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Using video to boost WooCommerce sales

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Great video content helps build confidence in your brand

Video is fast becoming an essential part of the online shopping experience.

One of the biggest challenges of eCommerce is accurately conveying a product’s physical attributes remotely.

Showcasing products accurately through online stores has become easier over time as technology has evolved, with clearer images and detailed information available on product pages.

Now advances in filming technology mean that high-quality video is more accessible than ever, and it’s changing the game for online shopping.

85% of consumers consider video an essential part of their experience when shopping online, and 65% of regular online shoppers actively seek out videos to inform their purchase decisions.

One clear advantage of video content is that it removes uncertainty about a product’s attributes. In turn, this means that customers are less likely to return products or abandon their shopping carts.

In this post, we’ll cover:

  • Understanding the customer journey
  • Telling brand stories creatively
  • Experimenting with new shopping channels
  • Evolving websites to better support video content

Understanding the customer journey

Traditionally the customer journey has been viewed through five distinct and linear stages:

  1. Awareness – the consumer becomes aware of your brand or product, either through advertising or word of mouth
  2. Consideration – they realise they have a need to be met and assess whether or not to shop with you
  3. Purchase – they go ahead with the purchase
  4. Retention – they use the product, seek out post-purchase support or make additional purchases
  5. Advocacy – they share their experience with your brand with others

In reality, the customer journey rarely follows these steps in order. Think about the last time you made an important purchase — maybe you saw a product on your social feed, then searched online for reviews and found recommendations for similar products.

Perhaps you put the item in your cart with the intention of coming back to it later, or contacted the brand’s customer support team asking for more information.

If you go ahead with the purchase, later you might search online for inspiration on how best to use it.

A seamless post-sale experience could be the difference between making repeat purchases or being put off the brand for good. Who knows, you may even decide to return it and instead shop with one of the brand’s competitors.

The point is, online sales aren’t always straightforward. And your customers might not neatly move through your sales funnel as you expect them to.

The average consumer now uses 10 different channels to communicate with businesses, creating a customer journey that is increasingly complex and non-linear.

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How important is a consistent customer experience anyway?

The increasingly complex and non-linear customer journey makes delivering a consistent customer experience more of a challenge, but it’s worth making the effort to get it right.

According to Salesforce:

The customer journey also looks different for different types of products.

Customers making larger, high-value purchases will most likely go back and forth between the awareness and consideration stages. They may take more time to explore which products best meet their needs while offering the greatest value for money.

For customers purchasing bulky items such as furniture, accurate descriptions of a product’s physical attributes will be of particular importance. They will need exact dimensions to work out if the product will fit in their space, and they will need a clear plan for delivery.

These shoppers will also need to know if the colour and style will match the rest of their home’s decor, and what the company’s returns policy is if it doesn’t suit their needs.

This may involve browsing the brand’s website, visiting a store, searching for reviews online and contacting a customer service team… and not necessarily in that order.

Omnichannel touchpoints throughout the purchasing journey

IKEA is one example of a company that has worked hard on its omnichannel strategy over the years. Given its origins as a company whose in-store experience was its main selling point, IKEA has (impressively) adapted its strategy in line with the rise of eCommerce and to meet evolving customer expectations.

IKEA is known for its DIY assembly solutions, which can prove frustrating for some customers. The company has responded to this need by including video instructions for certain products on its product pages and on its YouTube channel.

Their YouTube channel also features region-specific videos for products that require different assembly methods in order to comply with local regulations, such as the water traps that come with its kitchen and bathroom products.

This information allows customers in the awareness/consideration stage to make informed purchase decisions, while customers in the post-purchase stage can seek guidance during the assembly process.

Having video content on your site is also great for SEO. Not only are users more likely to click on search results with video thumbnails, but they’re also more likely to stay on those pages for longer and interact with them more, improving your site’s search rankings.

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Telling brand stories creatively

There are many opportunities during the customer journey to support purchases through video and streaming services. We’ve already looked at how video can be used to inform and educate, but video content can also be used to inspire and entertain.

For example, video can be a great medium for communicating your brand values in a way that’s more creative and visually engaging than a paragraph of text on your website.

When we worked with garden room designers and manufacturers David Salisbury, we wanted to build a website that showcased their brand through visual storytelling as this is a key component of their marketing strategy.

Screenshot of WordPress landing page for case study on making the digital as eye-catching as the physical for award-winning manufacturer and designer David Salisbury

Their site contains a brand ethos video that creates an association between their garden rooms and an appreciation of nature and quality time spent with loved ones. It also currently features a video that illustrates the origins of the oak they use, tracking its journey from forests in France to family rooms.

These videos help establish a human element to their products while also building a narrative about who they are as a brand. The link to their video page is at the top of the site, allowing new visitors to engage with it easily.

Experimenting with new shopping channels

Live shopping streams

Video content can also take the form of live shopping streams, which allow real-time interaction with your customer base.

It is also a popular medium for influencer marketing, which allows brands to capture the following of influencers with large fan bases consisting of demographics they want to reach.

Although its main purpose may be to increase sales conversions, it can also be a fun way for customers to engage with their favourite brands and influencers through:

Revenue from live shopping is forecasted to reach nearly $25 billion by 2023. According to McKinsey, the fashion and beauty sectors account for just under half of all live shopping events.

The live shopping industry is likely to see even further growth in the next few years, as social platforms roll out new features and partnerships to facilitate this growth.

Last year, YouTube hosted a 10-day live shopping festival that gave viewers access to exclusive offers and merchandise from celebrities and creators such as Selena Gomez and Kacey Musgraves.

YouTube also recently partnered with Shopify to offer its users additional integration of eCommerce into livestreams.

Shoppable video

Shoppable video, in which clickable product links are embedded in content, has been steadily on the rise for the past five years. A 2021 report found that 40% of marketers were using shoppable video, a 25% increase from 2018.

Shoppable videos allow brands to replicate the experience of visiting their website without the viewer having to leave the platform they’re already on. It can also be an opportunity for creative storytelling and influencer collaborations.

One early example of shoppable video is Ted Baker’s ‘Mission Impeccable’ film, which was created in 2016.

The clothing label enlisted director Guy Ritchie to create a short film in the style of the cinematic works he is known for featuring characters dressed in products that could be clicked on, taking the viewer to a checkout page to purchase the item.

Not only did the film succeed in driving sales, but it also increased website traffic and engagement.

The brand has continued to create shoppable videos, building on the success of ‘Mission Impeccable’ while also taking lessons from aspects of the campaign that could be improved upon.

Evolving websites to better support video content

There are many factors to consider when incorporating video into your brand’s eCommerce strategy.

Videos that are poor quality, take too long to load, only work on certain devices or aren’t accessible for people with disabilities can be frustrating and off-putting for potential customers who were previously ready to shop with your brand.

Be wary of this and ensure you consider video quality, loading speed of your videos and your site, and accessibility, always.

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Another key consideration is integration with social platforms, particularly if your brand’s social accounts feature shoppable content that links to your online store.

Sites that provide a seamless experience with video content that is both engaging and functional will see this reflected in their conversion rates.

Takeaways

  1. Video content builds confidence in products, as consumers can make informed decisions when shopping online
  2. Customer journeys are rarely linear, but videos can provide support at multiple points during the journey
  3. Live streams can help build engagement and connect with customers in real time
  4. Video content is an opportunity to tell a story about your brand through narrative and visuals

Do you want a website that can evolve with your business?

Find out how we can make your WooCommerce store work harder for you through our Always Evolving® service.

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Piers Tincknell Co-founder & Managing Director

Friday 18th November 2022