‘Why reinvent the wheel?’ appears to be the popular sentiment among online retailers.

Now, eCommerce businesses have innumerable options in the form of e-store builders and plugins for various eCommerce tasks.

It’s undeniable that SaaS eCommerce tools are the single biggest reason for such rapid growth of the industry. That said, a few minor drawbacks have mushroomed that need our attention.

One of the biggest concerns of eCommerce businesses is that everyone has access to these SaaS eCommerce tools.

So, how can eCommerce companies distinguish themselves? The answer is simple and right in front of us – Video Marketing.

When used right, video marketing can improve brand awareness, boost interest in your products, and convert potential customers to real ones.

Video marketing isn’t a new phenomenon but it’s one of the best content marketing strategies to boost eCommerce success. You can check the recent statistics to prove video marketing’s worth to the current online industry.

Read on to learn what makes the video content tick and how to use video marketing to generate more sales.

Two Reasons to Use eCommerce Video Marketing

Over 80% of businesses add video marketing to their marketing mix is certainly a good reason.

In addition, the craze for video content among youngsters is a major contributing factor to video popularity.

We could fill the entire page with reasons to use video marketing in boosting eCommerce sales. But, we’ll stick to the top two:

Videos Showcase the Product Like Never Before

In this pandemic, eCommerce stores allow consumers to buy their favorite products from the safety and security of these homes.

Still-picture and text descriptions cannot replace the in-store shopping experience.

Product demo video, how-to video, etc. allow you to highlight the features of a product and how it works.

Nowadays, video content goes one step further to show how the product can make life easier for the customer.

A better look at the product, functioning, and uses will increase the confidence in the product and build trust in the brand.

Once the customers are connected with the brand, thanks to video content, it’s a lot easier to move them along the sales funnel.

Video Content Engage the Audience and Enhance the Buying Experience

Ecommerce marketers don’t have any other option but to use video marketing because that’s what the people want.

According to a study, 40% of people prefer videos to other forms of content from marketers.

The reasons are obvious, video content is fun, educational, engaging, and entertaining.

Each video is creative and unique, which helps the consumers break the monotony of text and image content.

Demand for videos has increased so much that over 80% of content produced nowadays is video.

Simple but Effective Steps to Boost Ecommerce Sales Using Video Marketing

We are going to discuss the ways marketers can use video marketing to generate eCommerce sales.

#1. Pick the Products Carefully

Although the cost of video production and marketing has come down, it’s still a considerable investment.

Most ecommerce businesses would agree that it’s not always possible and profitable to create videos for all products on their ecommerce website.

By choosing the right products for developing videos, you’ll be saving time, effort, resources, and increasing the chances of better engagement.

Selecting the products must be your first step, to be taken up even before a video production plan is drawn up. The products to choose can depend on the following factors:

• The most popular and best-selling products on the e-store
• Unless presented as video content the functioning of the product is difficult to understand
• Products that yield higher Return on Interest than others on the website
• Seasonal products that you need to promote within a short period

#2. Plan the Video

You’ll have an easier time producing a video that brings in more sales if you have a clear understanding of the target audience.

A vague notion of the target audience isn’t enough. You need to know enough details of the potential customers to create one or more buyer personas.

The buyer persona must include your customers’ pain points, their likes and dislikes, things that inspire and move them, and more.

A well-crafted buyer persona will help you create videos that appeal to the emotions of the customers.

There isn’t one set template to create videos for all types of products.

Although the goal of product videos is the same; to engage the audience and move them along to the buyer’s funnel, the message and its delivery will differ from one product to the next.

For example, the characteristics of video content that promotes a camera will be different from the content that showcases a musical instrument.

You should factor in the product and the target audience before deciding the script, the setting, the color scheme, and the tone and style of the video.

Short video content generally has better traction with the audience.

Ideally, the length of the video depends on the type of video, namely, product tour video, testimonial video, educational video, video advertisement, how-to video, etc.

Your aim must be to create videos that convey the message succinctly and effectively.

Give the product videos a better chance of success by making them searchable. Optimize the video for the web and take steps to improve user experience.

#3. Tell a Story with Video Marketing

Although the features and descriptions of products are important, communicating these details alone will hardly have an impact on the audience.

Personalize the content by combining the product information with a gripping story that tugs at the heartstrings.

An effective script will bring the potential customer a lot closer to the brand and product.

Videos enable brands to connect with the target audience in a way not normally possible with images or text.

You don’t have to search for a story. As an eCommerce brand, you have the brand’s history and story to tell.

Alternatively, you could also talk about the origin of the product, how it presents a solution to the customer’s problem, why your product is unique, and more.

Use a compelling story and script to engage the audience from start to finish.

Product video content that evokes emotions is not a new marketing strategy, but it’s one of the most successful tactics that works even today.

With emotional content, persuading people to connect with your brand and trust the product is easier.

Research shows that video content that induced emotions such as hope and happiness received more attention from the target audience.

If you can use product videos to generate positive feelings in the viewers, you have a better chance of driving more sales.

#4. Optimize the Video Content for Mobile Devices

This is one of the top rules of marketing; always cater to the likes and needs of the audience.

Nowadays, consumers prefer watching video content on hand-held devices such as a smartphone and tablet.

Ignoring this ever-growing group will negatively affect your sales figures.

What do you think the visitors to your ecommerce portal will do if the video on the site isn’t optimized for mobile? They’ll skip the video and leave the store.

Ensure the video content fits a wide range of screen sizes and plays well on multiple devices.

As the video title, the thumbnail describes the whole video in a single frame.

Hence, choose a thumbnail that’s creative, no blurry, that entices and engages the audience. Plus, the video thumbnail must be mobile-friendly.

Mobile users prefer videos that are short and straightforward. Perhaps it’s because they use mobile devices on the move.

Hence, try to keep the ecommerce videos less than 90 seconds, which is enough time to capture attention and get the message across effectively.

Include CTA (Call to Action) that’s compelling and visible on the mobile device.

Nudge the viewer to buy by adding a clickable link at the end of the video. The link must take the potential customer to the product page on the ecommerce website.

#5. Get Ready to Live Stream

Ecommerce businesses have realized the power of live streaming in engaging the audience in recent years.

The role of live streaming in boosting marketing for SaaS efforts is quite evident. The latest SaaS marketing trends show that live streaming lets businesses grab attention and influence action in real time.

Marketers have taken a liking to live streaming because that’s what the audience prefers nowadays. More than 80% of prospective customers tend to favor live video in the place of blog posts.

Live brand videos drive sales because they achieve some or all of the following goals:

• Quick and instant brand exposure
• Improves reach with the target audience
•  Eliminates mistrust and doubts about the brand and product
• Creates a sense of urgency in the audience to take action
• Improves the effectiveness of CTAs

Final Thoughts

With the SaaS ecommerce tools and plugins available nowadays, it’s easy to produce and market with a low budget.

Putting videos on the web isn’t enough. Everyone does it. Potential customers will notice your videos only if the content stands out.

The tactics discussed will help produce high-quality content that’ll keep the audience engaged, guide them through the sales funnel, and convert them into paying customers.