The secret to a smooth customer journey that ends in conversion is the convenience factor. The less customers have to switch from one channel to another and between modes of research and purchase, the more likely they are to convert. That’s what makes shoppable videos such a powerful weapon for sales & marketing, now used by more than 40% of companies. 

But before we discuss how you could best use shoppable video content, let’s answer a key question – what is a shoppable video?

What Makes a Video “Shoppable”?

Shoppable video is defined as video content that facilitates purchases through the use of embedded product links in the video or interactive product content in/around the video content. Simply put, for a video to qualify as shoppable, viewers should be able to click on the content and be directed to an e-commerce website, mobile app, or a brand’s social media page. 

Shoppable videos remove several intervening steps in the customer journey and make it possible to go straight from research to purchase.

Traditionally, a customer watching online videos to research a product would have to look up the website, find the product by browsing through the catalog, applying filters, and finalize the purchase by adding shipment details, payment information, and so on. This approach has two disadvantages: 

• It’s inconvenient for the customer and can prove frustrating if they are unable to find that exact product depicted in the video. 
• There’s always a risk of distraction or change of heart, which means that the brand loses out on a conversion opportunity. 

Shoppable videos address this through the simple but revolutionary premise of linking the purchase pathway with online video content. 

Use of Shoppable Video Has Skyrocketed in the Pandemic

While the format was always popular, shoppable videos have witnessed widespread adoption in the last few quarters. Consumers understandably gravitated towards online shopping during the pandemic, and this also led to an increase in video consumption. 

According to research by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), shoppable video ads increased by 21% in 2020. Leading companies like NBC Universal, Disney’s Hulu, Snap, and others are investing heavily in the format. This is because shoppable video has enormous potential to engage with audiences at a time when mobility remains restricted, and e-commerce adoption is at an all-time high. 

Shoppable Video is the Secret to Engagement and Conversion in a Low Touch Economy

If we were to look at the benefits of shoppable video, there are five clear ways to gain.

It amps up the personalization quotient – e-Commerce may be convenient, but finding products amid a labyrinth-like catalog is a challenge and the experience becomes impersonal. Shoppable videos allow customers to interact with products on a personal level and launch actions, instead of passive viewing.

Young customers prefer video over other media – Millions and Gen Z overwhelmingly prefer video over other content formats, and 85% of millennials go on to purchase a product or service after watching videos. Imagine the monetization opportunity, then, if you were to populate the video itself with purchasable links.

It targets leads at a crucial juncture on the purchase journey – Most prospects watching videos for research purposes are conversion-ready. A shoppable video format lets you target leads while they are still warm, improving your chances of success.

It decreases the pressure on physical stores to perform – In 2021, different parts of the world still face mobility restrictions that impact your in-store footfall. Shoppable videos help to increase the traffic to your online presence, thereby reducing pressures on stores without compromising on revenues.

You get analytics insights to constantly keep finetuning the CX – Finally, you can monitor customer behavior and engagement with your videos to pinpoint the best and worst-performing areas. These analytics insights can prove invaluable when formulating future sales and marketing strategies.

What Do You Need to Get Started?

Deploy a video management platform to turn your run-of-the-mill videos into rich, interactive shoppable content.

There’s no perfect moment to roll out a shoppable video strategy – simply choose a piece of content that’s performed well in the past or which features a new/well-loved product. Explore the engagement opportunities available to you. If you have a mature social media presence, shoppable videos on Instagram might make sense. If your e-Commerce website receives moderate to high traffic, you can deploy a video management platform to turn your run-of-the-mill videos into rich, interactive shoppable content.

Here are four takeaways to help get started: 

• Craft short, engaging, and targeted calls to action (CTAs) for embedding – This prevents the video from becoming too cluttered while drawing the viewer’s attention to your product. 
• Use a scalable video management platform on the cloud – Shoppable videos occupy a significant amount of bandwidth, and you need an infinitely scalable infrastructure like AWS Cloud to support multiple customers interacting with your content concurrently. 
• Setup video analytics in integration with CRM – This ensures that your customer records are updated with their video engagement information and you can cross-link the two for future campaigns while providing support, and personalized communication.
• Integrate shoppable videos across your eCommerce presence – You can connect videos to any online asset where you have an eCommerce footprint and not just a product page. For example, a customer testimonial video can have a clickable link to a case study, from where customers can buy or subscribe to your product. 

Transform even the simplest of content into informative, engaging, and conversion-focused assets.

Ultimately, the goal is to interest the viewer, encourage action, and provide a convenient way to launch that action right from the video. That’s exactly what we help our customers achieve, deploying the kPoint Video Management Platform to transform even the simplest of content into informative, engaging, and conversion-focused assets. Using advanced interactivity, analytics, and cloud-based hosting capabilities, companies can now unlock the full potential of the shoppable videos and captivate the next generation of customers. 

Comment below with your thoughts and contact us to know more.  

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