While a combination of compelling copy and images do a good job of catching attention, you should also look for ways to leverage the power of video marketing for your campaigns.
Videos unlock a wide range of opportunities that aren’t available with more limited forms of content.
With more brands using video than ever before, there’s never been a better time to start experimenting.
Let’s take a look at some top reasons to implement video marketing, along with a few best practices to help you achieve your ideal results.
Why you should consider using video marketing
The average business now publishes 18 unique videos every month, and that figure will continue to increase because a recent survey showed that 78% of marketers plan to incorporate more videos into their strategy in the coming years.
When it comes to ecommerce vendors, video can play an important role by engaging leads in new ways. This will allow you to foster a higher level of brand trust.
Finding ways to match the in-person shopping experience has been a key challenge for ecommerce vendors since the dawn of online sales.
While ecommerce is naturally more convenient than going to a store, it also loses some of the interactivity that’s involved in physical shopping.
Videos can’t provide the full experience of handling a product yourself, but they can communicate much more information than traditional product images and descriptions.
ASOS product videos, for example, give users the chance to visualize clothing from all angles and see how it reacts to movement.
Why is ecommerce video marketing effective?
Quick, digestible content is the name of the game in contemporary ecommerce marketing. Video content is one of the best ways to relay information and engage with customers without asking them to spend too much time reading through a wall of text.
The same video can also be used across multiple channels for ecommerce in order to get it in front of as many leads as possible.
Improved product visualization is just one of the benefits of videos relative to text, images, and other types of content.
Now, let’s talk about the most effective types of video marketing content in 2021—keep in mind that the best strategies combine different types for more impact.
5 kinds of ecommerce marketing videos
1. Promo videos
Creating promos used to require lots of time and money, but now that we’re all carrying around high-quality cameras, things have gotten easier.
You’d be surprised at how well modern smartphones can produce professional content for your brand.
Read more: 9 Best Movies Shot on Smartphones
While a promo or teaser won’t spend as much time on physical designs or features, it’s still a good opportunity to make consumers more familiar with your product.
Airbnb, a leading hospitality ecommerce company, has a great promo video that’s visually captivating.
You will need to hire a professional video production agency for something like this but it’s certainly worth it!
A video like this, combined with an enticing offer, will warm up your leads and move them along the funnel quicker.
2. Product demonstrations
Product demo videos are one of the most intuitive and popular use cases for video marketing.
While videos might not be necessary for certain kinds of items, they can be incredibly valuable when it comes to communicating the features or attributes of specific items.
If your product is complicated to use, for example, a demonstration will address customer concerns by letting them know what to expect and what they’ll be able to do with it.
Clothing is another good target for product videos, giving customers a better idea of how an article looks and moves.
Even outside these situations, product videos are helpful simply for offering a 360-degree view of a given product.
They also show that you developed the product page yourself instead of using generic stock images.
Detailed descriptions are still an important element of product pages, but there’s simply no substitute for the impact of a clear video that shows your product’s features in action.
Ecommerce vendors in virtually every niche should be adding videos to as many product pages as possible.
3. Tutorials and how-to videos
Product demonstration videos are all about showing how a product works; while tutorials are more focused on explaining how to use it and get the most out of your purchase.
With that in mind, demonstrations are typically more versatile, while tutorials only make sense for products that can be difficult or confusing to use.
These types of videos serve two purposes at once—an effective tutorial will draw customers in, but it can also be helpful to people who have already purchased the product and still have questions about using it.
In other words, you’ll be generating sales among new buyers while simultaneously increasing satisfaction within your existing audience.
4. Reviews and testimonials
Customer reviews are an incredibly valuable resource for businesses in every industry, and they’re ideal for video marketing.
Reviews and testimonials add to your brand credibility by offering a unique perspective that isn’t available with other types of marketing content.
Pro tip: The key to a great testimonial lies in asking the right questions.
While you can tell customers all about your product’s features, only other buyers can tell them what the product did for them in practice.
They can also talk about how the item aligned with their expectations before the purchase, giving potential customers more information about what to expect if they place an order.
On the other hand, not every testimonial needs to come from a customer. For example, toothbrush and toothpaste companies utilize testimonials from dentists who can speak to the effectiveness of a given product.
Expert testimonials can be even more impactful than conventional customer reviews for certain types of products.
5. Shoppable videos
Shoppable videos are the new craze in ecommerce marketing. With embedded points on products shown throughout the video, it allows customers to pause the content and click through to a product page. You can use these on homepages, landing pages, and social platforms to promote your products.
Read more: 8 Best Shoppable Videos
How is this different from other product and marketing videos? Shoppable videos make the experience integrated and intuitive.
Customers don’t have to scroll down through a description or pour through your site’s categories to find the product they liked in a video.
They simply click on the product within the video, and they’re delivered to a product page where they can buy it.
With video marketing becoming more common every year, now is the perfect time to dive right in and embrace this dynamic medium for your digital marketing campaigns.
We hope the tips in this article will help you fully leverage video to generate higher engagement and move more leads through your sales funnel.
This post was written by Alex McOmie. He’s a digital nomad and a writer for Omnisend. When he’s not writing content, you can find him reading, learning a language, or exploring the natural beauty of every location he visits.
Edited by MotionCue