“Seeing is believing.” A famous phrase that could hardly be more relevant than when talking about product videos.
Showcasing your products’ features through a video elevates consumer trust in it and in your brand – Especially beneficial for closing sales in e-commerce platforms. It doesn’t need a complex explanation either: video is the closest a customer can get to your products online.
But before you run to grab your camera, know that not just any product video will give you the results we are talking about! For most users online, the quality of a piece of content implies the quality of the product it’s for, and the company it’s from.
So, as with most things in life, if you are going to do it, you better do it right!
Today, we are going to take a page from some of the best video companies out there, and see how to combine the right type of video with the necessary elements to make pieces that can skyrocket your sales.
Defining the Piece’s Content
Various factors play a role in the message you want to convey and how you express it.
Target audience
Before writing, it’s crucial to keep in mind who the video will be addressing. I’m not only referring to the variety of ages or lifestyles of your potential clients, I’m also talking about where they are in their customer journey.
A video aimed to attract leads and raise your brand awareness is substantially different from one whose goal is to close a sale. In other words, one addresses people who will stumble across it on social media, for example, while the other is directed to your website’s visitors. The tone will vary, and the content as well.
Stay away from trying to satisfy various audiences with one single piece. Consider making distinct audiovisual pieces according to the different stages of the customer journey, even when referring to the same product.
Focus on “the solution”
The aim of the video is to show off your product or service as a problem solver. So, identify the matter your audience is dealing with and demonstrate how your product addresses it effectively.
Are there other products already dealing with the same issue? Then point out how your item differs from those in a better way.
In short, the video has to answer this question: why buying your product will make customers happier than having a different one or not having one at all!
Stick to a single feature
You want your audience to watch your video in its entirety, and walk away having learned something about it. So, the best thing to do is to make it simple, short, and easy to understand. How? Focus on one single product, and only one feature of it: more precisely, its key value proposition.
This doesn’t mean you can’t display or mention more than one aspect of the video. You can. But even when doing so, try to keep those related to one single theme to make the video cohesive.
For instance, you can present various features of your product that ultimately give the idea of how user-friendly it is.
What if your product has more than one benefit that’s worth showcasing? Then consider making a series of videos! When combined, these will give a full description of the item – while still working as individual pieces – and having a compounding effect for your marketing strategy.
Short ‘n sweet
The longer your video, the more likely it is your audience will lose interest in it. An engaging product video should express its message in 90 seconds or less. If made exclusively for social media sharing, even less!
Active and in context
Display your item in action. This is so obvious but yet SO important, that it’s worth spelling out.
The whole point of making a product video is to show how it works, but that premise is a bit more involved than just that. Knowing your target audience also means recognizing when and where they might use your product.
So, always make sure your video displays the item or service in a context your viewers can relate to. Real-life scenarios they can see themselves in.
Play with emotion
Putting your product in context is part of making your video relatable. It’s critical for your video’s success to resonate with the audience on a deeper emotional level.
Merely listing your product benefits won’t do the trick!
Seize the power of the audiovisual experience and aim to connect with the audience through humor, dreams, honesty, nostalgia… the options are unlimited. The idea is to make them feel like you understand them.
Brand your video
Effective branding is another crucial aspect of a successful product video.
Just like any other compelling marketing piece, your video has to convey the unique style of your company and its product. Adopting the right aesthetic, music, and tone, you can make your company stand out from the rest and establish it as one of a kind.
More importantly, you can have your video working in tandem with the rest of your marketing efforts.
Types of Product Videos
Different products or services can benefit from different kinds of product videos to portray them. Let’s take a look at some of the most effective types of product videos out there, and see how they can benefit your campaign.
Explainer videos
If you are trying to display a complex product, service, or concept in the most engaging way, explainer videos are the ticket for you.
In less than 90 seconds, this style can address any issue clearly and compellingly. Being both informative and educational, it effortlessly portrays your product as the solution to your customers’ pain-point.
This is the optimal kind of video to broadcast at your website, or for a paid YouTube ad.
Review videos
A review video is just what its name indicates. It describes the product’s pros and cons (especially the pros, though).
It’s a great type of video for building trust in a product while helping the consumer to make an informed choice.
Demo videos
Seeing how someone handles a product is an excellent way to have audiences imagine themselves doing so as well. That’s exactly what demo videos try to accomplish, showcasing the user experience with your product.
The cool part about a demo video is that it doubles as a useful guide for clients that already own the product, and want to know how to get the most out of it.
Unboxing
Especially frequent among tech products and social media platforms, unboxings showcase the unpacking of an item and continues by explaining it in detail.
Instructions on how to use it are not necessarily included in unboxing videos. One of the reasons is that they tend to be about simple B2C products.
Its highest advantage is that customers can precisely see what they are getting. This fosters brand trust and leaves no room for unpleasant surprises.
How-tos
A how-to video details step-by-step explanations of a process to achieve the desired result.
It should cover the entire procedure. However, it has to be as simple as possible to enable the audience to follow the process. Sometimes this requires breaking it down in many steps.
Summing up
It’s not an exaggeration to state that a well-crafted product video is one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal right now. Doubly so when talking about online businesses.
Its undeniable power to foster trust in your product or service translates into clients more prone to advance further down your conversion funnel – something that will inevitably be reflected in your bottom line.
Needless to say, a poor-quality product video will convey the opposite message, and have an inverse effect.
So, never compromise the quality of the visuals and content of your video, and start using the elements we talked about today to flesh out that amazing product video your brand needs!
