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I’ve personally been urging eCommerce store owners to invest in video marketing since 2010. It’s hard to believe, but I’m still saying some of the same things a decade later...namely that video consumption continues to go up every year.
What’s most interesting for eCommerce companies is that shoppers are more open now than ever before to watch your videos. A recent study by Google showed that 70% of shoppers are open to watching videos directly from a brand when they are researching products. Also watch times for “which product to buy” videos has doubled in recent years.
This trend will continue for the forseeable future. If you look at what social networks are growing the fastest for Gen Z and Millennials - It’s YouTube.
Creating videos is now easier than ever.
When I first started talking about video it was fairly easy. Anyone remember when the Flip Camera first burst onto the scene? Man, that thing was cool. Anyway, as cool and as revolutionary as that was, now it’s even easier to create video content. Now all you need is your smartphone and a plan.
Why should you use video to grow your business? If the stats above aren't enough, here’s some more food for thought.
- Video Builds “know, like, and trust” FAST. The fact that people do business with people they know, like, and trust will never change. Video can build “know, like, and trust” faster than almost any other medium. When prospects and customers watch you on video, they begin to feel like they know you and your products. You can even become a bit of a celebrity over time.
- Video drives traffic. YouTube is the second most visited search engine on the internet. And it’s not even search engine. It’s a video sharing site. Posting your video on YouTube and Facebook can send some serious traffic to your site.
- Video drives conversions. Product pages with video often outperform pages without video by a healthy margin. A recent study by Visual Website Optimizer showed that video used by a fitness store increase click throughs to their order page by 46%.Treepodia showed that video used for fashion retailers can increase conversions by up to 134%.
What kinds of videos should you make?
Here are some ideas to get you started with online video. Once you get these videos produced, you’ll quickly see that video ideas will naturally start coming to you. The number of useful videos you can produce for your audience is truly limitless. Because getting traction on organic videos can often take time, I also recommend you also consider video ads. Find out more about that how to create killer YouTube ads here. For the rest of our time here, we’ll focus on non-video ad content.
- Product Demonstration
People love to see products in action before they buy it. Seeing is believing for a lot of your customers so you want to show them how your product works. It’s a must that you make these interesting and relatively brief. There is no hard or fast rule on length, though. For certain topics, people will watch 20 minutes or more of the video. Generally though if you are doing a product demonstration you probably only need a few minutes. One great example of this type of video is the ** (insert link to video on YT)** “will it blend” series by Blendtec. Instead of making boring videos of someone blending fruit, they created a series of videos where they blend household products like golf balls, Bic lighters, and even an iPad (kind of sad to watch really). The iPad blending video has garnered over **10 million views to date (update view stats)**. These videos make statements like “Everybody knows that the iPhone can make calls, play movies & music, surf the web, and a lot more. But, will it blend? That is the question.” These short, funny videos have accomplished what nothing else could have for such a small budget. In fact, since these videos have turned to YouTube gold, online sales for Blendtec have grown by 500%….not bad. After all, if a blender can blend a bunch of golf balls and not break, it must be durable.
- Answer the burning questions
What questions do you get asked most often? What questions are prospective customers searching for right now? Set up a camera and answer each question in a simple and concise manner. Depending on your product people may be wondering.
- Will it work?
- Will it hurt?
- What if it doesn’t work?
- Is it easy to use?
- Will it last?
- What if I’m not happy?
- Are other people like me using it successfully?
- S.A.Q – Should Ask Questions
You’ve probably seen ads that say something to the effect of “Don’t buy an X until You Ask These 7 Questions.” The idea is that you educate your prospects on what they should look for in a product and what questions they should ask before buying. Explain why these things are important. You also share with them how your product meets those standards. Create this like you’re giving advice to a friend or family member who doesn’t know your product category. How could you help guide them to making the best decision for them?
- What you can expect
In some businesses, first-time customers might be a little apprehensive about buying your product. Will it deliver what you promised? Will you really deliver what you promised? One of the best and most effective ways to do this is with an unboxing video. The unboxing video for the **(insert link)** iPhone X has 14 million views and counting. Why? People love to get the first look at something and now what to expect. Unboxing videos for your new eye serum won’t drive the views that the next iPhone will, but it can still be a very effective video.
- Customer interviews
What you say about yourself isn’t nearly as believable or as powerful as what your customers say about you. In my opinion, the best type of interview you can have is an unscripted interview. Actors can deliver a script in a believable way, most other people can’t. Just asking a series of simple questions is all you need to do. We have a full guide on that topic that you can grab here **(link to our video testimonial guide).**
- Behind the scenes
Backstage passes, going behind-the-scenes, and insider knowledge all carry a very strong appeal. We want what we can’t have. We also want what other people can’t have. If you can pull back the curtain and show people some of the interesting things that go on behind the scenes in your business and your industry, people will feel like they really know you and are almost part of a club. They will also be grateful toward you for educating them and they will begin to trust you.
- Product reviews
For this video type to be authentic you need a 3rd party to review your product for you. Ideally an influencer or a real customer who presents well on camera.
So get started. Go out and make your first video today. All you need is a simple camera and a plan. Then start distributing your videos across the web and start driving some traffic. Ready? Action!
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