Videos encourage build brand awareness, communicate products’ features effectively, and answer customer questions and concerns. Learn six different types of videos that can help e-commerce stores convert.
If you have an e-commerce shop, then you already know that customers rely on visuals to commit to a purchase. It makes sense, really — they want to see and get to know the product before they buy it, which is why so many online stores are doubling down on improving content aimed at enticing potential customers.
Yet, in today’s highly competitive online sales world, traditional methods such as images and descriptions aren’t always enough. You can have perfect text explanations, the catchiest titles, and even the best pictures, but customers tend to respond better to well-made videos.
Content such as explainer videos are a match made in heaven with e-commerce. Videos can help your lead generation, drive demand and interest to new products, or simply be used as a reliable advertising channel.
Read on and find out how you can use the right videos for your e-commerce store. 6
Types of Videos That Increase Conversions
- Company story videos
- Testimonial videos
- Product videos
- Explainer videos
- FAQ videos
- How-to videos
Why Use Videos in Your E-Commerce Shop?
Video content helps you bring your products to life right in front of your customers' eyes. Many businesses settle with photos and text to do the heavy lifting, and using video can give you a definite edge over competitors.
A well-made marketing video can quickly and easily highlight the features and benefits of your products. Videos can be a powerhouse when used right — whether it’s displaying the products in use, running comparisons with inferior alternatives, showing happy clients talking about them, or crafting a compelling story around them.
A video can confer more meaningful insights into your products or services, provided you use the right ones.
And what makes a type of video the “right” one for your business depends entirely on your goals.
1. Company Story and Testimonial Videos Showcase Brand Values and Build Confidence
Certain kinds of videos can help you establish your identity in the eyes of potential customers. You get to showcase who you are and what your brand stands for by creating these videos.
This gives a sense of transparency that garners trust from your target audience, which, in turn, will increase the likelihood of a purchase.
The type of videos that can help you with that are:
- Company story videos
- Testimonial videos
Company Story Videos
In a company story video, you’re introducing your company to your potential audience.
Company stories usually talk about your brand as a whole, the backstory of your star product, or even an origin story of your company (e.g., what inspired you to create and sell your products).
It is the type of video that works better on your home or profile page or as part of a landing page that’s part of a funnel.
For example, The Little Potato Company’s company story video talks about its backstory in an engaging, relatable way.
The Little Potato’s company story video builds trust among customers and increases their likelihood of considering The Little Potato the next time they’re planning to purchase potatoes.
Testimonial Videos
Putting a customer who’s happy with your product in the spotlight is always a great video strategy.
Letting a real person talk about how your product helped them or had an impact on their life seems more genuine than if you discussed your product yourself. Besides, testimonial videos offer a personal story that your audience can relate to.
You can create a single testimonial about your brand to use on multiple pages on your online store or a series of testimonials for specific products to use on the pages they’re listed. You can even create a specific landing page for testimonials.
For example, Fender uses a video to introduce a new bass through the words of Panic! at the Disco’s bassist Nicole Row.
Fender’s testimonial video shows off the company’s new bass from a customer’s mouth — which is better and more geniune than if it came from the company itself.
Both company story and testimonial videos show off a company or product and build trust among consumers.
2. Product Videos and Explainer Videos Effectively Communicate Products’ Features
Probably the most popular use for video in e-commerce is illustrating a product’s features.
People want to learn about what separates the product they are considering from its competition, without needing to research or read too much about it.
Fortunately, there are two types of videos that are perfect for doing just that:
- Product videos
- Explainer videos
Product Videos
Product videos are probably the most-used type of video in e-commerce and allow you to quickly and cleanly introduce the features and strengths of your product while explaining how it works.
Product videos provide potential customers a quick rundown of everything that makes the product great, enticing them to purchase it.
As these videos work as introductions, you can use them in a lot of places, from your homepage to individual product pages. Alternatively, you can follow Samsung’s example and break down a video in small pieces that focus on one particular feature. These small bits are perfect for sharing on social media as well.
Samsung’s product video is just 10 seconds and focuses on one part of its phone — the camera. This makes it easy to understand an important feature of the product.
Explainer Videos
Explainers are videos that can quickly explain what your product or service is all about.
They work as introductions as well but follow a narrative arc. Animated explainer videos go from a particular issue to the solution (your product) using compelling stories and subtle marketing techniques.
Explainers can be used anywhere, as they can also introduce people to your brand and e-commerce platform. In e-commerce, they are commonly found on home and landing pages.
Here's a good example of a video we created for Blume Beverages to give you an idea of the potential of explainer videos.
Blume Beverages' explainer video both promotes the company and explains the history of one of its main products — Ceylon cinnamon beverages.
Product and explainer videos show off a product and encourage consumers to purchase it.
3. FAQ and How-to Videos Address Consumer Concerns and Last-Minute Questions
Finally, there’s a third benefit of videos for your e-commerce shop: directly addressing your audience’s main hang-ups and concerns about your product or brand.
You know how it goes: People tend to have questions about a specific feature, how to get the product to work correctly, tech aspects of your product, etc.
You can use videos to anticipate these questions and provide the right answers right then and there. For that, you can use these two types of videos:
- FAQ videos
- How-to videos
FAQ Videos
The name is pretty self-explanatory. With FAQ videos, you’ll get to answer the questions you get the most frequently about your products.
You can either cover a bunch of questions in just one video, or you can make separate videos for the questions you get the most or require more attention.
FAQ videos are best located in a support area of your e-commerce shop or a dedicated FAQ page (if you have one).
You don’t want to burden a casual customer with something that’s way too specific on the product page, so you have to put the video where people are more likely to go for help.
Here’s an example of Apple covering one of the most common questions about the iPad: “What Is Two-Factor Authentication?”
Apple’s FAQ video answers a commonly asked question simply and comprehensively.
How-to Videos
How-to videos are one of the most popular types of videos today, and for a good reason: They make it easy to understand all kinds of processes.
When thinking of products you can sell in an e-commerce store, how-to videos can provide support to both the actual and potential customers. They show the products in action, address common issues, and even give a glimpse of the learning curve necessary to use them.
As with the FAQ videos, how-to videos shouldn’t be placed randomly on your site. They are more tailored to be found on the support page, but you can use a general how-to video about how to start using the product on a product page.
That’s precisely what Sennheiser does with its how-to video for its wireless earphones.
Sennheiser’s how-to video explains how to use its product, making it easier to understand and more engaging than explaining it with text.
FAQ and how-to videos answer customers’ questions and show them how to use a product.
Use Videos to Convert Customers
Building your digital platform is complex; you have to keep a lot of things in mind. Videos help you improve your website’s presentation and user engagement.
Yet, it takes more than just embedding videos for the sake of it: Quality is paramount.
Live-action marketing videos call for some essentials such as good lighting and decent video quality. Great marketing animations almost invariably have a highly skilled animation company behind them.
Choosing the right kind of video is the first step toward quality content.
Define your goals of the video, choose quality content strategically, and place it on your site, where it will have the most influence on customers. Once you do this, you will start seeing the impact videos can have on your sales, conversions, and even customer satisfaction.