BEST WAYS TO SHARE SHOPPABLE CONTENT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

How to stand out from the crowd on social media using shoppable images and video.

Social media has rapidly become one of the number one tools for product discovery. As a result, you would be a fool not to use platforms to get the word out about your brand. However, in order to do this effectively, your content needs to be both engaging and memorable.

Interactive, shoppable content is the latest trend sweeping the internet. Scrollers can tap, swipe, spin and zoom in on posts to find out more information about products. Content like this achieves 3-4 x more engagement than standard video. So, there are many benefits for using shoppability in social media marketing campaigns.

How to make interactive video and images work on social media

Interactive video platforms and sharing across the internet

You can easily learn how to make interactive videos by using a platform like Smartzer. Standard videos can be turned into interactive campaigns by adding a clickable overlay. This overlay allows creators to tag product information to hotspots to create informative popups. These can feature calls to action such as "buy now", "add to cart" , "sign up now" and more. Viewers can click these buttons to be transported to product pages, ecommerce landing pages and sometimes allow viewers to shop directly from the video. Once created, there are three ways that brands can share.

1. Sharing on ecommerce sites

You can embed videos on ecommerce pages to make your website stand out. Using shoppable content on ecommerce landing pages instantly grabs the attention of the viewer and allows for easy product discovery. This feature can even be used as an in-app feature in iOS and Android.

2. Sharing in email newsletters

Using interactive campaigns in email newsletters is a great way to clearly lay out new products via client communication. You can include a gif image of your video and attach your shoppable video URL. When clicked, the link will pull up a window with your video that the user can shop. This opens a new opportunity for product discovery and directs qualified traffic to your ecommerce, increasing conversion rates.

3. Sharing socially

It is possible to share videos across social media through stories, posts and ads on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat. Simply add a link in bio, swipe up on story, link in ads on platform ad managers or link in a post caption. This will direct your audience to your shoppable video.

Not only can you do this with on demand content, but you can use the same methods to share links to shoppable livestreams.

Check out these exciting examples of shoppable content shared via social media, CRM and on ecommerce...

Levi's and TikTok, shoppable, swipe up ads

This Levi's ad on TikTok has been made shoppable through the "learn more" call to action. When tapped, the viewer is directed straight to the campaign page. At the end of the 15 second ad, the end screen allows you to click to replay.

MINI Countryman ads on Facebook and Instagram in partnership with Smartzer

MINI turned standard videos into a dynamic, shoppable social media experience. The posts featured a learn more CTA that opened the shoppable player. Consumers could click to learn more about parts of the car and book a test drive.

Dior shows us how to make interactive video suitable for CRM

Using Smartzer 's interactive player, Dior created a beautiful and shoppable campaign video featuring single product popups. By clicking a CTA in the email, the customer was directed to the video to shop the featured accessories.

WHAT MAKES A PRODUCT SHOPPABLE VIDEO SO GREAT?

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

BEST SHOPIFY APPS TO INCREASE SALES 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