What You Need to Know About eCommerce Product Video Marketing

Believe it or not, 93% of marketers credit videos for new customer acquisitions! With so many eCommerce websites seeing success with this marketing material, skipping product marketing videos in your approach is simply not an option.

With so many undeniable benefits of product video marketing, these short and sweet clips could be the element that sets you apart from your competitors and draws new customers in hoards. Of course, throwing together a video clip and posting it online isn't necessarily the formula for success.

So, how do you create product marketing videos that truly impress? Lucky for you, we've got everything you need to know to make an impact!

Follow along to discover how to build your marketing video strategy, the key elements to consider, and what you'll need to succeed.

Why You Need to Produce Marketing Videos for Your E-commerce Business

First things first, let's tackle why product marketing videos are so beneficial for your business. Beyond being an entertaining form of content, these videos serve a few very specific purposes for your digital marketing approach.

High Conversion Rates

Product videos sell - it's as simple as that.

Customers prefer to watch a video over reading about a product and they tend to take the content to heart! Beyond retaining more information from these videos, studies show that 64% of customers are more likely to purchase after watching a product marketing video.

With so many customers using these videos to guide their buying decisions, including them on your website, social media, and other marketing channels is a no-brainer!

Earn Customer Trust

In addition to turning browsers into buyers, videos help you earn the trust of your consumer.

Because the internet is filled with false advertising and scammy businesses, consumers rely on things like videos and reviews to let them know when a company is legit. By giving your eCommerce business a voice with your carefully created videos, you can begin to relate to them on a more personal level.

This, in turn, lets them know you are real, compassionate, and worthy of their time and money.

Boost SEO

Google loves video! While this may seem counterintuitive due to the platform's inability to crawl video content, the algorithm understands the popularity of video and prioritizes this content form in the SERPs.

In addition to being a highly encouraged content format, the video also encourages users to stick around on your page for longer. This then sends a message to Google and other search engine bots that your page is impressing users and should be promoted for it!

Because a search engine's main objective is to provide users with the best possible answer to their query, this high user satisfaction signal encourages higher ranks and increased organic reach.

Customer Engagement

While customer engagement is great for your SEO, as we mentioned above, it's also incredibly valuable for your relationship with potential buyers.

When customers are intrigued by your videos, they'll not only stick around for longer but they'll interact with your brand more willingly. This may lead to them shopping for products in your store, leaving their email for promotional updates, or clicking over to your social media pages to learn more.

The more these customers engage with your brand, the better chances you have of sticking in their memory and earning loyal, long-term customers.

Structure Your Strategy

Let's be honest, all these benefits sound pretty darn great! So, how do you get started?

The first step in improving your eCommerce marketing with product videos is to structure your strategy. Much like every other digital marketing approach, you'll need to set some clear goals and become familiar with what you can expect from this method.

Beyond managing expectations, you'll need to gain a grasp on who your customers are and what they are looking for before you even take to the story planning board. Here are the key questions to answer before you pass go:

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Fortunately, you'll likely already have an idea of your target audience from other marketing efforts. A great step in determining who this group of people are and what they like is to look at your existing analytics. Here you'll gain insights into what type of content has worked in the past to guide your video marketing content.

Where Will You Publish?

Now that you know your target audience, where will you find them? Each brand and niche will have different channels and platforms that suit their approach more than others. As you determine which platforms are best for you, consider what publishing host is right for those platforms.

For example, if you would like to include your product marketing videos on your website, you'll need a host that easily integrates into your web design.

Swarmify is specifically designed for easy installation and seamless streaming on websites to make your marketing videos pop instead of lag.

What Would You Like to Accomplish?

There are many different reasons you may include video marketing in your digital approach. Perhaps you want to raise brand awareness or give your brand a personable voice. Other worthy goals could include increasing sales, driving traffic to your website, and capturing leads.

Whatever your reason, you'll need to know what action you'd like your viewers to take and include this action outcome in your planning.

Your Product Video Marketing How-To

Finally, it's time to put your creativity to the test and start building your eCommerce marketing videos. Here's your step-by-step, how-to guide to get you started.

Prep

Your prep is a two-part task. Once you've answered the questions we mentioned above, you'll be ready to start shaping your storyboard. However, in addition to your actual content, you'll need to invest in a few items to create quality product marketing videos.

What you'll need:

• A quality camera
• Lighting
• Audio equipment such as an external microphone
• A great backdrop (white is popular for product shots)
• Editing software

With your equipment and objectives in place, you can move on to the next stage - choosing your format.

Format

The format options for product marketing videos are endless. To make an impact, you'll want to provide a variety of these videos for your audience. Don't forget to take note of which ones perform the best to guide your future video content creation.

Popular product video formats include:

• Product close-ups/overview
• Tutorials and how-to's
• Product demonstrations
• Video testimonials
• Installation guides
• Unboxing
• Explainer video (animated or otherwise)
• Product and brand story
• Message from the founder/CEO

All of these videos can offer distinctly different results. It's important to consider where in the sales funnel your customers are when they encounter your product video.

No matter which format you choose, remember to stay on topic and lead your customers toward the end goal you chose earlier.

Script

Next up, you'll need to create a script around your product video. As you can imagine, this will be easier for some video formats than others.

Of course, there are key elements to include in your script no matter what style you've chosen. As a general rule, you want to ensure you catch your viewers early with a hook right at the start of your video. You'll have less than 8 seconds to capture their attention and encourage them to keep watching.

It's also a good idea to mention your product's key features in some way, shape, or form. This can be done very literally or with a more compelling tone for emotional buy-in.

And of course, always touch on your product's unique selling point so that your videos always stand out from the competition.

Content

Before you start filming, consider what you've already got on hand that can make your marketing videos pop.

Do you have a logo or branding element that you can include in your video? Have you won any awards and do you have the logos for each award ready to go?

You can also look to past content to recreate successful moments with your audience. And of course, including user-generated content and product reviews is always a fantastic way to leverage social proof.

Filming

Finally! It's time to film.

Use your storyboard, objectives, and script to bring your product video to life. For best results, shoot more angles than you think you'll need and vary your tempo when shooting motion shots.

The more variety and choices you have when you sit down at the editing table, the better your chances of creating a compelling and impactful product video.

If you're worried about syncing up audio, consider using multiple cameras to film the same scene and audio clip from different angles. To simplify the process of editing, clap your hands or make a loud sound right before 'action' to give you a sound spike to work with for easy syncing.

Edit and Publish

The final step is to edit your work and publish it on your chosen platform. It's important to remember that each platform will have different specifications and policies you'll need to work around.

For example, the length of your video may need to be shorter for social media or stories. The size and shape of your videos may change from platform to platform as well. It's important to customize your video for each platform to get the most out of your efforts.

This will likely include editing and saving many different variations of the same product video. Don't worry - all of these versions will come in handy for repurposing content down the road!

Key Elements to Consider

As you create your eCommerce marketing videos, there are a few elements you'll want to keep in the back of your mind. The most successful product videos have these three things in common:

Tell a Story

You'll need to entertain your viewers to encourage them to take action. With this in mind, a wordless 360 view of your product likely won't be enough to spark interest.

No matter which format you choose, always be sure to tell a story with your clips. Take your customers on a journey and illustrate why they simply can't live another day without your product or service.

Keep it Short

Challenging as it may sound, you'll need to keep your videos short and sweet while including everything you need to get across.

A great way to fit more into this tiny timeframe is to play with video speed and change clips quickly. The rapid movement is interesting to audiences as over-stimulation has led us to need constant, continual entertainment.

In short, skip the lengthy intro and blank space in favor of quick, moving clips.

Be Human

Last but not least, your video needs to be human enough to encourage that emotional connection with your consumers. The language, images, and angles you use should all make your product and brand feel relatable and 'real'.

Using faces, real voices instead of automated ones, and lifestyle shots is a great way to sell your viewers the real-life appeal of your product.

Tips for Success

The more videos you create, the better your approach will become. As you begin to gain insights from your audience, you'll get a better feel for what works for your brand and what you can leave behind.

As you get started, you can use these tips and tricks to set off on the right foot.

First, be sure to always stay on brand. Even if a video concept is 'trendy' it may not be suitable for your unique image. Put your brand first, and social trends second.

Next, social proof is always a great element to include! This psychological phenomenon encourages users to jump on board the popularity train and can skyrocket your success if used properly.

Never forget your CTA. Your customers have no idea what you want them to do (no, seriously). You'll need to give them clear instructions and a means to take action immediately after your video.

And finally, consider using closed captions for your videos. Consumers love video, but they listen without sound more often than not. Make sure your message can get through by providing it in text for viewers who watch on mute.

Upgrade Your eCommerce Sites with Product Marketing Videos

Now that you know why, what, and how to create amazing product marketing videos, it's time to take action! From increased sales to higher visibility and engagement, we're confident you'll love the results of your new and improved eCommerce marketing approach.

Ready to get started with the best publishing platform for your eCommerce sites? Get started with Swarmify today to experience the impact of a truly integrated video marketing platform.