If content is king, then there is a new heir to the throne – Video. Video has outperformed other forms of content in capturing people’s attention and gaining their trust.

Its reign might have just begun, but its achievement is already phenomenal. Consumers have made their choice —  72% of them prefer videos to text while searching for a product and 84% of them buy only after watching a product video. 

In e-commerce, videos help products gain exposure. Videos also help consumers experience the product before buying. Simply put, today, you can’t ignore this marketing behemoth. 

That said; let’s find out how to increase eCommerce conversions using product videos. 

Product Unboxing Videos

Making unboxing videos is such a simple (and obvious) idea, but most brands overlook its potential. For a second, go back in time and think of the bubbling excitement and anticipation you felt when opening a gift. Product unboxing videos work because they recreate this childhood emotion in the consumers. 

Brands can improve the effectiveness of unboxing videos by sharing videos of real customers. The concept behind an unboxing video is straightforward. Users open the product package, describe each item in the box, and give a brief explanation of the item’s purpose and function. 

Unboxing videos have been around since the launch of YouTube. They have gained prominence, so much so, YouTube witnesses posting of more than 90,000 unboxing videos every month. According to the ThinkWithGoogle website, 62% of consumers view unboxing videos to research a product. 

How Do Unboxing Videos Increase eCommerce Conversions?

• Emotions are contagious. Seeing a customer unbox a product with excitement and anticipation invokes similar emotions in the viewers. This subconscious mirroring of emotions makes the viewers feel they are close to the product and using it themselves.
• For digital products or services, these can be replaced by videos which show the customer using the service, with a focus on the emotions of the user and the benefits offered by the service.
• An unboxing video is the next best thing to visiting a brick-and-mortar store to see the actual contents of a  boxed product. Unboxing videos reassure the prospective customer that he or she is making the right choice. These videos also speed up the buying decision by removing most of the doubts in a customer’s mind. 

Product Explainer Videos

While product unboxing videos touch the surface and describe the items in a package, explainer videos go a step further. These videos are in-depth guides to the features and benefits of a product or service.

Consumers prefer videos, and a short and slick video is more engaging and effective. Users who have a fair bit of explaining to do about a complex product can split the content into two or more short videos. Editing a video to give it a professional look won’t cost much.

Nowadays, no one reads lengthy product descriptions or user manuals. People prefer explainer videos that show the product in a close-up view and from different angles. E-commerce brands must use these videos because 96% of people watch explainer videos to understand products.

Dropbox is a pioneer in using explainer videos to expand its customer base. In 2009, the company introduced explainer videos of their service that increased their conversion by 10%. The explainer videos campaign added 10 million customers and earned Dropbox an extra $48,000,000 in revenues. 

How Do Explainer Videos Increase eCommerce Conversions?

• Explainer videos do what videos do best – grab the viewer’s attention and make them listen. Consumers researching many brands hate reading similar descriptions and features again and again. A creative explainer video will engage and convert viewers into buyers. 
• Many of us have the innate need to try on the clothes or take a new car for a test drive before buying. Testing assures us that the product works. In e-commerce, we see others explain, show and test the product. Explainer videos increase trust and reduce doubts in the minds of the buyers. 
• Some customers put off the buying decision because they are unsure how a product solves the problem(s) they are facing. Explainer videos that use a problem-solution approach remove this impediment to increasing sales. Explainer videos are better than buyer’s guides in removing doubts in customer’s minds.

Product ‘How-To’ Videos

As opposed to explainer videos which are 100% created using computer generated and animated graphics, product ‘how-to’ videos will feature real actors that your clients can relate to better, How-To videos are a powerful tool to motivate prospective customers to make the buying decision. Research data shows that around 97% of video marketers believe that product videos help consumers understand a product or service. 

How-to videos are effective because they show consumers how the product works and how to use it. Furthermore, if the consumer has decided to buy, checking the how-to videos will give the satisfaction of making the right call.

For the web hosting and domain industry screen recording based ‘How To’ videos work great, as they walk the customer through the process, step by step. With these types of services being highly technical most of the time, an in-depth walkthrough tutorial works great.

The product demo or how-to videos use the old ‘show, don’t tell’ approach. These videos don’t stop at talking about the product and explaining the features; they go a step further and show the product in action — speeding up their buying decision. 

How Do How-To Videos Increase eCommerce Conversions?

• Product ‘how-to’ videos hosted by a person with the same personality as that of the target audience generates a feeling of empathy and reliability in the viewers. Such videos connect with the audience and make the experience impactful and memorable. 
• A video on ‘how the email forwarders work’ would be more believable and effective if it’s filmed over the shoulder of a user actually doing the email forwarding and then testing it live to demonstrate it works. So, showcasing a product in real situations will not only help better understand a product but also build trust.

Product Review and Testimonial Videos

Displaying user-generated product videos on the landing page is a great way to earn the trust of prospective customers. Plus, according to Bazaarvoice, these videos can increase conversions. According to a study, e-commerce stores can expect a 10% increase in sales by including one user-generated product video. The percentage of sales shoots up to 44% if the website contains 200 or more review videos. 

Bazaarvoice analyzed 35 billion product pages and 57 million reviews. The outcome of their study showed that reviews set off a chain reaction among review video creators. The use of product reviews, apart from increased traffic and conversions, also encouraged the creation of more product reviews. 

Bear in mind that the reviews must be user-generated and genuine. Customers can spot a fake review a mile away. 

How Do Review and Testimonial Videos Increase eCommerce Conversions?

• Review videos give the viewers the much needed human connection to the product. For prospective customers, it becomes easier to decide when they see others using, explaining, and enjoying the product. 
• Every customer has his or her own opinion about a product. Prospective customers can gain new insight into the usefulness of a product or service by watching testimonial videos. 
• Video testimonials are far more engaging than text reviews. Seeing the reviewer smile or exhibit other positive emotions encourages prospective customers to buy the product.

Product ‘Lifehack’ Videos

Product tips or lifehack videos are becoming extensively popular among the masses. They are different, useful, and entertaining. Lifehack videos teach viewers many methods of using a product that customers were unaware of before. 

Lifehack videos also aid other marketing efforts such as increasing social media shares and organically growing an email list. The videos are usually short and simple; hence, generate plenty of links, shares, and comments on social media. They are more likely to go viral on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media networks. 

How Do Lifehack Videos Increase eCommerce Conversions?

• When customers see more uses for a product; uses they were unaware of, then chances of a sale increase. 
• In lifehack videos, the prospective customers are watching the product in action. This increases the trust and credibility factor, thereby speeding up the decision making process.

Other Innovative Ways of Using Product Videos to Increase eCommerce Conversions

Live Link Videos, a new technology created by FlipSeek, allows brands to add hotspots into their product videos. Clicking a hotspot will add the product or accessory to the customer’s shopping cart. Some user-generated videos contain small thumbnails of the product on the left or right side of the video screen. Viewers can click on the thumbnail to buy the product.  

Making the video interactive will get the customer involved and increase the chances of the video going viral. The ‘I Surf Because’ campaign by Billabong allows viewers to add a short statement into a video and share it with their friends. 

More than half of the video marketers believe personalized content will generate more leads and 72% of consumers prefer only personalized content. E-commerce brands can create personalized videos for their target audience in different localities. To personalize the videos, the brands can focus on locations, languages, age, weather, etc. 

Final Thoughts

Videos are already popular. But, they are still under-utilized and no way employed to their full potential. In e-commerce, product videos have already proved their mettle. Product videos have overshadowed images and text content. Videos are better at engaging and entertaining the viewers, and in educating and converting viewers into buyers.

So, if you want to increase sales, regardless of the size of the e-commerce business, make product videos an essential part of your marketing strategy. Use these product video tips to give prospective customers a deeper understanding of the product.

To know more about the latest tips and trends in marketing to up your business game, read more from our Marketing Blogs Category.     

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