- Dec 15, 2021
Currently only one in 10 US consumers have purchased from a live stream, this is set to jump to one in four within six years predicts Accenture.
There's a new consumer in town and brands should pay attention.
Before, brands have relied on major ad campaigns and bricks and mortar stores to drive revenue. Nowadays, with an increasingly social media savvy consumer, brands are having to refocus their content marketing efforts online.
There is no denying that the pandemic has created a brand new customer who is hungry for a seamless, personalised and above all entertaining way to shop. Fashion and beauty enthusiasts are jumping online to discover the hottest styles from the latest drops, to share countless tutorials and reviews and looking towards influencers to make purchase decisions. This is not only via social, new data indicates that after Amazon, customers are making the most online purchases via a retailers site or app (Gartner, 2021) .
Consumers are looking for the ultimate onsite experience to drive confident purchases. Could the answer lie within the social eCommerce?
eCommerce sites have become the most crucial part of the purchase eCosystem
Beauty companies themselves are investing heavily in the integration of social commerce within their eCommerce strategies. Many brands have spent over 50 per cent of their digital budgets on short videos, shoppable technology and live stream shopping content this year, says Audrey Depraeter-Montacel, global beauty lead at Accenture.
“Big corporations such as L’Oreal, Shiseido and Estee Lauder Companies are all investing heavily in content production hubs because social commerce is driven by content. You need to produce a lot of short videos across different channels and you need to renew it quickly.” High quality content can drive conversion of up to 40 per cent, she adds.
Live stream shopping has helped to provide a solution for the renewable demand on eCommerce. Streams can be set up on a routine basis and do not require the production costs of creating large scale, edited video campaigns. Content is created instantly in real time and can even be streamed from a mobile phone. Viewers just watch and click to shop directly from the stream.
But why does social commerce have such a resounding impact on consumers?
The beauty of this shoppable format is that brands can get as creative and as sociable with their viewers as they want. Brands can connect with viewers by giving exclusive behind the scenes access to the latest drops, style guides, designer stories, exclusive discounts and even influencers via Q and A's in the comments.
This highly personal and customer focussed approach creates a community of consumers who can confidently put their trust into the brand. Daniel Martin, global director of artistry and education at Tatcha explains “Today, many brands use the word ‘community’ to describe what is, in reality, customers. Community is not about a purchase or an add to cart. Community is about a common purpose, belief, or goal. If you start with the community, the commerce will come organically.”
Experts say that trustworthiness, authenticity and interactivity are the trends that will drive modern social media and as a result, social commerce. Noor Agha, the founder and chief executive of Flip says “There’s nothing honest on the internet anymore, and it’s impossible to know what is a good or bad product”. Live stream shopping boasts authenticity. When you are streaming your product in real-time, there really is no where to hide. Consumers can see a 360 view of what they want to buy, clicking to bring up more information and adding items straight to their bag. The core value is that this brings the benefits of in-person shopping online to drive an informed, confident purchase.
Sure, brands can engage with customers on social media, but this is still limited. Social eCommerce breaks down the barrier between buyer and seller by creating a personal and friendly environment. The process is no longer just a transaction, but a relationship.
With Christmas just around the corner, brands are ramping up their video content marketing strategies to push revenue through the roof. Flannels is the next UK luxury retailer to finesse the trend.
The holiday shopping period is an incredibly competitive time for brands. The pressure is on to deliver the most eye catching and engaging marketing content in order to draw in customers. Flannels teamed up with Smartzer to deliver a bold, flashy and dynamic video for their "Christmas Day Drip" campaign.
Execution:
Flannels used state of the art interactive video technology to create an entirely clickable campaign. Viewers could click to explore the models looks and be redirected to product display pages. The bright and explosive video content became even more immersive through video interactivity as viewers could browse all the featured products via a scrollable side bar. They were also given a second chance to shop via the replay screen with a product summary carousel.
Results:
Smartzer's interactive video platform enabled Flannels to create a video with the following features:
Clickable overlay with product hotspots
Product popups with look information and buy now CTA click through to PDP
Single product popups with name, brand and pricing information
Seamless Ecommerce integration
Christmas campaign delivery
API integration with up to date product information
Conclusion:
Video content marketing is evolving and adapting to an ever changing digital world. Customers have high expectations for shopping experiences and are constantly looking for fresh and exciting shoppable technologies. As a result, many big brands like Flannels are jumping on the interactive video trend to direct customers to their favourite products to buy. Using interactive video platforms for the holiday period can turn Christmas shopping into an immersive and super engaging experience!
- Nov 24, 2021
Today, it can be hard to keep up with technological advancements, but it has been hard to mistake the rise in shoppable formats within video content marketing this year alone.
At the start of the year, most of the world was still under some sort of restriction as a result of the global pandemic. Shops were shut, bars and clubs closed and international travel was prevented across many countries. As a result, brands and businesses have been forced to adapt to new ways of communication and online selling in order to make any sort of profit.
One of the newest trends to emerge has been live stream shopping and shoppable video. This social commerce style of shopping creates a more engaging, personable and friendly experience.
Shoppable video has provided a welcome break for shoppers who are bored of the endless stream of un-interactive marketing material online. More and more brands are seeing the benefits of being able to provide direct links to buy within their social content and e-commerce pages. Video interactivity has been proven to draw in a viewer and reduce user drop off to convince a sale and drive informed traffic.
Just check out JD Sport's star studded campaign, just in time for holiday shopping:
With live shopping, hosts appear on social media and e-commerce sites to discuss their favourite products with a large online audience. The beauty of live stream shopping is the rawness and authenticity of the content. There is nothing more honest than appearing in-real-time to viewers to display unfiltered products. The honesty of live streaming allows the customer to feel confident and reassured to buy and by incorporating influencer hosts, brands can drive even stronger revenue.
Live stream shopping has supported many brands this year, with global tech giant, Samsung, delivering a series of exclusive, discount events:
Interactive video platforms like Smartzer have been a key driving force to the rise in shoppable video popularity.
The solution provides a seamless and simplistic way for brands to add up to date product information to dynamic marketing video content and create live stream events that draw huge audiences and leave viewers amazed. This cross platform solution allows brands to monitor video and event analytics across social media and e-commerce. Businesses can see everything from click through rate, engagement rate and right down to individual product popularity. This provides a strong ROI and allows for easy measuring of KPI's.
Now, as the year draws to a close, huge social media corporations are following suit with their own in-house formats.
Twitter has announced the launch of their live stream shopping feature, set to debut at the end of November 2021 with Walmart as their first streamer.
While watching a Live Shopping stream on Twitter, people can take several actions that make the shopping experience on Twitter seamless, such as:
Check out the Shoppable Banner and Shop Tab on the Live event’s page.
Toggle back and forth between the Latest Tab and the Shop Tab throughout the live stream, allowing them to be a part of the conversation as they check out products.
Continue to watch the live stream on the merchant’s website within an in-app browser, so they don’t miss a thing while making a purchase.
Pinterest launched their live stream shopping feature in November 2021 with Pinterest TV.
The live stream features a sequence of 30 minute shoppable programs hosted by creators on Pinterest. Recordings of these shows can be accessed after the airdate to give viewers a second chance to learn and buy.
Pinterest live streams will cover a variety of subjects including fashion, food, beauty and home. Viewers can learn key information about products including price, composition, discounts and sizing all while asking the host questions. Not only this, but hosts of streams were able to boost their following on Pinterest following these shows.