How Video Helps Increase Ecommerce Conversion Rates

A year ago, you launched a website, complete with a store, numerous product pages, and even a blog. Over time, you saw your site sessions increase, you saw growth in your social media following, and you received positive feedback from customers happy with their purchases. But, even so, your sales are somehow flat. Sure, you’re happy to make any sale, but in order to remain competitive and stay afloat, you need to see your sales grow over time. And, realistically, you don’t have time or money to invest in a major marketing initiative. What can you do?

If you want one quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive way to help boost the performance of your ecommerce pages, video could be your answer.

Creating a brand video or commercial was once an expensive, complicated task that only major companies could afford. But now, thanks to the popularity growth of video, it’s now easier than ever to strategize, script, film, edit, and publish your video.

The best part? Video has been proven to help increase conversion rates, engagement rates, and more. Take a look at these surprising video statistics:

• 62% of consumers watch product review videos before making a purchase.
• 84% of consumers surveyed were convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video.
• 97% of video marketers reported that video increased user understanding of a product or service, and 76% reported video helped them increase sales.
• Including a video on your landing page can increase conversions by more than 80%.
• 56% of consumers believe that a company should have video content on its website.

Video is the new normal. If you’re not taking advantage of this tool, you’re missing out in a big way.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help! Keep reading to find out not only how video can help increase your conversions, but which type of videos you need and where they work best.

What is a product video?

Before getting started – let’s define what a product video actually is.

A product video is a video that highlights your product’s features and shows it in action. Product videos help business owners easily showcase what a product can do, and are actually the preferred way for your potential customers to learn more about your product. They’re especially useful when there isn’t a showroom or brick-and-mortar store where they can see the product in person.

There are different types of videos you can use throughout your entire website (more on that below.) But product videos are the videos that most directly correspond to ecommerce sales. Since these are typically published on your ecommerce or store pages, they affect users who are in the decision stage of the buyer’s journey. They’re ready to buy and they just need that final convincing factor that’ll help them close.

5 Ways Video Helps Increase Ecommerce Conversion Rates

Why exactly do videos help increase conversion rates? It has a lot to do with consumer psychology. Let’s take a look at some of the specific reasons video resonates so strongly with users and how they can help you boost sales.

1. Consumers engage more with video.

Video is both auditory and visual in nature, grabbing our attention in more ways than any other type of content can. It also allows us to tell a more complete story, building a narrative, building emotion, and provoking action more effectively.

Because video is the catch-all for every other type of content, including text and infographics, photographs, voiceovers, and more, video can engage us like nothing else can. Its movement stops us in our tracks and keeps our fingers from scrolling past. That’s why it’s crucial to make your video captivating, so those first few seconds really hook in your viewer.

2. Product videos boost consumer trust in ecommerce companies.

Be honest – sometimes you don’t buy an item because you’re not sure you’ll get exactly what you’re promised. What if the color is different? What if sizing is different? It’s easy to say a product can do something, but saying it alone isn’t much proof. That’s where video comes in!

Video provides the proof online shoppers need to seal the deal. When you show a product in action, users can more easily imagine themselves using that product. And if you do this enough times, with enough videos and enough products, you’ll build credibility and trust over time.

Pro Tip: Using different types of videos outside of just your ecommerce pages also helps you build trust. Videos about your company help communicate your brand values, recruitment videos help humanize your company and your office, even social videos can show a lighter side to your company, building engagement and a more personal connection to your brand.

3. Informational videos help answer user questions.

Have you watched a make-up tutorial recently? Or looked up the instructions on how to play a game? What about a video showing how to connect your voice-enabled assistant to the rest of your smart devices? Getting the answers to these questions before purchase can make all the difference, especially when the answers can be found right on a product’s check-out page.

A product video done right will answer questions the user already had, and some they hadn’t even thought of – the types of questions that can consciously or subconsciously keep them from converting. Everything from product specifications, how it works, integrations, and more can be addressed using video, easing some of that user worry and anxiety about your product not meeting their expectations.

4. Video provides a better omnichannel experience.

You moved to a new town and you’re looking for a fitness center you can go to regularly that’s affordable and close to home. As you’re researching, you stumble on a 15-second ad for a local gym.

You decide to look into it a little further. On their website, they’ve got a brand video that tells you more about their mission and their dedication to their customers.

You love it – but you’re not totally convinced yet. You head to their programs page to see what else you can find. There, you find a video outlining exactly what happens the moment you sign up for service.

This is the magic of video. With video, you can guide the customer experience from start to finish on every digital channel your prospective customers might use to find you. Social media, email, website content, and more – according to Megastore, 73% of buyers shop across multiple channels. That means it’s essential for you to be everywhere you can be, facilitating the gathering of information and the purchase process. Nothing helps you do that better than video, which users overwhelmingly prefer.

5. Video is shared more often than any other content.

Even in this digital age, word of mouth still reigns supreme. Positive reviews are crucial to garnering more sales, even if that positive review comes in the form of a social video share.

And since videos are shared 1200% more times on social media than links and text combined, video is quickly becoming a marketing cornerstone for companies of all sizes.

In addition, over 80% of consumers say they trust the recommendations of family and friends, so you can bet a social video share can increase your conversions over time.

3 Types of Videos that Will Increase Conversion Rates (Besides Product Videos)

We’ve already talked in detail about the effectiveness of product videos, but there are tons of other types of video you can use to help increase your ecommerce conversion rates. Depending where on your site these videos live, they can have a huge direct or indirect impact on your sales numbers. Just remember: testing is critical! Always measure the effect any website changes are having on your bottom line, so you can see exactly what’s making the difference.

Now let’s take a quick look at a few different video styles that can increase your conversion rates.

How-To or Tutorial Video

This is one of the most straightforward types of video and can cover just about everything, including more generic how-to information about your industry, to more specific topics, like how to use your product.

Remember to keep it visual – close-ups and step-by-step instructions provide the answers a user may be looking for before committing to a purchase. Make your how-to or tutorial video clear and easy to understand.

Educational Video

Can what you do be summed up in a sentence or less? A lot of industries provide solutions to complicated or complex problems, and explaining exactly what those problems are or how you fix them can be tough. That’s where educational videos can help.

Posted on your blog or on your about page, educational videos inform consumers about your industry or certain aspects of it. They do just what their name implies – they educate!

These videos won’t help convert users who are already on your product page; instead, save these videos for other areas of your site, where they’ll provide the information needed to move users down the marketing funnel, nurturing a sale over a longer period of time.

Customer Testimonial

Testimonials are one of the strongest types of videos you can make. They give your brand credibility, and because people trust the opinion of other people so strongly, it’s the closest thing to a personal recommendation out there. Ninety percent of consumers say their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews, so think of this as the most visual and engaging review you can create.

Gathering online recommendations is one of the final pre-purchase steps, so create a moving video, post it on your website, (yes, testimonials actually do a great job on your ecommerce pages), and share it far and wide for best results.

Conclusion

So you know you need video, but you’re not sure how to get started. Whether you hire the right professionals in-house, or look for the perfect video production company to create amazing video content for you, there’s no question that your business needs video.

Start strategizing your video plan now – you’ll want to think about your video goals, your budget, where you’ll distribute your video, how you’ll measure its success, and more. Once you have all these aligned, the only thing left to do is to actually create it – and that’s the most fun part of all!

Read More:

• Best Video Editing Software for eCommerce
• 5 Video Editing Software for Small Businesses to Improve Video Marketing