- Jan 20, 2021
Updated: Feb 15, 2021
Photo: from Google
Online shopping has taken over the market in recent years. How to make the most out of the online experience is one of the top priorities for brands now that offering in-person experiences seems impossible in some places and will be for the coming future due to the current global pandemic situation.
Growth of video
Video content marketing has taken over the web to make the online shopping experience more personal, easy, interactive, and exciting. From tutorials, reels, and IGTV to interactive videos and Livestream shopping, we’ve seen a lot of changes in the way video can help improve e-commerce performance and enhance the experience for customers from the safety and comfort of their houses. As we dive deeper into using content as a sales strategy we will continue to see more and more ways to sell through video and to use it as a key element in marketing.
By 2021 we are expected to consume an amount of video content bigger than ever before, and by 2025 76% of mobile traffic will be video (link to reference here). Every platform will contain video, from social media to brands' own websites and most of this content will be consumed from a mobile device. This means that video content should be both mobile-friendly and adaptable to any social media platform.
Video eCommerce
The side-by-side growth of the use of video and e-commerce creates a huge opportunity for generating a seamless link between the two creating a new form of online shopping: video e-commerce.
Like Rose Tsou, Head of eCommerce and International at Verizon Media explained: ‘It’s about bringing commerce and content closer together’, and some even think that by the end of 2021 the line separating these two might blur further. (reference link here)
The ‘new normal’ of e-commerce will definitely involve video content’.
Shopping and entertainment or “Shopatainment” will go hand in hand, and it’s something brands should look out for if they want to attract younger social media consumers. Even older generations immerse in the e-commerce world as a result of the global situation that has driven almost every business into web platforms. It’s as easy to understand as Connie Chan and Avery Segal explained it ‘Think of them as compulsively watchable commercials-with a direct link to buy’, that’s something we all want to be a part of. (reference link here)
Video content is the topic of today and will remain so for the future. It allows the consumer to be more involved in the product and to interact in a more organic way with the brands. Shoppable and interactive videos are the next big thing for every brand to focus on if they want to increase their e-commerce sales.
Platforms including Smartzer offer an easy way for brands to transform their regular videos into seamless interactive and shoppable experiences. These interactive videos can adapt to any e-commerce or social media platform. Smartzer also offers livestream shopping format as a highly relevant form of shoppable video.
Interactive video enables brands to provide an entertaining experience for consumers introducing them to the content in a seamless way.
Example of a Smartzer shoppable video from Zimmermann:
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
Photo: Valentino onsite shoppable video.
Video is one of the fastest-growing forms of marketing with 92% of marketers saying that video content marketing is an important part of their marketing strategy. Video and other visual content are typically seen as the top of the funnel marketing assets used to create awareness. The link to commerce has been very limited, requiring the viewer to go through potentially dozens of clicks to find the featured items on a website. With social channels encouraging consumer behavior that is driven by interactivity and immediacy, there is a huge opportunity in viewing content from a more commercial angle and providing a seamless link between videos and shopping.
Creating video interactivity is now possible with new and innovative technologies enabling brands to bridge the gap between content and commerce. Videos and other visual content can be converted into assets that also allow customers to enter the purchase funnel and to start their shopping journey from video e-commerce.
By using an interactive video platform to tag videos, brands allow consumers to click on anything in a video to instantly see more information with direct links to shop. Video interaction can start a shopping journey through several layers of the funnel from awareness all the way through to conversion.
Photo: Purchase funnel diagram displaying stages of consideration unlocked via interaction
STAGE 1: AWARENESS View the interactive video
STAGE 2: DISCOVERY Click on interactive items on the video
Viewers are able to click on products within the video, pausing the video and opening an overlay with a summary of the information related to the particular item. This can include details such as images, descriptions, pricing, and a call to action.
The viewer can click open a carousel alongside the video which contains information about all the items featured throughout the video. This could include details of singular items or groups of items, such as a ‘shop the look’ in a fashion video.
STAGE 3: CONSIDERATION Clicks on Call to Action buttons in the interactive video overlay
Once the viewer has opened the interactive overlay by clicking on an item, they are able to see additional details including further possible actions such as ‘Shop Now’, ‘Learn More’, ‘Book a Test drive’, and so on. Viewers can click on the call action button which can take them to a product detail page for example. By clicking on this button after seeing a summary of the item details, the user is indicating consideration to purchase.
The interactive video can also include direct actions within the video itself, such as adding an item to a shopping cart on an e-commerce website without first visiting the product details page.
STAGE 4: CONVERSION Completing a final conversion such as placing an order, booking an appointment, or downloading a document.
- Jan 20, 2021
Updated: Feb 12, 2021
Photo: The British Fashion Council's interactive content for London Fashion Week June 2020
Interactive video has come a long way since the explosion of the number of users consuming video online. In 2021 alone the average person is expected to spend 100 minutes every day watching online videos (Zenith). Depending on the type of content being watched, much of the video content can be consumed passively by users who are favouring a lean-back approach online however many people watching online videos are leaning forward and actively browsing the web while consuming content. Particularly with these users in mind, making a video interactive can unlock a whole new area of engagement that has been previously often overlooked.
The world of interactive video can be a challenging place to navigate, with a wide variety of tools available on the market that each specialise in doing different things. Here’s a quick summary of some of our favourite methods out there that can add interactivity to videos for various use cases online:
Adding further information to EDUCATE users
When users are consuming content there might easily be further information that you could include about what is on show. Perhaps it’s the stats of the sports game that is playing or even the actors that are on screen. This type of information could potentially easily be added to your content to educate your audiences. One stand-out tool is EDpuzzle, which allows you to easily add educational information to your content.
Make your video SHOPPABLE
For branded content, in particular, interactive video can be used to help drive sales of a particular product that is featured within the video. Tagging your video with the items that are featured, and enabling users to click on the content to find out more, as well as purchase the product, can boost conversion and engagement rates in one fell swoop. When it comes to shopping, Smartzer can be used to easily create highly engaging content that presents your products in a professional and fully optimised interactive video player. With over 5 years of experience, working closely with some of the world's largest brands, our tool is now available for any business to use for their own content. Find out more on how Smartzer can support your business goals here.
Allow users to pick their path through video BRANCHING
Video branching is a good way to gamify your video content and enables users to pick their own path and storyline when watching a video. The greatest example of this was Netflix’s Bandersnatch, Netflix’s first ‘choose your own adventure’ series that took the world by storm. The production of Bandersnatch cost over $76 million dollars, which is not surprising given the sheer amount of different options available to the user, and therefore subsequent scenes that had to be filmed. Regardless of the expense, video branching can be a great way of adding interactivity to a good storyline that matches. One tool worth looking at is eko, which was the tech behind P&G’s Interactive Super Bowl ad for 2020.