Worldwide, internet video usage will skyrocket to 71% of all online traffic in 2018. With this massive amount of people using video online you should really be thinking about adding some video to your eCommerce website and following are 7 reasons why video is a must.
1. Your customers will like video content
If you can add some video content about your products, your clients will like this. It’s just an added feature that will ensure the way the user experiences your website is more enjoyable. Video can really push your products and sell it harder to your customer base. If they can see your products ‘in action’ this is a great sales tool and should increase revenue. Think golf, surfing, tennis, automotive, education, travel, basically anything that you are selling can be captured on video and added to your website. It is just so much more powerful than 1 or 2 images.
2. Return on Investment is Massive.
A video can cost next to nothing to produce. So, the ROI is huge. If you are able to capture the essence of your product and the uptake is big, then this return on your investment is well worth it. If you are constantly updating your site with videos that you produce then the cost is nothing, only your time.
3. Helps your clients connect with your business.
Online photos are great but can only tell so much of a story. A well produced video, can have so much more impact and can also connect customers with your brand and business. Videos can generate much more emotions than images and in turn will keep your customers loyal. Emotions trigger buying decisions and this is what eCommerce websites are all about. You want to kepp users on your web page and keep them very interested in what you are selling – videos are the perfect medium for this to happen!
4. Videos will help with your search engine rankings.
Posting fresh, new content is a great way to enhance your SEO and videos are another avenue for creating content. On top of this Google will rank new videos higher than content in some cases. Continually publishing videos on your ecomm site will ensure that the videos keep getting indexed which means that anyone searching for your product, should find your video – this is a great marketing tool!
5. Making the mobile phone experience better.
Rather than clicking on pages of content, a video that opens up on a phone will boost and maintain users interest in your product. People browsing the web on hand held devices want information and they want it fast, a video on your eCommerce website will provide this and you will be rewarded.
6. Videos will Enhance Your Reputation
If your customers can see you have gone to the effort of making videos and continually updating these, they will return to your eCommerce site continually. This will reflect really well on your brand and reputation. For me, like many consumers, if they can see the product they are thinking about buying on video, and they like what they see, they will more than likely end up buying from you.
7. Increase Conversion Rates.
Having a dedicated video about a product on its own page will keep users engaged and thus increase online conversion rates. Videos, should keep your customers entertained and informed, which will ultimately lead to much higher conversion rates than just plain old text and photos. People landing on these ‘ micro site’ product pages, will surely open the video and watch it – hence CRO ( conversion rate optimisation) is being utilised to it’s fullest potential. Ideally, you want everyone who visits your eCommerce website to buy from you – so each landing page that has a video should convert site visitors into paying customers.
Who Should Produce Your Video.
Getting a video produced for your website can be as simple as taking a hand held camera on your phone and going for it. On the other hand, you might like to work with a video production company to get a better finished result. Of course this comes at a cost, but if you really want to make an impact, then this is probably the best way to go.
One important point to note is that all videos on your website, need to load very fast. In fact, they need to be streaming in less than 2 seconds – anything more is going to have a negative impact. Keep this in mind when you are talking to your eCommerce web designers.
How Many Videos Should I Be Making?
This all depends on hoe many products you have and how many you want to promote. Ideally, you main best sellers should all be be filmed and each video dedicated to it’s particular product page. You might even think about a video on the home page introducing your company – this can be connected to YouTube and is now common practice.