By Tom More

People depend on social platforms to connect with friends, watch videos, make online purchases, and more. As internet connectivity continues to penetrate the world, social media is now integrated into everyone’s daily lives. Also, these platforms are not just for posting content, they are powerful tools for ecommerce owners. As a result, you can now convert social media followers into your loyal customers with the right video marketing strategies. With the help of a video maker, you can create stunning videos that drive traffic, generate leads, create audience engagement, and increase your company’s bottom line.

Video Is Now More Important Than Ever

As of 2020, the number of online buyers is over 2 billion, which means one in four people all over the globe is an online shopper. And the majority of these buyers conduct online research before making their purchases.Take a look at these astounding figures below:

• According to YouTube, the YouTube platform has over two billion users.
• One billion hours of YouTube videos are consumed every single day.
• How 72% of customers prefer to learn about goods and services via videos.
• About 80% of video marketers say video has increased their sales, while 84% of customers say they bought goods or services after watching a video.

With these findings, it is clear that you have to leverage social media platforms to promote your business. For marketing to be effective, you need to send your messages to the right place, at the right time on the right channels. In today’s modern world, your clients hang out online. Since a large portion of your leads and customers use various social media apps daily, you need to be where they are if you don’t want to get crushed by your competition.

Gradually, people of the modern world are having reduced attention spans due to the technology that makes everything swift and easy. They don’t like reading lengthy blog articles without pictures. In the same token, a simple image is not sufficient enough to provide ample information. Hence, online users prefer to watch product review videos, how-tos, live demos, webinars, and the like. This is not surprising as videos convey more information using the least amount of time. It also assures better understanding because viewers utilize more senses with an audio-visual format.

The popularity of video content will continue to rise because moving messages prove to be more enticing and engaging. Most of all, viewers understand them better. Clearly, as an ecommerce owner, it is time for you to capitalize on the power of video content by using a video maker to create stunning videos that wow your audience.

What Is Social Media Video Marketing?

Social media video marketing combines two powerful approaches. First, video marketing is a noted strategy designed by marketing specialists to create and curate video content as a method of marketing goods or services to your target audience. It works by keeping viewers engaged with your brand, using an informative and entertaining format they love watching from start to finish. It is effective because video content is simple and easy to digest. It contains the power of words, the magic of images, and the beauty of sound in one remarkable marketing material.

The second component is social media marketing. This means you engage with the target audience using various social media platforms. Since everyone hangs out online, to the point of using their favorite platforms many times daily, it is no wonder why marketers believe you should focus heavily on social media to promote your ecommerce brand. Increasing your marketing efforts by using a video maker to craft stunning masterpieces for social media will allow you to increase your brand’s reach.

Remember, videos create more engagement as viewers prefer to watch them than read a huge chunk of boring text. Whether it’s to learn more about your product or just for pure entertainment, people will click that play button as long as you make compelling videos that resonate with them. For this reason, you need social media video marketing to capitalize on the popularity of social media apps and videos. You can create videos for the following social media platforms:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

Lucky for you, you can utilize multiple types of videos for different social profiles. You can create a video on how you founded the company, product overviews, how-to guides, commercials, and more. For best results, you need to find out the specifications and limits of each platform so you can optimize the videos you create with your video maker.

Why Your Business Needs to Implement a Social Media Video Marketing Strategy

When you look around you, you will realize that your fiercest competitors already use social media. They don’t just post pictures, articles, and updates, but they rely on stunning video content to capture an elusive target market. If you don’t want to get left behind, you need to begin implementing a social video media video marketing strategy for your ecommerce business. Take a look at the top four reasons why you need to use social media videos for your brand.

1.   Video converts viewers into customers.

Video informs, persuades, and entertains, which is why they make the perfect material for converting leads into loyal clients. With the right video content, you can capture your target market’s attention and make a great first impression. The key is using the right hook, and following it up with amazing content that keeps them engaged and interested in what you have to say.

You can use videos to inform them of your products, make announcements, and show behind-the-scenes footage. When they see real faces behind your brand, they feel more affinity for your goods or services. Besides, videos assure engagement with your target market because it is the fastest way to learn information. Videos prove to be more interactive than articles. When everything is presented visually with sound, you can show people what you mean instead of merely telling them. As a result, clients become more inclined to connect with your brand. If you don’t use social media video marketing for your business, you lose out on a fantastic way to help your company grow.

2.   Video builds trust between you and your audience.

If you want to build trust, use videos to make it happen. Trust is a vital component for every business. Remember, customers will only buy your product if they feel they can trust your brand. To maintain your credibility, establish your authority, and build solid relationships with your clients, you need videos. This medium fosters trust because you can be transparent and honest. Take a look at what you can do with videos to bolster customer confidence in your brand:

• Show what goes on in your factory.
• Exhibit your company culture.
• Showcase testimonials from happy clients.
• Conduct product reviews or how-to guides.
• Let your authenticity shine with interviews.

As you can see, using videos allows you to create various video content that can help amplify your brand in the eyes of the people who matter. Moreover, leveraging this content on your various social media profiles assure higher visibility because people are more likely to watch, react, and share a video than other content formats.

3.   Mobile users crave video.

Today, your competitors understand the power of videos and social media to make an impact on your audience. Besides, people of the modern world don’t just use smart TV screens or desktops to consume content. Since the advent of mobile technology, from smartphones to mobile data, your clients love consuming content anytime, anywhere. With the rise of Bluetooth earbuds, more people watch videos while on the go. You can often see everyone watching videos as they:

• Go on with their daily commute.
• Wait for appointments to start.
• Relax at home after a long day.
• Take a breather while at work.
• Pass the time while using the elliptical in the gym.

The list above is not exhaustive, but as you can see, people can do so much with mobile videos. In today’s forward-thinking society, multitasking is the name of the game. In fact, even kids young as two-years-old have their own favorite YouTube channels. Hence, creating brand videos with a video maker and releasing them on your social media profile will help you generate more leads and entice more prospects for your business.

4.   Video is the best content for social media.

Video works best for social media because it receives the most engagement. People are more likely to watch a video than read an article or view a photo album. Right now, social media users are more inclined to give their likes, comments, and shares for video content.

Besides, people log into their social media profiles throughout the day. And whatever interesting tidbit they see, they quickly react as the various platforms make it easy for everyone to voice out their opinions. Thus, it is not surprising at all why videos hold a strong influence on the viewers. If you want to create leads and convert them into loyal clients, you need to start churning amazing videos for social media.

5 Types of Social Media Videos Perfect for Ecommerce

Videos dominate the social media arena because they catch the eye and prove to be more appealing than text or photo content. As a result, you need compelling videos to drive audience engagement. Doing so assures your ecommerce brand gains tons of visibility, by driving traffic to your website or increasing sales. Now, the most important question to ask, is what kind of video content must you post for social media? Take a look at the top five best video formats to include in your marketing strategy:

1.   About us videos.

A brand is typically just a name and a logo. If you want people to feel more invested in your brand, you have to offer them something more valuable. ‘About us’ videos work well because they do exactly as their name says. They tell your clients what your brand is all about. If you remain a faceless name, people will not care about your brand at all.

If you want to make an impact with your target customers, you need to tell your brand’s unique story. What sets you apart from the other companies who sell the same products or services that you do? Why should they buy things from you? When your customers understand your company’s mission and vision statement, they feel more invested in your brand.

Hence, they begin to trust you more. When you ingrain your brand into their lives, they see you as something they cannot live without. If you successfully build a relationship, they will patronize your products.  To illustrate, Bliss World does a great job sharing various clips on social media to inform the world about their cruelty-free and vegan skincare products. They use:

• Behind the scenes videos
• Employee closeups
• Product manufacturing clips
• Clients testimonials

2.   Product close-up.

Writing about the product, no matter how in-depth, will never bring the same satisfaction as seeing the product up close and personal. Seeing what you want to up-close makes you feel more confident in spending your hard-earned money. If you want your clients to see the details and nuances of your product, a close-up video is a must.

This allows you to take shots of your product from all possible angles. As a result, your clients won’t miss out on any important details. Sometimes, whatever questions they have on their head will be answered when you show them every intricacy of what you offer. For example, Solo Stove portable fire pit and single stoves did a great job by showing every angle of their unique gadget that’s specifically designed for adventure. Those people asking if this is worth it will get their answers when they see for themselves what a Solo Stove can do.

3.   Product overview.

A product overview offers so much more than a close-up. Apart from showing different angles of the product, you discuss its purpose, features, and pricing structure compared to the others in the market. You can also discuss where you distribute your product so clients know where to buy it. As an example, Natori always does a great job presenting product overviews of their sexy lingerie lines from sexy silk nighties to comfy cotton pajamas.

Take a look at the different types of content you can create for your product overview:

• Informational: This video covers what your product is all about. It helps you establish authority because you share helpful information. If you want to make sure they buy your products, always have handy informational product overviews.
• Tutorials: Tutorials or how-to videos are super popular because people want to know how to use your products. Since they’re spending a lot of money, showing them this demo overview inspires confidence in your brand. After all, this is better than just reading any instruction manual. You can even tie this up with industry-related content to make it more engaging.
• User-Generated: Nothing beats user-generated content because these come from your various clients. These act as testimonials coming from users who are happy with your brand. Best of all, this doesn’t cost you anything, as you can ask the original content creator for permission to share the video.

4.   Messages from the founders.

Hearing from the founder who conceptualized the brand makes people feel at ease. Using this method is a great way to showcase your company culture. Apart from encouraging sales, it can recruit new employees. You can try the following video formats:

• Announcements: Release new product information and sales announcement to entice clients to keep adding products to their carts.
• Appreciation: Make a thank you video to show your appreciation for your customers’ loyalty.
• Q&A: An interview format with the founder makes for an engaging video. It satisfies the need for information. You can announce on your social media profiles before you release the video and ask them what they like to know.
• Live Videos: Nothing beats a live story when it comes to showing authenticity. You can do a live interview session with questions from the chatbot. Moreover, you can show event videos and actual store footage. This method is effective as you can interact in real-time.

5.   Explainer videos.

As the name of the video implies, this does a great job in providing explanations about your products or services. They are very effective because they showcase both audio and visual stimuli to explain complex information thoroughly. As a result, your viewers can understand what your brand is all about, removing confusion and mistrust.

The key to making an effective explainer video rests on the script. It serves as the strong foundation from which the entire concept is built. Hence, you need to draft a good script with an accompanying storyboard before shooting. With this helpful guide, editing your project using a video maker online becomes a breeze.  You can use this to explain anything you want, and they are effective when used in:

• Landing page
• Product page
• Social media posts
• Accompanying blog articles

Strategies for Social Media Video Marketing Campaigns

Creating a strategy is essential, as a goal without a plan remains a wish. You need to create a video marketing strategy for social media to further engage with the followers you’ve painstakingly built. This also assures that you can continue to attract new followers. To improve your result, remember to follow these basic rules:

1.   Know your audience.

This tried and tested concept is central to any marketing strategy, and it holds even more true for videos. Since you will use a lot of resources to create your videos, you need to get things right. If you don’t know your audience, you won’t know what topics to include in your content. You need to know them to understand how and where they consume their content. Hence, you must be familiar with your target audience’s pain points, needs, and wants. These details can guide you in making your marketing materials.

Remember, knowing your ideal customers helps you write touching scripts and select images that appeal to their emotions. When you touch their hearts, they feel more compelled to support your brand. Most importantly, they will most likely share, like, and comment on your video uploads, assuring an increase in brand awareness.

2.   Run tests.

Before releasing your videos, it would be highly beneficial to do test runs. It will save you from doing guesswork. For best results, conduct an FGD or focus group discussion with key interviewees who best represent your audience profile. Ask them what they think about your brand and what would work best for videos.

Later on, examine tests and analytics to gauge which among your videos gather the most attention. How many people watch a few seconds as opposed to watching the whole clip? Check your data to see which topics gathered the most engagement. Knowing these details can help you map your content. As a result, you can focus your resources on the topics that your audience love. At the same time, you can figure out what went wrong, allowing you to avoid these costly mistakes in the future.

3.   Fit their videos to their platform.

While YouTube reigns supreme in terms of videos,  you cannot discount that many people watch videos on Facebook Feed, Facebook Live, IGTV, IG Stories, TikTok, and Linkedin.  Thus, your videos must match the platform as they have various specifications. Take a look at the following examples below:

For YouTube:

1. Always have a call to action at the end of your videos, to guide viewers on what to do.
2. Though you can upload videos that are 12 hours long, the majority of your users are mobile so stick to 30 minutes or less.
3. Create a custom thumbnail because people see this when they search for videos.

For Facebook:

1. When users scroll through the newsfeed, videos will autoplay without sound; so make sure your image clips stand out and consider adding subtitles.
2. Upload native content on Facebook so your viewers don’t bounce out of your profile to another page.
3. Max of 240 minutes video with 10GB only.

For Instagram:

1. Take note of IG’s 60-second time limit on the feed because it will cut off, while IG stories have a 15-second cutoff.
2. Put the most important information first so in case they don’t watch on IG TV, they have heard what matters.
3. Use the IG Loop, which continually plays your videos until the users scroll down, to create seamless clips that keep viewers engaged.

For Twitter:

1. Videos autoplay on Twitter so try to make an impact right from the start.
2. Use quality captions that keep viewers interested.
3. Limit videos to 20 seconds or shorter as this is mostly a text-based platform.

For LinkedIn:

1. Most users of the site are professionals so keep your content the same.
2. Limit videos from 3 seconds to 10 minutes long, with a total file size of no more than 5GB.
3. Vertical videos will look square on the newsfeed.

For Tiktok:

1. Limit videos to 15 seconds.
2. Longer videos up to 60 seconds must be four 15-second clips recorded natively on the app.
3. Use compelling captions

If you want to get the right message across to your audience, you must keep the platform in mind. Otherwise, all your hard work crafting the video will be wasted.

Wrapping Up

If you want to increase client engagement levels, generate more prospects, and build trust in your ecommerce business, you need to start capitalizing on videos. Share these on your various social media profiles to stay connected with your loyal clients and possible leads. Remember, videos convert viewers into customers because they are more likely to buy your products if they see them. Most of all, your customers are on mobile and they crave videos. Finally, videos just prove to be the best content for social media and receive higher engagement than any other content format. As you can see, the success of your ecommerce brand hinges in part on a strong social media video marketing strategy. To stay ahead of your competition, you must rely on video content or your voice will get lost amid all the noises online.

By Tom More

Sourced from BIGCOMMERCE