How to Create E-Commerce Videos that Convert

ecommerce video convert

We know which product videos work the best for e-commerce conversion optimization strategy, it’s time to think about how to procure them. Depending on your skills and resources, your choices can span from DIY video making to curating videos from social media. Here’s a quick overview of the most popular strategies:

Make your own product videos in-house.

This is probably the most labour-intensive option for e-commerce stores. Although it provides the benefit of being able to infuse your branding into the videos and to build thought leadership, this strategy does take commitment in terms of time, skills and money. If you’re confident on camera and have decent editing skills, then go for it (a bit of charisma can’t hurt either). Just don’t resort to collage-style videos made out of product photos. It’s 2016. Don’t be tacky!

Get help from creative experts.

Those who prefer to place video making into the hands of professionals have the option to outsource their product videos from creative agencies and professional video-making studios. The cost of such services can span from two to three figures or more per video per product, so it’s best suitable for e-commerce stores selling unique products or those whose margins can accommodate such investments.

Source videos from manufacturers.

If you’re selling products by popular brands who already produce video content of their own it might make sense to reach out to them and ask to use their videos on your store. This could save you a considerable amount of time and resources. The downside of this strategy is that not all brands produce videos in the same format, which might require extra effort if you want to regularly add different videos to your product pages.

Curate videos from social media.

This is probably the most resource-friendly option of all. Sites such as YouTube are a home to millions of videos dedicated to reviewing, demonstrating and unboxing products. They offer a good mix of brand, expert and consumer-made videos, which shoppers love to watch.

YouTube videos influence buying decisions of 53% of shoppers in the US. Don’t think of it as a cheap or lazy strategy. It’s a  smart way to utilize the readily available resources and share with shoppers high-quality and authentic stories about the products you’re selling. Follow this guide to get started.

Where to place product videos

When we talk about using product videos to help increase the conversion rate, it’s obvious that a placement can play a big role. Just like in retail, it’s all about location, location, location.

There’s a growing trend for e-commerce sites to add larger-than-live background videos that captivate visitors’ attention and invite them to explore the brand and its products. This is a great strategy for e-commerce sites owned by brands and for those who want to communicate their unique take on commerce.

When it comes to videos dedicated to individual products, the rule of thumb is to place them closer to the critical conversion points, such as product detail pages. This way, when a visitor lands on a page designated to a specific product they can have a complete experience of the product in one place, with “add-to-cart” button in close proximity so they can act on their intent to buy without breaking the flow.

That being said, the position on a product page also plays a role. The more difficult it is for visitors to spot the video, the less potential it will have at converting visitors. When a video is prominently displayed, 88% of visitors stay longer and engage more with the site.

You might think: well, adding videos to product pages will only help with the add-to-cart conversion rate, how about basket-to-checkout conversion rate? There’s a reason why you’ll rarely (if ever) see a product video on the checkout page.

It’s because by the time shoppers have reached that point in the shopping journey they’re already familiar with product features and don’t need to be sold on them anymore. What they need is a frictionless process to complete their purchases, so product videos here would be just a distraction rather than help.

How to optimize product videos

Once you’ve successfully added product videos to your e-commerce store, you can’t just leave it and forget it. You need to track the impact of videos on your store and their performance against conversion rates.

At the very least, you should track shopper behaviour on pages with videos against pages without videos. You can also employ A/B testing for that. Look for data that can help you get insights into the following:

  • How long do the shoppers stay?
  • How do they engage with the pages?
  • What is the impact on the “add-to-cart” conversion rate?
  • Do sessions with video engagement result in orders of higher overall value?
  • Do visitors interact with videos when they are available on the site?
  • How much of the content do they watch?
  • Which types of videos engage shoppers the most?
  • How is that related to the conversion rate and the average order value?

That way you can collect tangible evidence about how videos perform on your site. You can then take it from there and work on optimizing the experience to maximize the positive effects. When you create videos for your e-commerce, it’s important to get it right. When you do, the benefits on your conversions will be striking.

What are your video tips? Tell us below or tweet us!

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ECN Team
E-Commerce Nation is The 1st B2B Web Media about E-Commerce in Europe. The team of E-Commerce Explorers help businesses to reach new potential market through delivering useful content. Let us know in comment if you enjoyed this content.