50 Video Marketing Strategies – Ecommerce Edition
50 Ecommerce Video Marketing Strategies
There are so many marketing strategies out there – especially involving the Internet – that it can be hard to sort through all of the information and decide which are best to dedicate your time to.
One of the most effective strategies – and this is backed by countless studies – is video marketing. If you’re involved in ecommerce, then video marketing is a strategy that you simply cannot afford to pass up.
Because time is so valuable and there is so much information available online, I’ve put together a little list of the best ecommerce video marketing strategies. The list will give you tips on how to create engaging content, get it into video form, and upload it online. It also includes advice on the best places to put your video once it’s completed and how to get the most turnaround from it.
The following are 50 video marketing strategies for your ecommerce business.
Creating Engaging Content
The hardest and most important part of using video for online marketing is actually coming up with your first idea.
To speed up the brainstorming/idea process you can:
1. Check out what others in your industry are doing. Simply watching a few videos made by the competition can be instrumental in coming up with ideas of your own.
2. Spend time interpreting your competition’s marketing videos by asking yourself questions like: What do you like about them? How would you change the video if it was your own? Is the viewer feedback on the video positive? How can you beat them at video marketing?
3. Watch videos on video marketing! Yep, you heard right – there are a surprising number of videos out there that address video marketing itself. There is a great post, with a video included, on our own site. Check it out here – How to Start Video Marketing.
4. Watch viral videos that have nothing to do with video marketing. It might feel like you’re wasting your time, but all of those popular videos can be very useful in helping you come up with your own ideas. The most effective videos are those with the most views. It makes sense that by watching these, you will get a feel for what people want to see.
5. Keep a notebook handy. The best ideas come at the strangest times and you want to make sure that you can don’t forget those epiphanies of yours.
If you’re still having trouble coming up with video ideas, then you’re not out of luck. Try out one of the “tried and true” styles of video mentioned below. They will certainly help you get the ball rolling on your video marketing campaign.
6. Create a video that showcases your products and relates your company’s history and goals. It will work as a great introduction to your business and is a perfect launching place for future videos.
7. Create a video tutorial or “how-to” that explains the right way to use one of your products.
8. Create a video interview with someone involved in your company. The interview could even be with you or the owner of your business (if you’re not).
9. Create a video based off of an “old-fashioned” television commercial – you know, the type made by a local used car dealership or a real estate agent. Try something similar for your first video project if you’re extra stumped on ideas.
10. Create a video that is outlandish and wacky. I know that those aren’t two words that you hear very often in regard to marketing strategies, but the Internet-video viewing public loves “wild.” Just think of all those cat videos that get so many dang hits…
There is no point in including video in your ecommerce marketing strategy unless your video is well-planned and well-executed. The ten tips below will help make sure that your video’s content is engaging and keeps your audience interested.
11. Set a goal for your video. What do you want to achieve with it? Why are you interested in video marketing in the first place? A solid marketing objective can help with every aspect of filming and is essential to getting results from your completed project.
12. Select a target audience and build your video with them in mind.
13. Set the tone for your video from the get-go. Do you want it to be serious, inspirational, comedic, or something else entirely? Check out this post on the seven fascination triggers, a talk and book by Sally Hogshead, for a more in-depth look at what it means to be fascinating.
14. Strive to do something new with your video. A brand-new and completely unique idea will help your video stand out from the crowd.
15. Keep your video positive. Instead of bashing your competitors, make your video about the benefits of your own products and company.
16. Try out your video ideas on your friends and family for advice and feedback. It’s best to pre-screen your ideas with people you trust and who won’t make you feel bad if your ideas just don’t cut it.
17. Take a hint from those cat videos that I mentioned. Be silly, take chances, and do something awesome to make the biggest impact with your video marketing campaign.
18. Know your products before you begin filming. It is surprising how many people don’t take this to heart. If you haven’t used your own products in a while, familiarize yourself with them again – it will make your completed video a heck of a lot better.
19. Create an outline for your video. You don’t need a script, but a simple outline will help you keep your ideas organized.
20. Talk to others involved with your company. Oftentimes, other people involved in your business will be able to offer ideas and insight that you wouldn’t think of yourself.
Making the Video
Man, twenty tips and we haven’t even gotten to making the video yet! Luckily, the next few tips are all about filming.
21. Decide if you’re going to make the video yourself or if you will hire a professional to help you film. A professional will obviously give your video a more, well, “professional quality,” but many successful video marketing campaigns have been started with webcams or cheap handheld video cameras.
Make sure you check out this video first for a list of equipment CPC Strategy’s Director of Marketing, Andrew Davis has been collecting over the past 6 months. You can also do a lot of research on Amazon by searching for “video cameras” or “lighting” or “microphones” and sorting by average best rating. Make sure you get a group of video products that suit your specific needs.
22. Decide on a video camera if you are making your video yourself. Like mentioned above, a cheap camera will do the job, but investing in a higher-quality one is a good idea if you plan to include more than one video in your marketing campaign.
23. Make sure that the sound in your video is top-notch. It is absolutely essential that your audio be crisp and clear and this is why I recommend that you invest in a high-quality microphone before you purchase a fancy video camera.
24. Choose the actors for your video. Most people interested in a video marketing campaign either act in the video themselves or have friends help out – there really is no need, for most people, to hire a pro.
25. Choose a location for filming. The office is a good place as is the local park. Just make sure that wherever you decide to film your video, it is clean and there are no background distractions.
26. Strive to be authentic and honest in your video. Your audience will easily be able to tell if you’re being fake or untruthful.
27. Include music in your video. Music can really tie a video together, especially if you select a song and it becomes “linked” with your business. For instance, if you use it in the background of each new video included in your marketing campaign, people will connect it in their minds with your company.
28. Edit your video for perfection. Don’t just slap it together. Make sure that every aspect of it is tight.
The Final Touches
You’ve filmed your video and now you’re ready for people to see it – not so fast! You should put a few final touches on your video before posting it to get the most out of your ecommerce marketing campaign.
29. Make sure that your video isn’t too long in duration. Most people browsing the Internet don’t have very long attention spans and keeping your video under two or three minutes (at most) will ensure that they watch the entire thing.
30. Showcase your brand. There really is no point in using video for marketing if you don’t rep your brand at some point. Include your company logo and name at the beginning and end of your video.
31. Incorporate a call to action. You should leave your audience with a desire to do more, learn more about your company and products, and visit your company’s website.
32. Edit your video a second time for perfection.
Posting Your Video
The below strategies will help you bring your completed video to the widest audience possible.
33. Decide whether you are going to post your finished video on your own website or a third-party website like YouTube – or if you’re going to do both. Posting your video to YouTube will bring it a larger built-in audience but means that people are watching the video on YouTube and not on your site. Posting the video on your own website means that your audience is on your site while watching it, but that not as many people will be able to find it. Having it posted on both will messes with the SEO a little.
34. Interpret your goals for your video. You can use your goals to decide which of the posting options to pursue. Are you looking for a lot of attention and views? Or would you prefer to have people actually visit your website?
35. Decide between self-hosting and third-party video hosting. Most people choose third-party hosting because it is easier to use, there are few technical issues, and they provide you with a lot of tools to help promote your video.
36. Consider posting multiple videos if you decide to post on multiple sites. Having a different video on each will help with SEO and work not to bore your audience.
37. Consider using minis or clips if you decide to post on multiple sites. For instance, post a mini clip on YouTube and have viewers link back to your company website to see the entire thing.
SEO Tips and Driving Traffic
A great video is effective in itself but a little SEO will help you fully utilize your new ecommerce video marketing strategy and drive more traffic to your website.
38. Include a relative title and relative keywords when you post your video.
39. Write an interesting and key-word filled summary about your video when you post it online.
40. Include tags with your video. YouTube, for example, lets you include as many relevant tags as you desire.
41. Upload an interesting thumbnail. A thumbnail is the small “thumbnail-sized” picture that you see when browsing for videos.
42. Set up a YouTube profile or channel if you plan on making and uploading more videos in the future. It will help your audience find your new videos more easily and will also help attract new viewers.
43. Change your video’s filenames to something relevant after uploading. If you don’t, they will be random and confusing – just a sequence of numbers and letters.
44. Fill in all information fields provided on YouTube and other video sites. This isn’t necessary to the uploading process, but it will help make your video more visible and easily searchable.
45. Surround your video with engaging content. Your goal should be to drive traffic to your website and make your viewers want more. At the very least, include a link back to your website.
What Now?
So you’ve filmed a great video, edited it to perfection, posted it to the internet, and optimized it –what now?
46. Make another video to add to your marketing campaign. The more videos that you have, the more people will hear about your company and your products.
47. Consider doing a series or follow-up to your video. Doing this will help you build a small, yet interested, audience.
48. Keep your website up-to-date. There is no point in a video marketing campaign if your business’s website is stuck in the dark ages. Upload engaging new content frequently for the best effects.
49. Post new videos on a regular basis to build an audience and drive traffic.
50. Have fun and interact with your viewers. Don’t be a brick wall. Respond to as many of your viewer’s comments as possible. It is a valuable opportunity to grow, promote your business, and interact with customers.
Well, that’s about it! There are 50 strategies for a successful ecommerce video marketing campaign. Are there any strategies that I left out? Did any strategy particularly hit home with you? I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment if you’d like!
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