How to integrate video content into your e-commerce

E-commerce and video production: stats you need to know

Let’s start with these figures on the e-commerce industry, which are extremely telling. 

In 2017, revenue from e-commerce in the retail sector was $458.8 billion. Today it stands at $904.9 billion. It is estimated to reach $1705 billion in 2027. (statista.com) 

The trend line that this data shows is sharp and truly impressive.

Certainly, the emergency period triggered by the pandemic also played a role. In those emergency phases, many companies and even small stores began to use e-commerce for the first time, and the number of people who began to shop online grew larger and larger. In many cases, there was no alternative; it was a necessity.  

Beware, however!  What was a necessity during the emergency has become an established habit and convenience today.

So, what are the challenges in this new landscape? There are many and they are complex. 

Among the most important are those involving marketing. Digital marketing, of course. And the most powerful tool in the hands of marketers today is, without a doubt, video. 

In this post, we want to focus on everything related to e-commerce video production. We’ll do so by answering the question posed in the title: how to integrate video content into your e-commerce? Our answers will take the form of a list of 10 practical tips and best practices. Before we get to the list, we feel it is essential to provide you with three data points that, alone, perfectly tell the story of the importance of e-commerce video production; 

• Adding a video to your site can increase conversions, on average, by nearly 80% (business2community.com)
• Faced with the question “what is your favorite way to find information about a product or service,” 73% of respondents answered “video.” (wyzowl.com) 
• 96% of people said they viewed a video to get information about a product or service before making a purchase (wyzowl.com). 

All very clear, all very telling. Now, as promised, let’s proceed with practical tips to make your e-commerce video production more and more effective.

There are a few preliminary technical aspects that you must consider when it comes to e-commerce video production. The first concerns the size of the players themselves. 

Watch out for this fact, which emerged from a report by Think with Google. The so-called viewability (a metric that measures the rate of viewable impressions) records a rate of about 80% for formats that exceed 640×489 pixels. In contrast, for the 300×250 pixel format this rate plummets to 19.8%. (ThinkwithGoogle)

Also pay attention to the placement of the video on the page. For an e-commerce business, it is good practice to place the video in a central, prominent position, but one that does not obscure the sections that lead directly to the purchase. 

This discussion becomes particularly tricky when we reflect on the fact that a large number of views come from mobile devices, where spaces are much smaller compared to a desktop view. 

This brings us directly to the next point.

 

Effective e-commerce video production must always be designed in omnichannel mode. First of all, it’s a matter of optimizing productions for any type of device while prioritizing mobile: today, the smartphone is the main tool through which we view videos (as we mentioned above). 

But it’s not just a question of device. 

In fact, it’s a matter of optimizing videos according to the type of platforms on which they are distributed. As is always the case in video marketing, it all comes down to a balance between different elements: creativity and technical limitations, brand identity and what works best according to different channels. 

 

 

Pay close attention to this point, because it can be really decisive. To be effective within an e-commerce environment, your video must first be easy to find on search engines.

So: take the utmost care for everything related to optimizing your video for SEO. What are the aspects to watch out for? We have collected them all in this post, which is a complete checklist for video SEO strategy. 

Many videos are viewed without audio, especially from mobile. On social media, for example, 93% of people prefer to watch videos without audio from their smartphones (nexttv.com).

So, always make sure that your productions can be understandable and effective even in silent mode. In this post from our blog, we have lined up the 10 best practices for producing the most effective and engaging silent videos. 

 

Selling is always a process; it is never advisable to just go straight to the point. Instead, it’s best to always start by telling a story. 

In short: it’s all about storytelling. Among the many aspects to consider, we want to highlight one: when it comes to e-commerce video production, a good practice to follow is always brevity. Start with a strong hook, keep the pace tight, and get to the call to action without waiting too long. (And we’ll come back to the call to action in the next point.) 

 

 

The call to action is the most decisive and delicate moment when it comes to video marketing. All the more so when we talk about e-commerce video production. 

We have already emphasized that this moment should not be put off too long. Another fundamental aspect, then, is that of consistency: the call to action must be perceived as the crowning of the previous storytelling path (however quick and concise), and not as an abrupt and invasive interruption.

Finally, of course, you must pay the maximum attention to design and graphical aspects: the call to action must be clearly identifiable and easily clickable. This is a key fact especially for viewing via smartphones. 

• On average, influencer marketing records an ROI of $6.50 for every dollar spent (adweek.com). 
• About 70% of millennials are in some way directed in their choices by influencers (startupsmagazine.com).

So, relying on influencers for your e-commerce-integrated video campaigns is a great idea. Yet an issue has emerged in recent years that threatens to undermine the effectiveness of this type of approach from within. 

The mega-influencers (those with a following exceeding one million followers) are now perceived by the audience as distant and unreachable. So, that closeness to the audience that underlies the very concept of influencer marketing is lacking.

What, then, are brands and digital marketers doing? They are relying on the so-called micro- and nano-influencers, who are perceived as more spontaneous, close, and trustworthy and who have, therefore, a fan base that is certainly more limited, but almost always more loyal and devoted. 

The key word, in this sense, is authenticity. 

 

 

Social networks, we know well, are an absolutely decisive arena when it comes to video marketing.

So, it’s crucial to integrate your e-commerce with these channels as much as possible. The most basic and unavoidable best practice is to reuse your e-commerce video production on social media as well; and vice versa. Of course, paying the utmost attention to redesigning all aspects, optimizing them according to the different channels. 

The most important goal? 

Stimulating the production of so-called UGC (User Generated Content), which is unrivaled in terms of coverage and engagement.

Shoppable videos are marketing videos related to certain products or services that have embedded links that link directly back to the purchase. 

In practice, the user can click (or tap) on the links while viewing, concluding the purchase, without leaving the video page. 

A format that constitutes the future of e-commerce. What are the main benefits that flow from using this format? 

• A simplified Customer Journey. 
• An increase in the conversion rate. 
• A positive impact on the Customer Experience. 
• A decisive boost on data collection. 

We have talked about shoppable videos in relation to e-commerce in this post.

 

 

We are at the last point in our list of best practices for e-commerce video production. And, let’s be very clear, this is a decisive point. The Digital Transformation breakthrough has the goal of putting the customer at the center of the business. 

But what is the starting point? 

The collection and analysis of Big Data, conducted in an automated way. In this way, companies can put together as much information about their target audience as possible: demographic, psycho-social, geographic, behavioral, and more. 

In short: knowing who is viewing your videos makes it possible to predict their needs and desires. So, it allows you to build increasingly effective campaigns because they are tailored to your target audience. This target audience can be broken down into increasingly specific segments, all the way to personalization. 

This is taken care of by specialized companies such as Babelee, with its Video Personalization platform.