Video marketing has now become a staple tool for many marketers. According to the video marketing stats, at least 81% of businesses rely on online videos to promote their products and services today.
The reason is that we currently live in the video-first era, where internet users are only getting more and more inseparable from online videos. They’re scrolling through their social media feeds to enjoy different kinds of video content, from cat videos to product demonstrations.
With more prospects demanding more videos from brands, it’s crucial for eCommerce businesses to jump on the bandwagon and gain the upper hand on competitors with video marketing campaigns.
And as an eCommerce business owner yourself, you must be wondering, ‘how can I use video marketing to drive more sales to my store?’
In this article, you’ll understand how to move prospects or potential customers through the sales funnel.
Video Marketing: Why Does It Matter for Your eCommerce Store?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, it’s crucial to understand why video marketing is essential for your eCommerce store in the first place.
When customers shop online, they want to make sure that the products or services they’ll purchase are exactly like they would expect them to be. Therefore, they take extra effort to research the online catalog.
Sharp photography and intriguing product descriptions aren’t enough to convince prospective customers that are getting picker each day. That’s why you need videos to help you get brand messages across in an engaging way.
One single video can walk the prospective customer through your product in a detailed and captivating way. Not only do they understand what your product looks like, but they also get more insights into how to use them right.
Of course, you shouldn’t take my word for it. So, here are some statistical numbers to make you even more convinced about the importance of video marketing for your eCommerce business:
- At least 55% of internet users access online videos on their daily basis.
- More than 72% of people would watch online videos rather than reading a heavy-text user manual to understand a product.
- Marketers that invested in video marketing strategy earn about 66% of their qualified leads.
- Companies with video marketing strategies admitted to achieve a growing revenue of at least 49% faster than companies without any video marketing strategies
5 Ways to Use Video Marketing to Boost eCommerce Sales
Videos help you showcase your products to prospective customers in an engaging way that static product images and text-based descriptions can’t simply afford. While high-quality products’ pictures and intriguing descriptions give prospective customers a little bit of insight into what your product is all about, videos make it all clear by demonstrating all the benefits and features.
Therefore, incorporating video marketing into your eCommerce’s overall marketing strategy makes prospective customers more comfortable during the checkout process. This way, it’d be much easier for you to convert them into customers.
Below are some handy ways you can consider using video marketing to increase your eCommerce sales:
#1. Create Product Videos
Let’s start with the most basic one: adding videos to your product pages. Try to create a video for each product you sell on your eCommerce store. Not only will it help the prospective customers to understand the products better, but it will also provide you a chance to show benefits you can’t show through static images or simply text.
In this case, your prospective customers can see with their own eyes the quality of the product. Product demos or explainer videos are good examples of videos you can create for your product pages. These videos are short and straightforward, so prospective customers can retain crucial information without being overwhelmed.
Below is a stunning example from Love Hair that leverages video content to help their potential customers understand more about the product.
#2. Include Video Testimonials
Another type of video you should consider creating is testimonial videos. This type of videos is one of the best sources to increase social proof. You can ask your customers to tell the positive experience while using your products; ask them how your products solved their problems.
As 92% of customers make sure they read reviews before purchasing a product, testimonial videos can be such a great tool for persuasive results but through unbiased message delivery. You don’t need fancy equipment to create captivating testimonial videos. All you need is to focus on the genuine opinions and thoughts of your customers.
You can place testimonials videos on your landing pages to help prospective customers gain more confidence in converting and taking action. Here’s an example of video testimonials from Ritual:
#3. Go Beyond Website With Social Videos
If you want to go the extra mile with video marketing, then you must go beyond your online store or website. You need to take advantage of social media platforms by creating short but sweet social videos.
The beauty of social videos is that you don’t have to be all fancy. You just can keep it raw even with scrappy production costs – like those videos that you directly shoot with your own smartphones.
From Instagram Stories to Facebook Live, many popular social media features allow you to host your videos. The more you create more social media profiles, the more chances you’ll have to distribute social videos, which translate to more prospective customers and increased sales.
Take a look how Hollister.co nails their video marketing by creating simply engaging social video that they share on their Instagram:
#4. Invest in Paid Video Ads
In this era of video-first, anything related to online videos has now become more and more accessible. In other words, video marketing has become such a low-cost strategy, so you don’t have to spend a fortune to simply promote your eCommerce business using video and get the results you want in no time.
Even if you’re on a small business with a shoestring budget, you can invest in paid video ads to see faster results of your video marketing campaigns. Most paid video ad platforms have exclusive, special targeting features. It allows your videos to get seen by the right people at the right time and even at the right place.
So, it should come as no surprise that you’ll be able to see a quick result of your strategy compared to the organic or non-paid video marketing campaigns.
Here’s an example of Facebook paid video ads from RXBAR:
#5. Embed Videos on Newsletter
Another powerful way to use video marketing on your eCommerce strategy is by embedding videos in your newsletter. According to a study from SwitchVideo, simply including the word ‘video’ on the subject line increases open rates from 7% to 13%. With a greater open rate, you’ll get more chances to generate more leads that you can convert to customers.
You can send them a video about your special offerings, discounts, events, and more. Embedding videos in your newsletter is an effective way to put a face and personality to your brand, helping you humanize your brand. Below is the example of video email from Lush:
Since embedding video directly on the newsletter might seem like a big headache for beginners, you can show a screenshot of the video with the play button. Then, link it to the actual video on your website or other platforms that you want to show them.
Author
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro