Video is a more powerful tool than ever to grow an e-commerce business and generate sales. Why? Video content is versatile, immersive, and attention-grabbing — making it the perfect format to entertain and educate new customers.
According to Wyzowl, 96% of marketers value video as an important part of their marketing strategy, and 87% video has helped them increase sales. Studies also show that 75% of consumers have made purchases based on video ads in the past year.
Evidently, e-commerce businesses need to make video a cornerstone of their marketing strategies. Still, there’s no one-size-fits-all video ad strategy. That’s why it’s so important to research e-commerce trends and understand the different types of videos that drive engagement.
Here, we’ll dive into six different video formats and strategies — including shoppable videos — that you can use to increase e-commerce sales performance and sell online.
Why is Video Important to E-commerce?
Video is a must-have e-commerce solution for anyone running or starting an online store. Marketers can use the dynamic and interactive nature of videos to demonstrate products in action, tell immersive stories, and pull back the curtain on their brand’s mission and ethos.
As Wyzowl reported, 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service. And almost 90% of people say watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service.
Engaging, relevant media like e-commerce videos can even help improve your SEO page ranking. They show search algorithms that your page contains rich and keyword-appropriate content. As Google puts it, “When you search for ‘dogs”’, you likely don’t want a page with the word ‘dogs’ on it hundreds of times. With that in mind, algorithms assess if a page contains other relevant content […] such as pictures of dogs, videos, or even a list of breeds.”
Video is also the gift that keeps on giving. That’s because it can be repurposed across many platforms — from your e-commerce store pages to native ad placements to social channels like TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. You can then add backlinks to your site, driving traffic and enhancing your SEO results. Customers can also share videos with their own networks, helping to improve engagement for your online retail business.
Ready to learn how to increase e-commerce sales across the web? Use these six video types and video best practices to hook customers in and boost conversions.
1. Product Videos
Marketers can use product videos to provide an in-depth look at each product’s features, demonstrate how those products work, and highlight what makes their offerings so unique from competitors’ catalogues. By delivering this detailed information up front, product e-commerce videos can help prequalify ad clicks and ensure customers know what they’re getting when they follow through to your product pages. This can help increase ROI and drive full-funnel experiences.
Compared to static images or text-heavy articles, product videos can more clearly illustrate how a product functions and can practically benefit a customer’s life. That’s why they can be especially useful for promoting products with complex features or versatile use cases, such as tech devices.
Just look at this product video from Oculus Rift S, demonstrating all that one can do with their virtual reality headset:
2. User-Generated Videos
User-generated content (UGC) is a win-win-win for e-commerce businesses and their customers. It provides your brand with free promotional materials, builds loyalty by making customers’ voices heard, and helps prospective buyers see first-hand how happy shoppers have already used your products. In fact, almost 80% of consumers say UGC impacts their purchasing decisions (Hearts Science).
To get started with user-generated videos, businesses can easily head to social media platforms to find posts that customers have shared of their product experiences. They can also invite people to post UGC with them — such as by using hashtags or entering contests — for a chance to have their videos featured on the brand’s page.
GoPro provides a strong e-commerce example of how to use UGC to boost engagement online. The GoPro Instagram page and website feature several curated, user-generated videos shared by content creators:
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3. Product Tutorials
Similar to product videos, product tutorials can be used to break down the different steps of using or setting up a product. This can help educate potential customers about what they’re buying and promote the user-friendliness of your offerings.
Logitech, for example, created this Logitech Crayon tutorial specifically for K-12 educators. It demonstrates how to write and draw with the product on an iPad, as well as how to charge, transport, and troubleshoot the pen:
You can also combine a series of tutorial videos into an online course for your customers, especially if your products have a big learning curve. Taboola and Fiverr, for instance, launched a course on native advertising to help marketers create, manage, and optimize a successful native campaign. This six-chapter course provides guidance on how to introduce new users to your business and strengthen your brand presence.
4. Testimonials
In a world filled with misinformation, it’s no surprise that many customers trust authentic testimonials from other buyers over promotions from brands. In fact, customers say review sites and recommendations from friends and family are their most trusted sources of information (Marketing Charts). Over 99% of customers also say they read reviews when shopping from online retailers (Trustpulse).
That’s why testimonial videos can be so effective. Marketers can source video reviews from real customers and add them to their e-commerce pages or social channels to increase sales. Along with creating polished and scripted video ads, these raw, user-created videos can help boost brand credibility and trust.
Take online learning platform, Codeacademy, for instance. The organization highlights inspiring and transformative stories from real users. Christine’s story of how she built her dream career in tech has amassed over 13 million views:
5. Unboxing Videos
Unboxing videos can be short or long-form videos often posted by creators and influencers. They’re unique in that they basically combine the benefits of UGC, testimonials, and demonstrations into one type of video.
In a typical unboxing video, a creator will share their genuine first impression of the product — straight out of the box. They might also show how to assemble and use the product, dive into its biggest benefits and most notable features, and give their honest recommendation of whether or not to buy it.
Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, for example, generated over 14 million views for his 11-minute unboxing video of the new PlayStation 5. In his video description, he includes a disclaimer that Sony provided him with the console for review.
6. Interactive Videos
Unlike traditional videos, which viewers can passively watch, interactive videos invite people to engage with the content themselves. Specifically, users can click, scroll, drag, turn, or hover over the video content using their devices — enhancing their attention and engagement. According to HubSpot, almost 30% of video marketers said they use interactive elements in their content, and that number is likely to grow.
For brands interested in experimenting with interactive video, there are many different features and strategies to choose from, such as:
- Choose-your-own adventures. Viewers can pick which storyline or narrative path to follow in their video.
- Quizzes. Viewers can answer questions or fill out polls about their interests and knowledge to inform their video experience.
- 360-degree views. Users can click and drag the video for a panoramic view of your content.
- Shoppable videos. Allow viewers to click on products and visit your e-commerce site to check out.
Nike, for example, launched this interactive video for the Nike Air Max Dia, inviting viewers to style their own outfit and then click through to make a purchase at the brand’s e-commerce store.
By allowing viewers to become active participants in their content, e-commerce businesses also open up more opportunities to gather engagement data, which they can then use to optimize their campaigns and further improve performance results.
Increase Your E-Commerce Sales Performance with Video
There’s a reason top e-commerce companies use video marketing to improve traffic and drive sales. In today’s saturated digital landscape, there’s no better way to engage potential customers, showcase your unique product features, educate people about your brand, and tell your story effectively.
To build your e-commerce sales strategy, it’s important to understand your customer behaviors and marketing goals. This will help you decide which types of video formats are most appropriate for your campaigns — from product demos and testimonials to user-generated content and shoppable videos.
You can use Taboola, for example, to distribute your creatives as native video placements across premium publisher sites on the open web. Reach target audiences when they’re already engaged with their favorite content and looking to consume something new: an interactive story from your brand. As a leading native ad platform, Taboola can help enhance your existing marketing strategy and embrace the future of e-commerce.
Ready to improve your e-commerce sales performance? Get started with Taboola.