Businesses that sell product online can benefit greatly with an online video marketing plan. Studies show that video is more effective than any other medium for building brand recognition and generating sales. Although today’s consumers are savvier and more skeptical than ever, and will quickly click away from obvious pitches that don’t provide them with any intrinsic value.
But according to Rico Nasol, Content Team Senior Manager for Zappos, "Online video is another way for the customers to see the product and the company culture.” The E-Commerce giant sells over 300,000 different products, and the company sells anywhere from 6-30% more merchandise when accompanied by videos. This session from the
Online Video Platform Summit, "
New Strategies for Marketing and E-Commerce", was moderated by Justin Foster, Founder of the non-profit
Video Commerce Consortium, who was joined by a panel of retailers that are each using their own innovative strategy with video and social media to create brand awareness and loyalty, and to increase sales conversion rates.
Each panelist brought on interesting story to share how they are approaching the challenge of implementing social video. Foster shared some background on the state of video and e-commerce from a report by Forrester Research,
Online Retailers' Adoption Of Online Video Content Is Ahead Of Consumers' Preferences, which found that 68% of the top 50 Internet retailers use video content on their Web sites, compared with 18% in 2008 – a 400% growth in one year. Sunday Sky's Quarterly Research Report, Q2 2010, "
State of Video in E-Commerce" also looked on the same category of the top 50 North-American online retailers and found that more than 65% of retailers use videos.
BeautyChoice.com has a unique model of creating, or sourcing, user-generated content through YouTube. They find YouTubers with a lot of subscribers and sign them into talent contracts, and then do product placement in their videos. Beauty.com's Jordan Blum says they've generated over 340 million views from those YouTube videos alone, with practically no marketing budget. Laurie Williams says
Zappos.com uses their "quirky" company culture to build trust with customers. They have been producing short videos featuring actual Zappos staff members who demonstrate and talk about the products in an authentic and relevant way. They have also been promoting,
The Zappos Video Experience, which is a forum where customers can submit video testimonials to share their stories as well. Jimmy Healey says
OnlineShoes.com uses a hosted ratings and reviews system that's embedded in the video to increase conversion rates. Watch the video of the session to see how these retailers are reaping the benefits of e-commerce video, social media and YouTube marketing.
