A study by Google found that almost 50{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of internet users check out product videos before visiting a store to make a purchase. They also found that over 90{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of people have discovered new products by watching videos on YouTube. And more than 50{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of shoppers watch product videos even while shopping in-store.
These statistics clearly suggest that product videos are a powerful tool that can help businesses increase their conversions. Essentially, a product video helps to explain the various features and benefits of a product to your target audience. However, you shouldn’t just stop at that. If you truly want to attract and engage your audience, you need to talk about exactly how your products can solve their problems.
When done right, product videos can offer substantial benefits and can help you increase your conversions. Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which product videos can affect your conversion rates.
1. They Can Help to Increase Brand Awareness
Did you know that by 2022, videos will constitute 82{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of the global internet traffic? Not just that. With more than 1.9 billion monthly logged-in users, YouTube carries one-third of the world’s internet traffic. And every day, people spend over a billion hours watching videos on YouTube.
These are some powerful statistics that should give you an idea of how popular videos are. And so, there’s no reason why you should hesitate to use them to drive more conversions for your business.
Today, videos appear in search results as well. And so, you need to leverage informative and engaging product videos if you want to expand your reach and generate greater brand awareness.
For example, when I search on Google for “how to set up a blog on WordPress,” the first result that shows up is a product video. You can well imagine the kind of reach and exposure such videos can bring you. And of course, the more relevant people you are able to reach, the better your chances of driving conversions.
In addition, well-crafted product videos can keep your visitors hooked for longer. And when they’re truly engaged, they’re likely to spend more time on your site which can result in more conversions. In fact, Wistia found that people actually spent 2.6X more time on web pages that have video content than those that don’t.
2. Product Videos Help to Build Trust and Credibility
Perhaps the greatest deterrent to selling your products online is the fact that people can’t actually touch and feel the product. In fact, 75{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of consumers are known to prefer buying products in-store than buying them online. And 72{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of such people prefer it because they can touch and feel the product in-store before they buy.
As you can imagine, customers need to believe that your products can truly solve their problems before they decide to buy them. And a great way to instill such confidence in them is to use informative and useful product videos on your website. When you show them how a product works through a video, it automatically helps to win their trust and makes you appear more credible. This, in turn, can encourage people to buy your products and increase your conversions.
Here’s a great example of a product video from Dollar Shave Club. In this 30-second animated video, they do a great job of explaining how their subscriptions work and the benefits they provide their customers. Such videos are great at winning the trust of your customers which can help to increase your conversions.
3. Product Videos Enable Cross-Selling
Product videos can be great for cross-selling as well. 59{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760} of consumers find personalized communications based on their past interactions extremely valuable. And a great way to build loyalty and increase your conversions is to send personalized product recommendations to your customers that complement or are related to the items they’ve already purchased.
Most businesses usually insert images of these products in the emails they send their customers. If you can replace these images with interesting product videos that demonstrate these products in action, you’re likely to get even better results. Such videos can pique the interest of your customers and they might end up purchasing them, thus increasing your conversions.
The founder of So Suzy Stamps, Suzanne Moore, saw great success by sending automated emails to her customers that included product use case demonstration videos. Here’s what she had to say about it:
Any time someone placed an order, I had an automated email setup to send a friendly little message saying, “Hey, thanks so much for shopping with us today. While you wait for your goodies, check out this video.”
I received so many emails back from customers from that email saying they loved the shop, they were so happy to buy from me and wanting to know if they could add the item from that video to their cart.
And adding an item was never a problem. I’d go into the BigCommerce backend when they ordered the product from the video and refund their shipping. Then, we’d send both orders out at the same time. It was all just so easy. Everything was right there in their original order to make that additional sale seamlessly.
On the heels of conversion boosting tactics like these, Moore was able to grow her company’s revenues by 374{c87e2df4b343d0515d304e127afe4653a549475791ab451641a18e09bd64e760}, according to her BigCommerce case study.
4. They Can Help to Explain Your Products Better
Product videos can be a very useful resource for your website visitors or social media audience. Because of their interactive nature, they’re way more interesting than text. And they help to convey a story which can leave more lasting impressions in people’s minds. In addition, you can easily explain the various features and benefits of your products without having to write too much text.
How-to videos, tutorials, or demo videos are great at explaining how products work and how they can be beneficial to your audience. Because of their usefulness, they do a great job of keeping them engaged and even encouraging them to make a purchase. However, remember to keep them short or else they can easily bore your audience. Most importantly, keep the content relatable so that your audience feels that your product can solve their problem.
Here’s a great example of an explainer video from Unroll.Me.
Notice how they’ve featured real people who face the problem that they’re trying to solve. This makes the video much more relatable to their target audience. Such product videos can certainly encourage people to buy from you and help you increase your conversions.
Final Thoughts
Videos are a powerful way to convey your marketing messages while appealing to the emotions of your audience. Well-crafted product videos can help you strike the right chord with consumers and attract them towards your solutions without appearing overly promotional.
People enjoy watching videos due to their interactive and fun nature. Great product videos can help you expand your reach, win the trust of your audience, and increase your conversions. So, you can leverage them to take your business to new heights.
Originally published March 04, 2019 – Updated July 17, 2024
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Authors
Shane Barker
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO.