Your Ecommerce Brand Needs These 5 Videos
Just five years ago, Instagram videos didn’t exist, filming vertically was stupid, and TikToks were something only clocks made. Life comes at you fast.
Today, the average person spends 84 minutes each day watching videos online, and video is so important to Millennials and Gen Zers, that one in two say they “don’t know how they’d get through life” without it.
Our appetite for video shows no sign of lagging, with it predicted to make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022. So naturally, ecommerce brands are taking note. But not all videos are created equal. Here are the ones that will stop your audience in their tracks.
The Fame Builder
This is your main brand building video, your ‘shop window’, if you will. Its job is to introduce your brand to new audiences and gain their attention in a way that clearly differentiates your brand from competitors.
Your brand has a story, and this is your place to tell it. When someone purchases from your brand instead of another, it’s probably because it makes them feel a certain way. While the product itself serves a practical purpose, that alone isn’t always enough.
Consumers often align themselves with a brand’s cause or message because it says something about them, reinforcing how they want to be seen by their peers, and that’s why ecommerce companies that prioritise strong brand-driven storytelling are so successful.
While most ads and online content are built with short-attention spans in mind, designed to deliver maximum impact in a short space of time, fame-builders are often somewhere between 30 seconds and two minutes in length. And rather than appealing to a subset of your target consumers, think of it as a video that ‘everyone’ needs to see.
Take a look at Freestar’s cheeky take on alcohol-free beer.
The Product Video
Whether you’re promoting a new range of products or a single product drop, you better believe they should be announced with a bang.
Your product video can highlight its benefits, the problem it solves, and how it can be used, all while building excitement. This is where creativity goes to town.
The specific nature of the creative will be determined by a range of factors, including industry and demographic, but the goal should always be to build intrigue and sell the dream.
We’re talking buttery smooth macro shots, 3D animation, kinetic typography, stop-motion, killer time-remapping, slick transitions, and all other kinds of visual goodness… But not all at once. Choose your weapon(s) wisely.
Here’s how we kicked off the Nike Phantom GT Elite drop for Footy.com.
The Trust Builder
This is the video that will seal the deal for many vacillating consumers. Utilising user-generated content, such as reviews and videos from real customers, threaded together into a seamless piece of content will provide potential customers with social proof, and the assurances they need about your brand.
For most brands this video can be raw and unpolished to highlight authenticity. There are exceptions, for example if you operate in the luxury space, and want to maintain a polished, high-end feel across your content at all times.
Purple knows how to let its customers do the talking.
The Influencer Video
The right influencer, with the right message, at the right time, is a powerful thing.
While this new breed of celebrity endorsers are no strangers to controversy, a few well-chosen influencers could see your brand quickly leap-frog the competition.
An effective influencer video should present an honest and transparent review or endorsement of your product. This could be published natively by the influencer on their own channel, across platforms such as YouTube, Instagram Reels, Stories, or TikTok. You can also use these videos in your brand’s content feeds, or as paid ads.
The non-negotiable is that the influencer must have genuine influence over your target audience, for instance your consumers already look to them for advice and follow the trends they set. If they don’t sit right with your brand, they won’t sit right with your audience.
The Direct Response
This is the no-frills, all-important video you need to rouse an imminent action from your customers. People retain 95% of a message when it’s in a video, compared to 10% when reading it as plain text, so the format is one of the most effective ways to highlight a discount, offer or promotion.
But this is no time to get too fancy. Be concise with a clear call to action. Your customers will probably be eager to know about your offer, so don’t make them work hard to understand what it is.
When Huel decided to announce the mother of all giveaways, it certainly got our attention.
