Video is the new black in eCommerce and some sites are even going 3D to show off their products.
Up until now the websites using video have mainly been reserved to the ones who can afford it. In other words, really big eCommerce sites with tons of traffic and huge revenues.
Let’s have a look at a couple of examples globally:
First there’s asos:
Asos don’t make a big song and dance about their video content; in fact unless you’re really looking for it, it’s hard to see that it’s even there.
Then there’s www.Marksandspencer.com (which is very similar to asos):
One site (which is slightly on the racy side – so perhaps not so work friendly) is www.knickerpicker.com:
Some sites use video to show off their clothes in a social situation, almost like a music video. A notable example is https://www.diesel.com/ – again, huge production budgets.
So how can you compete with all this if you’re an online retailer with a small budget?
Luckily, there have been a couple of very innovative online retailers here in Australia who have been able to get videos of products on their websites for free.
The first is https://www.OzGadgets.com.au who have cleverly searched YouTube for videos about the products they stock. Some are freely available commercials from the manufacturer and others are independent video reviews from people who review products on YouTube. Use the following link to see an example of a YouTube video promoting their remote controlled beer cooler.
The second is citysoftware who use their own ‘home made’ demonstration and product review videos as well as YouTube videos to help people make purchasing decisions. You can see one here.
Simple to make and easy to produce.
What I also like about Citysoftware’s approach is the way they’ve also created a YouTube channel where they’ve uploaded all their reviews so their products can also be found at the world’s second biggest search engine.
They’ve had over 150,000 views of the 68 videos they’ve uploaded. Great stuff!
But it’s not just products; you can also use YouTube to source video content about services too. If you’re a service based business, you can search for videos which reinforce the benefits of your service offering. Ideally, not a competitor video though.
At the end of the day, it’s always important to measure your ROI. If you’re spending lots of money on video production, make sure you’re getting a corresponding lift in sales.
For more Online Sales expert advice, click here.
Chris Thomas heads up Reseo, a search engine optimisation company which specialises in creating and maintaining Google AdWords campaigns and Search Engine Optimisation campaigns for a range of corporate clients.
Smart Company is a sister publication to The Mandarin, catering to Australia’s entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners and business managers.
