Video is the best way to bridge the gap between physical and online shopping. A video can show off a product’s features and attributes better than any still photo (or even 360 view) can ever accomplish. Many eCommerce companies (Shopify for example) preach the importance of product photography. The difference between a conversion and no sale at all can be the lighting of the room or the angle of the silhouette. If perceived value is judged by high quality images, what does that mean for high quality video?

The numbers support that. According to Animoto, 96% of customers find videos helpful when making purchasing decisions online. Of those customers, 73% are more likely to follow through and purchase after watching an explanatory online video. This makes sense. According to DemoUp, almost 46% of customers will go to a showroom if a video is not available on your website. If your customers want to see a demo, presentation, or how the product looks in action, the best option is video. Nothing is stopping them from driving to their nearest big box store. With high quality video there is a higher chance they end up staying on your page, pressing play to see how those shoes look with pants, and completing the sale.

Video has other uses in eCommerce marketing and advertising. Google, Bing, and Yahoo have started testing video ads in search results. A 2015 study from Searchmetrics shows that video appears in up to 14% of search results. Also, Google Shopping uses Google’s TrueView ads service in their results. In fact, Google recently announced that TrueView campaigns would be part of the core AdWords interface. This is essentially asking for eCommerce businesses to advertise high quality product videos in shopping results.

Adding more video into your eCommerce marketing strategy might increase your budget but the returns will more than make up for it. Short and sweet does the trick, no need to attempt to go “viral” (but by all means, kudos to you if you strike gold). It won’t be very long before people expect a video of every product that they are considering purchasing and sites that do not offer it will feel the blow. If you’re underestimating the use of video in your marketing strategy, it’s best to start taking it serious now.

Blog by Joe Valdez

header image from Serge Kij