As an eCommerce business owner, you need to think like a customer to develop a strong marketing plan.
Imagine a situation. You decided to take up a new indoor activity because your family has strictly barred you from the golf course due to the Covid-19 crisis.
You decide to buy a new indoor putting green with an eCommerce site.
You visit a retailer website; the product page contains a ton of information about the product, functions, features, installation guide, user manual, product photos, etc. Yet, you visit YouTube looking for videos about the product.
We’re absolutely sure this is how all your customers who visit your eCommerce website think and behave. For eCommerce brands, using video content is a must engage with customers and increase conversions. Here are a few ideas to use videos to boost your e-commerce business.
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Increase Conversion Rate Using Product Videos
It’s the new unspoken rule in eCommerce, which coincides with the rise of video marketing. Customers are more likely to buy a product if they understand all its aspects and usage. Professionally edited product photos played their part in e-commerce in the past, but a visual tour of the product from all possible angles delights the customers and provides them with the information needed to decide in one place.
Videos allow eCommerce brands to imitate a physical store. Most customers like to touch and feel a product before buying, which is not possible with an eCommerce brand. With product videos, customers could engage with the product without having to visit the store and hold the product.
Nowadays, product descriptions, features, and images have taken a back seat. Product videos drive engagement that lead to better conversion. Here is how product videos help eCommerce:
- Video content attracts customers by answering all their queries about the product.
- Video content increases the revenue of an eCommerce brand by increasing its average order value (AOV).
- Video content manages customer expectations and experiences to improve the conversion rate.
5 Reasons to Use Product Videos
- 72% of consumers prefer video to text content while researching a product.
- Product videos with a compelling story get twice the number of views and shares.
- Google loves brands that produce videos that are clickable and shareable.
- Product videos strike an emotional chord with the audience.
- Increased engagement and emotional connection build trust in the eCommerce brand.
Tips to Create Product Videos that Convert
- Tell a story through the product video.
- Add an emotional hook to make the video times better.
- Keep the video short; ideally between 1-3 minutes.
- Provide a 360-degree view of the product.
- Focus on the video and sound quality.
- Include subtitles (captions) along with the voiceover in the product video.
Examples of How Ecommerce Brands are Using Product Videos
Woo Club
Woo Club is a shoppable platform that allows sellers “individuals, brands, and affiliate marketers” to upload product videos to reach a wider audience. The platform offers a new and innovative way to invoke interest, promote, and drive sales of products.
Amazon Live
Amazon Live is the latest effort by the e-commerce giant to drive engagement and conversions. The new tool publishes talk shows, live shows, and product videos of items available for sale on the eCommerce platform.
Use Interactive Video Ads
Every brand and marketer knows the importance of video. Over 65% of B2C and 70% of B2B marketers use video content in their marketing efforts. In this competitive environment, using innovative tactics such as interactive video ads can help eCommerce brands stand out.
Although the interactive video is relatively new, those who have used the strategy vouch for its success. Magma Media, in its study, found that interactive video ads increased the purchase intent by 9 times. Furthermore, compared to non-interactive video ads, the use of interactive content increased customer engagement by 47%.
Only a handful of brands are currently using interactive video ads. It’s the marketing tool of the future. It makes perfect sense to bring shopping and content together. At present, customers watch a product video, click a link to land on the product page, and then add the product to the shopping cart.
Instead of taking the customer to the product page, the interactive video ad brings the product to where the customers are and like to spend the bulk of their time.
Reasons to Use Interactive Video Ads
The younger generation prefers videos to other forms of content. That’s because video content provides a more engaging experience. Ecommerce brands are teaming with streaming platforms such as Amazon, Netflix, Vudu, etc. to combine entertainment and shopping to attract young shoppers.
The rise of streaming platforms with ad-free video content is a testament to the fact that nobody likes ads. Further, the popularity of YouTube ad blockers clearly shows that customers are annoyed by advertisements. Interactive shopping videos could be the answer brands and eCommerce sites are looking for to engage customers.
Ecommerce brands aren’t the only group to benefit from interactive videos. Content creators who couldn’t express their ideas due to budget constraints could benefit from the investment brands are ready to make to include their products in the video. For customers, this means high-quality entertainment.
Examples of Brands Using Interactive Video
Walmart Vudu
Media houses have taken the initiative in furthering this new marketing strategy. Vudu, the streaming platform controlled by Walmart, is relying on shoppable ads to increase the conversion rate of the eCommerce site.
The streaming platform allows viewers to buy products that feature in the advertisement. Customers are not required to leave the video as the product can be bought from the pop-up that opens on the screen.
MikMak
The eCommerce platform MikMak released a new functionality Attach. The new feature enables retailers to include shopping and checkout cart functions into their product videos. Such an integration feature allows brands to keep the engagement and shopping experience in one place.
Using Video for Customer Service
Nowadays, for most of us, online shopping is the norm, visiting the brick-and-mortar store is an exception. But, even so, many are still circumspect about online shopping. We know quite a few who wouldn’t buy certain products online at all.
People aren’t opposed to adopting online shopping. For many, the online shopping experience is too mechanized, which puts them off from concluding the sale.
It’s true, even the most sophisticated tools currently available can’t replace a salesperson. In addition, AI tools can’t possibly predict all questions or doubts at the time of the shopping. Well, shoppers miss the human staff that would gleefully assist with queries, questions that range from genuine to ridiculous.
You now know the problem video customer service solves. Plus, why use it, and how it can increase the eCommerce conversion rate? Let’s see why you should use videos, an example of how companies are incorporating video to enhance the shopping experience, and how video can be part of your customer service:
- As videos continue to gain steam, more and more online retail brands will start using video-centric customer service to fulfill their customer’s needs.
- Customers want their online experience to mimic real life. They don’t want a time gap between their queries and answers. Videos help solve customer problems faster.
- For eCommerce companies, it’s a lot easier to understand the problem when they see and hear, rather than read their messages and emails.
- Phone conversations and chat services are efficient. But none of the other methods of communication give the level of in-person interaction that’s possible with video chat.
- The relatively new method of serving customers can give you an edge over your competitors.
- Video-centric customer service can help train other members of the team. New employees get to see the right and wrong way to interact and deal with consumers.
Example of Brands Using Videos for Customer Service
REI
The adventure gear retailer uses FAQ videos to show how their products work, what are their uses, and also clear doubts and queries of its customers. The company goes beyond the recorded FAQ videos. It also uses live video to address customer queries immediately.
How Can Ecommerce Brands Use Videos in Customer Service
Ecommerce brands can use video content as part of their sales, shopper consulting, and customer support services. Here is how you can use video to boost conversions:
Answering Customer Queries
Many eCommerce sites with a solid marketing strategy fail to plug this crucial flaw. Shoppers who fail to get answers to their queries walk out of the site. Earlier e-commerce sites couldn’t plan for spontaneous questions. But now, live video customer support chat allows you to answer customer queries then and there.
Addressing Installation Issues
A happy customer is sure to become a repeat customer. Many customers find installing a product with the help of an installation guide quite taxing. Customers try for hours, give up out of frustration, and pay extra for a local guy to install the product.
The customer is fed up with online shopping, and you lose a repeat customer. Adding a product installation video will help customers save time and prevent venting their anger on your site.
Overcome Language Barrier
A friend bought a toy car for his son’s birthday. It took him a week to install because the installation manual was in Chinese. Ecommerce sites can help customers overcome the language barrier by showing a video of support staff installing the car from scratch.
Include User-Generated Videos to Built Trust
Sometimes professionally made videos might earn eyeballs and even create product awareness. But, it might not convert views into sales. It would be a stretch to say that customers are cynical of product videos created by the company. That said; customers have learned to not blindly believe and be sucked into the overly polished content.
As an eCommerce brand, you have to take additional measures, and walk the extra mile, to build trust with your customers. User-generated video content will come in handy in bridging the trust gap. Research shows that customers rely on UGC; 70% of baby boomers and 80% of millennial shoppers consider UGC a factor in purchase decision-making.
Several brands are using UGC to shore up their marketing efforts. It’s also a great strategy to engage with customers who have already bought their product. More than 50% of customers in the United States trust user-generated content more than the product videos on the brand’s website.
Now consumers are finding it difficult to trust anyone and anything due to the COVID-19 crisis. Adding UGC could be one of the many ethical marketing measures brands could adopt during COVID-19 to boost conversions.
User-generated videos create a positive image of the brand. Also, showing your customers coping with the crisis, spreading awareness, and helping others would be a morale booster to others.
How Ecommerce Businesses Are Using User-Generated Content
Tassimo UK
The eCommerce site has a separate section for user-generated videos from social media. The videos provide an unbiased view of drinks, coffee makers, and other products bought from the eCommerce site. The videos help create a deeper engagement and develop positive interaction between the visitor and the brand.
Unbiased product reviews and testimonial videos increase trust. After watching them, customers feel more confident about their decision. Also, user-generated videos show how to use the product in real life. This gives the viewers a better understanding of the product, functions, features, and usage.
User-generated product videos on eCommerce sites give yet another reason for existing customers to visit the site again. Brands can interest them in other products, which might lead to more sales.
Final Thoughts
A good video could do a lot more than creating brand awareness. A video is a powerful tool you need to include in your marketing strategy, which can increase the conversion rate of your eCommerce site. Nowadays, high-quality videos are easy to produce or procure from stock video sites without much investment.
The sprouting of new eCommerce businesses has led to growing competition. The abovementioned creative ways of including video content can help businesses form a genuine connection with the customers, thereby resulting in a higher conversion rate and sales.
Image source: Freepik Premium
