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E-commerce Video Strategies: Boost Sales Through Visual Stories

a woman holding her iphone preparing to record herself

Marketing strategies are continually evolving and a tactic that is increasing in popularity is ecommerce video marketing. As you will see below, ecommerce videos are especially beneficial and provide a level of detail and engagement that isn’t always possible with written content.

The Power of Video in E-commerce

If you want SEO boosting strategies for ecommerce then video content is a great option. It offers numerous benefits compared to traditional marketing methods including:

  • It gives customers an improved visual representation of products.
  • It makes up for the lack of the ability to touch and hold products.
  • Visual marketing is easier to digest than written.
  • It allows customers to see how they would use the product more easily.
  • Videos can also build trust and brand reputation.

Types of E-commerce Videos

You can’t just grab a camera or your smartphone and start recording yourself. While this would be fun, your video marketing has to have direction and purpose and we can learn this by looking at five common types of ecommerce video that quality ecommerce services make use of.

Product Demos

Product demos are typical “how to” videos that show how a product works or what it’s meant to do. A perfect example is DIY tools. If ever I want to make a purchase of a power tool I like to watch a product demo first so I know I am capable of using it! Product demos are infinitely more compelling than a product description and provide tangible things customers can use for their decision-making.

Lifestyle Videos

Lifestyle videos are common today and oftentimes they are created by influencers or real people working with your business. Their aim is simple – to show your product or service being used in real-life situations. For example, a tennis equipment manufacturer might create videos showing people using their racquets during tennis sessions. These videos are relatable and using real people helps you identify easier.

Product Spotlights

Spotlight videos place emphasis on products and highlight important aspects of them. For example, just look at the spotlight footage car manufacturers make. They usually highlight things like the interior design, light clusters, trim, and body shape of the car for maximum impact. This type of ecommerce video is not as detailed as demos, but it’s intended to be more of a showcase and a showpiece.

Tutorials

Product demos are usually simply intros into how the product works, but you can create specific tutorial videos too that show how the product or service works in different scenarios. 

This is ideal for customers who have already performed a decent amount of research and want to know that your product can deliver what they want. Oftentimes businesses create a mini-series of ecommerce video tutorials with each one explaining a different process or aspect of the product and its usage.

Video Testimonials

Why not take your testimonial page one step further and enhance each section with a video testimonial? This is becoming more common; you can see great examples on our website. Video testimonials are more powerful than simple text reviews as you can see the face behind the glowing review and watch their enthusiasm for the product or service.

5 Winning Ecommerce Video Strategies You Can Try

Creating amazing videos isn’t easy and it’s something that you can improve over time. However, to get you started, I have listed five simple strategies you can implement below.

Make sure the video is appropriate for the platform

Before creating video content you have to consider where it will be posted and the platform you are using to publish it. For example, if you are creating video content for social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, they should be much shorter – typically no longer than a couple of minutes. In contrast, videos on YouTube or embedded in your website can be longer.

Don’t be afraid to use video content on various parts of your website

Some ecommerce businesses make the mistake of only using videos on product pages and while this is a great spot, you should aim to use them as often as possible. For example, you could also embed videos into your blogs, on your testimonial page, and on your homepage. More video content is never a bad thing provided the quality is great and it’s embedded properly.

Consider how your video fits into the typical customer journey

As part of your overall marketing strategy you probably already understand the typical customer journey and sales funnel. This should also be considered when creating ecommerce video marketing as you can easily target customers at multiple stages.

Tell a story with your video

The best ecommerce videos tell a story or have an underlying theme, and this helps make them more memorable. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate story and it could be something as simple as describing a day-to-day situation with a person using your product.

Make the content relatable to your target audience

Video content has to be relatable to your target demographic! Try to use music, tone, and an editing style that fits with the age and interests of your customers as the video is more likely to resonate as opposed to something that they simply won’t understand.

Get Behind the Camera and Start Your E-commerce Video Marketing

There has never been a better time to start video marketing due to the popularity of video platforms like YouTube, Zoom, TikTok, and Instagram. It’s a proven marketing method and can have an amazing impact on your ecommerce business when done correctly so why not jump behind the camera and see what footage you can create?

Article by:

Joshua George is the founder of ClickSlice, an SEO Agency based in London, UK.

He has eight years of experience as an SEO Consultant and was recently hired by the UK government for SEO training. Joshua also owns the best-selling SEO course on Udemy, and has taught SEO to over 100,000 students.

His work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, AgencyAnalytics, Wix and lots more other reputable publications.