- May 21, 2021
Updated: Aug 24, 2021
Products can be best demonstrated through video. You can show an accurate representation of how they function, look, wear and sound.
Video provides a great opportunity for tutorials, demos, how to's and installation walk throughs.
So, using this in marketing strategy can be extremely beneficial for your brand.
Product videos are a powerful tool for engaging viewers and turning them into customers.
They provide the perfect opportunity for brands to tell their story and demonstrate why their product solves a problem. Viewers claim they retain 95% of a message when obtained via video. This means product videos can be leveraged to be the most memorable form of content marketing.
Compelling product videos must have some key characteristics to be successful
To create exciting video content focus on fulfilling the following criteria...
1. They engage
Successful videos grab the attention of the viewer in the first 12 seconds. Content is carefully thought out to captivate the audience from start to finish. Interactive video marketing is the latest trend to demonstrate incredibly high engagement. Clickable, shoppable videos engage the customer by involving them. The viewer becomes an active participant in the interactive campaign and not only remembers it, but buys into it via a call-to-action. Interactive video marketing is 3-4x more engaging than standard video.
2. They educate
Product videos need to provide the viewer with all the information they need to make an educated purchase. So, effective product video's explain with simple language and visual ques. Interactive campaigns are excellent at educating as the viewer can click hotspots to find out more product information and to be transported to product pages. This provides a fun and engaging way to learn about a product in a short space of time.
3. Good videos are good quality
Videos that are high quality will look more professional and gain the trust of the customer. Good quality visuals, smooth playback with clear graphics and sound make videos more engaging presenting products in a clear way.
4. Using calls to action show the customer how to make a purchase
Interactive video marketing allows brands to include clickable areas that direct viewers to product or transaction pages. Calls to action can be something like "buy now", "see more", "add to basket", "book a test drive" and more. If you are not using interactive campaign technology, you can include a link in the video description to your ecommerce site.
5, They connect with the customer
Videos provide a more dynamic representation of a product. Formats like live video shopping allow viewers to purchase products in real time. This brings the benefits of offline, in-person shopping online by connecting brand associates and customers virtually. Live video shopping is an exciting new way to display products in action, strengthening customer trust. Viewers can ask questions alongside the stream in a chat bar with hosts answering them. This provides a personal and human focussed shopping experience.
If you are looking to incorporate interactive video marketing and live video shopping into your strategy visit smartzer.com
- May 19, 2021
Updated: Sep 7, 2021
Shopify offers a lot of resources in one place to help brands grow their businesses. But which apps are actually effective?
With this in mind, we've curated a list of some of the best and most exciting plugins that could take your brand to the next level. These apps are tailored to help you to promote your brand effectively, sell high quantities to customers and generate revenue and brand popularity.
Whether it's through video on Shopify, marketing ads, social media posts, stock management or stock creation these apps can help your brand succeed...
Smartzer
Smartzer's interactive video app helps brands to create clickable video on Shopify. You can add an interactive overlay to your video that you can tag with product information. Viewers will then be able to click on product hotspots to find out details and make purchases through calls-to-action like 'buy now', 'sign up to mailing list' and 'add to cart'. This shortens the path to purchase and offers viewers with an easy way to buy directly from video content marketing. You can use shoppable video on Shopify product pages or even create live shopping Shopify experiences with the app. Using live shopping Shopify customers can make purchases in real-time and directly from a brands broadcast.
PickyStory
PickyStory helps you to efficiently up-sell and cross-sell to boost your Shopify store. Use the app to show highly customisable deals that can be displayed on any page of your store. You can easily sell multiple products together in bundles (auto or manual) on your product pages, create a gallery of shoppable looks, use kits for tiered pricing offers, let customers create their own product bundle, aggregate multiple products and sell as one, and more. PickyStory auto-syncs your inventory at SKU level, making it easier than ever to keep track of your stock. PickyStory’s deals are all created with clicks (no coding skills required) and fully customisable to integrate seamlessly into your store.
Intelistyle
Intelistyle's AI Fashion styling app recommends personalised outfit ideas to customers. AI searches the internet for the hottest trends and applies them to the customer based on region, body type, hair, skin tone and personal style. The app allows online retailers to create outfits out of every product in their Shopify store. The app has a chat bot which allows customers to get tailored fashion advice as well as similar recommendations for products that are out of stock. The app automatically tags your products with the right labels to help you manage your stock efficiently.
BeProfit
BeProfit's profit calculator app provides a hassle free way for businesses to keep track of finance in one intuitive dashboard. The app integrates with all your ad platforms to deliver valuable insights on your ad spend, ROAS, best-performing ads, and more. BeProfit also lets you create, share and export custom reports or use predefined report templates, as well as calculate your Customer Lifetime Value - a key metric to take into account.
DelightChat
DelightChat is a Shopify helpdesk to manage customer support across channels like email, Facebook, and Instagram from a single screen. Fast-growing Shopify stores use it to streamline customer service requests, reduce response time, and stay on top of all customer queries. With DelightChat, you can view all Shopify order data next to the tickets, seamlessly collaborate with your team, automate your repetitive queries and analyze your support performance with detailed reporting. An easy-to-use interface, powerful features, and affordable pricing make DelightChat a great choice for modern eCommerce & DTC brands looking to deliver delightful support experiences.
Consolto Video Chat
Consolto helps brands to communicate with customers using live shopping Shopify experiences. Using chat bots and video calls, Consolto brings the benefits of offline, in-person shopping, online. This form of video on Shopify builds customer trust as customers can ask brand representatives questions in real time. It also provides brands with the opportunity to upsell their products.
Find out more about the app here!
Social Photos: create social proof from UGC
The Social photos app helps you to feature customer photos on your site. You can display user driven content from Instagram in a customer gallery. Consumers tag your brand and products then you can choose whether to feature them on your Shopify product page. Use posts to sell products through direct links and drive revenue from organic content. You can create social proof and flatter customers by showcasing their pictures in a gallery on your site.
Find out more about Social Photos here!
OptinMonster
OptinMonster helps brands to turn visitors into customers with CRM and onsite marketing campaigns. The app can drive more e-mail newsletter signups, reduce shopping cart abandonment, increase sales and revenue. By creating onsite marketing campaigns such as sticky popups, floating bars, slide in scroll box, gamified spin to win campaigns you can hook customers and generate sales. Create drag and drop ad campaign builders with targeting display rules. The app also provides you with tools to build effective CRM campaigns.
Find out more about OptinMonster here.
Back in Stock: Customer Alerts
SureSwift Capital's app allows brands to send notifications to customers when items are back in stock. Customers sign up with their details to receive updates on product availability. This means that businesses don't lose out on sales even though items are sold out. It improves the likelihood of product sales upon restock. The app also helps businesses to understand which products are the most popular so they can monitor stock levels.
For more information on the app click here.
Printful
Printful allows businesses without factories and warehouse's to print a variety of products to sell in their stores. You can print anything from T-shorts, bags, mugs to stationary. Printful manages inventory and sends products out when they are ready. The easy app means that design skills aren't necessary and it offers discounts and print deals.
Find more information here.
To find out more information about Smartzer's ability to put interactive video on Shopify homepages and our live shopping Shopify products visit smartzer.com
Updated: May 26, 2021
With 86% of businesses using video marketing as a tool in 2021, if you aren't using it, you're missing out.
So, if you are looking to incorporate video content marketing, here is some of the key criteria you should build into your strategy.
Figure out what your audience will be expecting or looking for
Understanding your audience is key to making great content. You need to consider what it is you are selling and who would be looking for it. You should also figure out how your customer would want to come across your video content marketing. Building your customer persona is key for creating relevant videos.
Ask:
What is my customers goal?
What solutions are they looking for?
What are their challenges?
What motivates my customer?
What will they be interested in seeing in video ecommerce?
Create eye catching, bold and confident material that engages
It takes 12 seconds for a consumer to decide whether a video is worth watching. So, there is pressure to hold your viewer as soon as they press play. To grab the attention of your consumer, use eye catching visuals that reflect your brand ethos, use music, story line and scripts. Be bold in your opening by getting your core message in early on.
You can take video content marketing one step further with interactivity. Interactive video platforms help brands to tag videos with clickable hotspots. This allows viewers to tap, swipe, drag and more to find out key information about products in a fun and memorable way. Video interactivity allows the consumer to play a role in the video, connecting them closely to their favourite brands. Using tag videos can boost conversion rates by up to 400%, especially if they are shoppable. Include call-to-actions like "buy now", "shop now" or "add to basket" to provide your viewer with a direct way to purchase your product.
Make sure your customer can understand you
While it's important to understand your customer, it is equally as important for them to understand you. Make sure your content is clear, concise and easy to grasp. If you are explaining a product, do it in short, simple sentences. The last thing consumers want is a wordy lecture filled with jargon. Use visuals to make it even clearer as 65% of the population are visual learners.
Give your customer a reason to trust you
It is important to show that your brand has credibility. So, within video ecommerce try to include reviews from previous customers and think about answering the question, "why should I buy from you?". If you have the budget you could consider including an influencer in your video. In fact, 63% trust influencer messages more than brand messages. So, including an influencer in your content will definitely boost your credibility.
For some more ideas, here are some key reasons why customers trust brands...
Include special offers to convince you customer to buy
Highlighting special offers in your video content marketing will give your customer the extra push they need to invest. Time sensitive deals such as free sign up for a limited time, free month trial, % off deals can encourage impulse purchases.
Make sure your video is short and sweet
No need to make a 60 minute feature length film, long videos just don't hold the attention of your customer. Try and tell your brand story in 30-60 seconds and if you can't, 2:30 minutes tops. Viewers have short attention spans so you don't want to loose them before you have told them the full story.
Next steps?
Once created, share your video across social media, in CRM and as video ecommerce on site landing pages.
If you want to find out more information on tag videos visit smartzer.com