I just returned from The Shop.org Annual Summit in Dallas. The Summit is the biggest event of the year for the eCommerce industry and this year’s summit had record attendance and excitement to match. Everyone was talking about the three hot trends in eCommerce: 
…Which couldn’t be better for Invodo.
Last year at this time, most retailers were just beginning to think about product video. Only the earliest of early adopters had a small number of product videos on their sites. But what a difference a year makes. Now, many retailers are actively testing video right now and even more are working to implement video before the holidays.
Invodo exhibited at the conference, and we were thrilled to see our customers like Living Direct, Golfsmith, JCPenney, Lenovo, Moosejaw, Verizon Wireless and so many others stop by to say hello. We also had a chance to visit with many prospective customers that we’ll be announcing over the coming months.
Besides retailers, the buzz about social, mobile and video really came across in conversations with the system integrators and eCommerce platform companies like Sapient, ATG and Demandware whose retailers are demanding these solutions to meet the every growing needs of their customers.
Invodo will definitely be back at The Summit next year. If your company works with eCommerce retailers, then I highly recommend you be there too.
See you at the 2011 Shop.org Annual Summit in Boston, MA.
Interesting discussions lately in ReelSEO and IndustryPace on an issue we can call ‘Play Fraud’. Think of click fraud, but with video plays instead of clicks.
It shouldn’t surprise any of us that this issue has come up. Many video platforms are paid by the play, regardless of whether the viewer watches for any period of time and despite declining CDN costs to deliver content. Ad networks delivering video are paid by the play, so they have a vested interested in defining ‘play’ as liberally as possible to increase plays and revenue. It’s increasingly common to see video ads that auto-play below the fold on a page, communicating nothing to the audience and creating no value…while counting as a video view.
My unscientific, hard-to-quantify definition of a video view is:
A user engages with the content. Someone clicks ‘Play’ on purpose, not accidentally. They normally do so in order to see a given piece of content. Do pre-roll ads count? Maybe. But they have to be relevant and targeted to meet the ‘engages’ criterion. Students sit through lectures. They’re engaged by great instructors. Pre-roll can be either. Do I simply tolerate the Marriot pre-roll ad as if it were a lecture, do I cut class by clicking away, or do I take away the desired message?
A user stays engaged with the content for a period of time long enough to have a reasonable probability of affecting their post-viewing behavior. With eCommerce video, that means watching a video on a product or category page long enough to have the video assist in the buying decision. Other advertising may work higher up in the funnel and hence may have different goals, but the user still has to watch for long enough to affect those goals. Do I watch the Marriot ad long enough to consider staying there on my next business trip?
Yeah…I know you can’t quantify that as easily as initiation of a play. But if you place a video on a page that’s what a ‘view’ is to you. That’s true for any video publisher, but especially true from a retailer’s perspective as a video can’t drive conversion if the user doesn’t engage with it. And the further a billing definition of ‘view’ is from that definition, the more friction there will be in the ad-supported and view-driven areas of the industry. Which is why non-view-based monetization models – especially video on product pages to aid shoppers and drive conversion – may have a very bright future.
This post in the ‘Fear of Video’ series will explore where many retailers get stuck: on the basics of creating video. The questions come from my coffee conversation with a customer the other day, which reflect what we discuss with prospects and customers on a daily basis.
How resource-intensive will it be? That’s driven by your approach. There are a few retailers who can use a very simple approach – a Flip camera with minimal editing – because it fits with a very casual brand image. Other companies make commitments to large in-house programs. In either case they find that making several videos is very different from scaling video production. Scaling requires either a flexible partner or a full-scale commitment of resources. To get past Fear of Video, start with a bite-sized commitment, assess ROI, and adjust the approach as needed. That’s why our customers often run A/B tests by product category to understand where the upside is.
If I have thousands of products, where do I start? This topic’s worthy of its own blog post. Start with top-selling products, since 20% of your catalog likely produces 80% or more of your sales. Look for products or categories that benefit from demonstration and explanation. Cover top sellers in a given category so that customers learn to shop that category by video. Start with product categories that are core to your business. Most importantly, start somewhere. You’re missing high ROI if you don’t.
How do I know the video will drive conversion? Great question. Driving conversion requires a very different approach than creating awareness. Focusing on the features and benefits of the products is a great start, but it varies by category. Effective apparel or jewelry videos are typically brief, while consumer electronics require more explanation. The ability to test multiple versions is important as it lets you continually optimize.
Who should be in the video? This depends on your target audience. I’ve seen a golf pro be a low-key but highly effective spokesperson for a golf retailer, and I’ve seen an actor drive results for mobile phones. This is another area where experience producing video and measuring results across multiple categories is helpful. The key seems to be someone the target audience can relate to who doesn’t eclipse the product, since the product is typically the star.
What if I sink resources into it and end up with an amateurish result? That’s a real fear. To avoid this, monitor your shoot carefully to shoot it once and shoot it right. Since we produce at scale, part of our proprietary production process involves editing almost in real-time. That means errors and issues are caught very quickly. Our collaboration systems are designed to create the upfront planning needed to ensure a smooth outcome. If you’re producing your own videos, you can leverage that approach by spending ten minutes planning for every one minute of shooting. And shooting sample proof-of-concept videos to get stakeholder buy-in can save headaches later.
What if I encode it in the wrong format? That’s only one of many technical details. In point of fact you’ll likely encode in multiple formats for different types of distribution. A good video platform resolves many of those types of issues for you, leaving you to focus on the business objectives instead of the technical details.
The big mistake, as I mentioned before, lies in not getting started with some sort of video. If you’ve got fear of video, we can help!
What scares you?
Over coffee the other day, one of our favorite Internet Retailer 500 customers made a candid comment. “We knew we needed video, but we talked about it for well over a year before we did anything,” he said. “We joked about our videophobia, our fear of video. Every time we tried to plan, it started to seem like there were all these questions we didn’t know the answers to. We always got stuck.” He’s a resourceful and tech-savvy marketer with a great team who run a top-notch site. If he struggled with video then I know others do too.
Nobody’s given it such a great name before – Fear of Video. So I’m going to turn that conversation into a series of blog posts over the next few weeks to highlight the issues and illustrate what we’ve learned in talking with customers.
Fear of Creating Video: How resource-intensive will it be? If I have thousands of products, where do I start? How do I know the video will drive conversion? Who should be in the video? What if I sink resources into it and end up with an amateurish result? What if I encode it in the wrong format?
Fear of Deploying Video: How will I put it on my product pages? What if it slows page loads? Using YouTube or Vimeo doesn’t seem right, but why? Why do online video platforms seem more focused on advertising than on driving conversion? Where are these big files hosted, and what’s the risk if something goes wrong and they’re not available? How can video drive SEO if Google can’t see the contents inside a Flash file? And speaking of Flash, what’s the real story on HTML5?
Fear of Distributing Video: How do I make the most of my video with my YouTube channel and Facebook page? How do I know I’m not diluting the SEO value of my unique content? There are dozens of places to upload the video; how do I know which ones matter? Even if I focus on just the big ones, how resource-intensive is it to upload hundreds or thousands of videos? How do I manage the program to drive results and traffic?
Fear of Measuring Results from Video: How do I know if it’s driving conversion? How do I know which videos drive the best results? How many people should I expect to watch them? What are the right metrics and industry benchmarks? If they’re not working, how will I know? How will I know that this was a wise investment and demonstrate that to my team?
I’ll address each of these areas in a separate post over the next few weeks, based on experience with customers. Do you have Fear of Video? If so, what questions do you get stuck on? Let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to address them in the series.
Customers and prospects often ask “where should I start with eCommerce video?”
It’s a great question. The answer, of course, depends on your business. Here are some common-sense guidelines that may help.
As with anything, getting started is the key – and we can help you do that. Is there another roadblock keeping you from starting with eCommerce video? Let me know in the comments.
What is more exciting than the Oscars, Emmy’s and MTV Music Video Awards combined?
The 2010 Streaming Media Readers’ Choice Awards!
Voting is now open for you to choose your favorite companies, products, and services in a variety of industry categories. This year, Invodo is honored to be a nominee for the “Best Online Video Company – Content.”
You can place your votes up until October 1st. The top three vote-getters in each category will be announced on October 18th and the winners will be announced at Streaming Media West on November 2nd.
Invodo is excited to be a part of the online video industry and could not be more thrilled about our nomination. Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, editor at Streaming Media, was equally thrilled at this year’s nominations.
“When I first looked at this year’s suggested nominees, all I could say was ‘Wow’. We received more than 250 nominations, all of which show just how vibrant the online video industry is, and how much it continues to grow. In addition to the old standbys, it’s been great to get introduced to so many new faces. And what they all have in common is a commitment to not just technological innovation but to the belief that online video continues to be a revolutionary force for communication. Check out the list of nominees, and I’m sure you’ll feel the same.” – Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen
Remember, you can only vote once in each category so make it count. Vote Invodo!
Our friends at Demandware recently published a Best Practices Guide on Preparing for the 2010 Holiday Shopping Season. It’s full of great information and tips for getting ready. For any online retailer it’s well worth the download.
There are ten great tips here. A key one is to make gifting easy. That seems obvious, but take a look at your site – have you done everything possible to make it “giftable?” With a Gift Center, Wish Lists, sets and bundles to make it easy for time-crunched shoppers, and gift cards to help the shopper who’s just not sure? How about merchandising gift cards and your Gift Center on your No Results page from your site search? That could make all the difference for shoppers who aren’t finding what they need.
The holidays are almost here. Are you ready? This guide offers the tips you need.
Lenovo and Magellan’s plan eCommerce video implementations to improve customer experience and increase sales
September 9, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas – Invodo®, the only full-service eCommerce video partner for online retailers, today announced two new customers. Lenovo and Magellan’s are working with Invodo for eCommerce video initiatives going into the Holiday season.
Invodo, a full service eCommerce video solution provider, creates high-quality content at scale and develops leading technology to implement and deliver online product video on retail sites and other points of consumer influence. Both Lenovo, a leading PC maker, and Magellan’s, a retailer of unique and useful travel products, chose Invodo because of its full service capabilities.
“Invodo impressed us with their scalable production and full-service approach,” said Lynn Staneff, Director of Marketing at Magellan’s. “It took less than a month to go from shooting our products to having video live on the site. Invodo’s SEO-enabled player automatically generates the video sitemaps needed to drive site traffic based on the video content, and the customer experience is proven to help shoppers. We are excited that our customers will have this additional feature as they shop for their loved ones during the holidays.”
Invodo recently launched the latest version of its eCommerce video player, the InPlayer, which both companies are implementing as part of their video initiatives. The InPlayer is the lightest player in the industry. Faster page loads, especially during the high traffic shopping season, will keep customers from straying away from the site. According to Google’s latest ranking considerations, faster page loads also protect the SEO benefit retailers receive from having unique video content.
“Consumers who view product videos are 85 percent more likely to buy than those who do not, so retailers adding eCommerce video to their site stand to gain a huge advantage during the shopping season,” said Craig Wax, CEO of Invodo. “Lenovo and Magellan’s are set to make the most of that advantage.”
Other Invodo customers with video ready for the holidays include Internet Retail 500 companies like Verizon Wireless, MooseJaw, Land of Nod, Stacks and Stacks and Living Direct.
About Invodo
Invodo helps online retailers sell more through the power of video. A full-service eCommerce video solution, Invodo creates high-quality product video at scale and develops retail-focused technology to influence consumers where it matters most. Invodo videos increase sales conversion rates, reduce returns and drive site traffic for customers, including Internet 500 retailers and major brands.
Contact:
Jen Cadmus
jcadmus
invodo
com
512-934-8350
It’s great to see Golfsmith, one of Invodo’s customers, named once again to the Internet Retailer Hot 100 list. eCommerce video is one of their keys to driving customer engagement, as are social tools such as Twitter and Facebook and creative tactics like giving shoppers the ability to design their own golf clubs. Golfsmith see their early adoption of eCommerce video as a competitive advantage. Video “is an opportunity to get far ahead of our competitors,” according to their Director of eCommerce and Online Experience Jamey Maki. Based on the strong results they’ve seen from use of video to date, we’re working with them to get video for many more products live on the site before the holidays.
This is well-deserved recognition for a company that consistently leads in the industry. Congrats to our friends at Golfsmith! Read the full entry here.
While few things excite me more than a great pair of shoes, I have to say that this year’s Shop.org Annual Summit in Dallas, TX has me pretty fired up! Nothing is better than being around new eCommerce technologies and in the company of the most esteemed online retailers in the IR 500.
This year Invodo will be exhibiting at booth 218 where you can stop by for a free shot and see examples of eCommerce video in action. It is always exciting to see retailers’ reactions when they realize Invodo eCommerce video not only increases conversion rates, but also drives traffic from video SEO enablement and reduces product returns.
eCommerce video is the next big thing in online retailing and I like nothing more than to show off Invodo’s amazing production capabilities, eCommerce focused video platform and player, and our ability to distribute videos to social media sites.
Go ahead and add Invodo, booth 218, to your EXPO Plan here and don’t forget to read, “Getting the Most out of Your Shop.org Summit” to get tips from our CEO, Craig Wax.
See you at Shop.org!
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