Forrester’s recent analysis of six video platforms is an interesting read. On the one hand it seems comprehensive, with 37 criteria applied rigorously. On the other hand, covering only six platforms leaves most of the market uncovered. A bit of an in-depth sampler, as it were. The always-insightful Will Richmond at VideoNuze calls out this contradiction, observing that the report is useful for a “first-cut evaluation of a limited segment of the market”.
Before evaluating platforms, though, I’d ask a simple question: what do we plan to accomplish with it? As a marketer, I plan to use it to sell more products. Very specifically, as an eCommerce marketer, I plan to use it to drive conversions. When evaluating any platform through that purpose-driven lens, two truths emerge.
First, all platforms have a lot in common. The basic use case, in eCommerce at least, is simple: users want to be able to view a video of the product at the point of purchase. Speeds, feeds, and types of encoding don’t matter to the end user, although the quality of the experience matters greatly. Other features and functions should be viewed with healthy skepticism. Always ask this simple question: how does this feature help the consumer’s decision process?
Second, the platform alone doesn’t solve the problem. As a businessperson, which is more important to you: your CRM platform or your customer data? Without that customer data you don’t have a business, just a CRM platform. And without the right video content, a video platform gets you about as far as a car with an empty gas tank.
Every phase of Internet evolution starts with a proliferation of platforms and ends with the realization that content is king. Should we expect it to play out differently in the eCommerce video space?
We’re pleased to be cited as a source in a recent Forrester Report on adoption of online video. A few highlights from the report:
Any impact video has now may be the tip of the iceberg, as a minority of consumers currently view video on product pages – yet video drives substantial conversion improvement. As more users adopt viewing videos, it follows that the conversion uplift will increase.
The report, by Patti Freeman Evans with Cristina Bugnaru and Brendan McGowan, reaffirms that high growth in this space is just around the corner – and that forward-thinking online retailers are incorporating video into their plans.
The title pretty much sums it up.
The way to make effective eCommerce video that online users will watch is to keep them simple, short, and informative. Jason Kincaid of TechCrunch recently wrote, “The Underutilized Power Of The Video Demo To Explain What The Hell You Actually Do.” Because most information hunters are quite lazy, especially consumers, it is hard for companies to convey their entire value proposition through just text.
Therefore, why write what you do when you can show it through video! Video has far more advantages than a block of copy. If done correctly, video can be interactive, engaging, serve as an additional branding opportunity, and better convey a message that could take 5 pages of text to communicate. And let’s be honest….. who is going to visit a website and read 5 pages vs. watch a video?
In order to jump the “lazy hurdle” and break through online noise, companies and brands should utilize video to educate and engage their audiences. As Invodo has previously defined here, eCommerce video is the ideal tool for brands to use to explain their products to consumers and increase online sales. Sure, eCommerce video might not have all the glitz and glamour that highly produced commercial content does, but that is what makes them work. Consumers don’t want to be sold to, they want to be informed.
To be effective, utilize eCommerce video that is authentic and feature focused and stick it on a product description page! You inform the consumer at the point of purchase therefore selling to them under the guise of a thoughtful and nice manufacturer who was so kind to put up such a beneficial video.
If you K.I.S.S. and place videos in the appropriate location, you will be able to fully utilize the power of video. Check out how Invodo can help and be a complete video solution for both manufacturers and retailers.
The Invodo blog has been bringing you news and entertainment for the last 18 months, and I’ve finally been able to convince our marketing team to let me join the fun. I’ll be blogging about business in general, video specifically, along with whatever pops into my mind.
Since this is my first post, I’m going to write about why I first decided to join Invodo at the beginning of the year. I’ve always been interested in how the internet and technology are changing the way people find, learn about, and ultimately buy products. This curiosity is what led me to jump into the internet in the first place when I joined GoTo.com back in the nineties – - for those of you who don’t know, GoTo invented paid search and Google later copied the model to make billions!
Anyway, the point is that the internet is enabling businesses to constantly improve the way products are marketed to consumers. Video enables companies to take this to an entirely new level. With video, businesses are able to provide a knowledgeable, virtual sales person right when the consumer needs it …. on the product page when he or she is deciding whether or not to put the product in the shopping cart. Just imagine how great life would be if you never had to search for help at a Home Depot store because someone was with you ever step of the way!
So when I learned about Invodo and how it was bringing product videos to online retailers, I knew this was a company that would provide tremendous value to manufacturers and the online retailers who sell their products. With typical online sales conversion rates of 1-3%, every tenth of a percentage point increase is gold to retailers. And I saw Invodo as a company that would enable manufacturers and retailers to mine the gold. That’s why I joined Invodo!
Online video is everywhere. YouTube and similar platforms have made posting and distributing video content easy, fast, and fun. With over 75% of online users watching online video, the viewing audience is massive and appealing to content generators.
Even with aggregate video sites, there is still some ambiguity on how to utilize online video for B2C purposes. Almost 70% of consumers compare products online thus creating a market ready and willing to receive pertinent information to help drive purchase decisions. Invodo has found that eCommerce video is the answer and solution to delivering said information to increase sales and conversion on retail sites. However, implementing video for an eCommerce application has many unknowns.
What kind of video drives conversion and sales?
What is the best implementation of online video on an eCommerce site?
What is the upkeep and cost of hosting, streaming, and managing content?
Invodo has developed an innovative video platform that answers these questions and solves the problems inherent in syndicating video content in a B2C scenario.
eCommerce Video increases product sales and online conversion by demonstrating key product features while creating an engaging personal shopping experience. In essence, an eCommerce video is a virtual salesperson explaining products to online shoppers at their point of purchase. eCommerce video should be enticing, authentic, personable, to the point, feature focused, and targeted.
As for implementation, embedded is the way to go. Statistics have shown that 80% of consumers will watch a product video when it is directly embedded into a page resulting in 30% higher conversion rates for that product. Pretty compelling for online retailers.
Upkeep and cost of creating content then hosting, streaming, and maintaining it can be very expensive. By utilizing a platform, such as Invodo, you don’t have to worry about any of the headaches or costs. We use a top tier CDN to ensure that there are never any issues with content delivery.
Online video is here to stay. In order benefit from video, you have to consider your video needs and how to best satisfy them. Invodo offers manufacturers and online retailers a turn key video solution designed to increase sales and conversion rates as well as provide a rich media experience to online audiences. The time is now to learn about eCommerce video, love it, and embed it!
Statistics have shown that 80% of consumers will watch a product video when it is directly embedded into a page. More importantly, conversion rates for that product tend to be 30% higher after viewing the video. In the end, an embedded video player makes sure more people click to watch your videos, improving your chances they’ll actually buy your product.
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