It’s no secret that video should be a key pillar of every brand’s marketing strategy in 2020, with millions of people tuning in daily to watch video content around the world. Nearly half of videos online are consumed on a mobile device, giving brands the opportunity to meet consumers exactly where they are, with minimal effort required. Video marketing offers an engaging and sharable medium for brands to reach their audiences across a variety of platforms, with viewers retaining considerably more of your message when watching rather than reading. However, video also now gives us the opportunity to bring content and commerce closer together than ever before, with the integration of shoppable features on many of our favourite platforms. This gives the power of interactive e-commerce right in your customers hands, with more and more consumers shopping directly from their phones.
The e-commerce power of our favourite social platforms has never been greater than it is today. It’s a fact that customers don’t like to be forced into the shopping funnel, especially when it means taking them away from content they’re engaged with. Traditional ad integrations often feel intrusive and annoying; think about the amount of times you’ve closed a website because of a pop up, or gone out of the room during an ad break. We now have the ability to integrate content and e-commerce with ease using shoppable content; allowing us to effortlessly convert browsers into buyers. This, combined with the power of influencers and online micro-celebrities, makes the social media landscape an extremely powerful and valuable tool for businesses.
The real challenge however is creating and serving content that is valuable and engaging for the consumer, authentic to your brand AND monetisable in terms of selling your product. There’s no shortage of content available online, but it’s important not to forget that shoppable video content should be an experience for your consumer, not simply a sales tool. Many brands fall into the trap of being too focused on the products themselves, rather than building an experience for the consumer. Remember, if the video is appealing enough, the products will sell themselves. Shoppable videos should also be used as part of a multi-platform approach, integrating with other campaign assets to feel coherent and to direct traffic to your e-commerce platforms.
As consumers become more comfortable with interactivity on their favourite content, shoppable links will start appearing more regularly on VOD channels – allowing consumers to purchase a featured product immediately; up-levelling these platforms in terms of their ecommerce capabilities. This provides a huge opportunity for brands to get infront of new audiences. Eventually, we could also expect to see shoppable elements in traditional TV content as well; imagine being able to buy your favourite Netflix star’s wardrobe or items for the recipe you’re watching, just by scanning a QR code.
Luxury brand Ted Baker have been integrating shoppable videos into their marketing strategy for a number of years now, creating editorial-quality film productions which immerse their audience into the world of Ted Baker. Their video content is as high-end as their products, expertly weaving their brand identity within their video content as well as integrating with offline and in-store creative for an omnichannel approach.
If you’re interested in taking advantage of the rise of shoppable videos, our team would love to help you.
