided to curate and sell products for an under-served niche. The important thing here is to be genuine, not salesy.

Lights, Camera… Action!

Once you have an idea, you’re ready to make your video! What’s that? You’ve never made a video before? You don’t have a… camcorder… lying around? Chances are that you do have a smartphone, though, and most of today’s smartphones are equipped with a decent camera — good enough to take 1080p HD photos and videos. A small tripod for your phone can help avoid a shaky video and make it look more professional. Once you have your pictures and videos, you can easily combine them using a video marketing platform. There are dozens of these available that are fairly intuitive — just plug in your content, add some text and music, and presto! You have a video that’s ready to go.

So You Made a Video… Now What?

Well, now that you have your shiny new video, you need to make sure people see it. Naturally, social media is going to be essential at this stage, so you’ll want to push it out on the networks that make sense for your product. While YouTube is great for a broad range of products, think about which social networks would be most interested in your product. That standing desk that folds up for easy storage and practically guaranteed to boost your productivity? A no-brainer for the hustlers on LinkedIn. The wear-it-10-different-ways fashion scarf? Stylish Instagram-ers will be all over it. The key here is knowing your audience and where to find them. 

Besides social media, you’ll also want to evaluate which landing pages on your website could benefit from videos about your product or company.

When in Doubt, Leave it to the Pros

Video is so effective for eCommerce businesses and can be leveraged in so many ways that if you’re not already using it, you definitely want to get started. Having a professional marketing team on your side can help you make the best use of videos across your website and social media. And if you’re looking to up the ante, we can even offer high-quality video production. Contact us today to learn how you can start using video to get more online sales.