Instead of providing a Do’s and Don’ts list for ecommerce video production, we decided to remove the Do’s and focus entirely on the Don’ts this time around. Thanks to video’s jump to marketing fame, it’s getting easier and easier for brands to produce quality marketing videos. Whether they’re using their own in-house team or they outsource to Los Angeles video production companies, producing product videos and demo videos is not as problematic and resource-consuming as it was 20 years ago.
However, the chasm between intent and outcome is still pretty big. Producing the video is step one. Step two is knowing where, when, and how to use it for best results. Therefore, we put together this DON’T list to give you an idea of what not to do with your ecommerce video.
DON’T rely on purely User Generated Content
While UGC (User Generated Content) definitely has its pros, using it blindly (and constantly) can very quickly counteract all its benefits. The biggest risk you run when using nothing but user-generated content is appearing inauthentic. If you don’t have any original content of your own to show, it may start to look like the people generating your content were paid to do so (think Instagram-famous celebrities endorsing a product they were obviously sponsored for).
We’re not saying don’t use it. UGC is good—in moderation. Just make sure that 70% to 80% of the content you post out is uniquely your own.
DON’T upload directly to your site
Take a page out of Tassimo UK’s book (or website, in this case) and upload all your ecommerce videos to YouTube before embedding them on your site. Most businesses usually host their videos on their website platform. This can slow down loading time by a few milliseconds, especially if you’ve got more than a couple videos on the page (moreso if you have a video gallery).
It might not seem like much, but uploading your video to YouTube (instead of your own website) and then just embedding it can trim down loading time (enough that it’ll make a considerable difference) and eliminate potential lag.
DON’T hide beneath the fold
“The fold” refers to the entire section of page that you can see once you land on a website without scrolling down. Visitor’s first impression of your website will depend heavily on every element above the fold. Ergo, that’s where you want to put the most important elements of your website. If a visitor has to dig through page and pages of content just to find your videos, you’ve wasted your ecommerce video production investment (and most likely lost a customer).
Good Vid recommends placing your video content—or at least a thumbnail link to it—above the fold, right next to the image gallery. This way, viewers who land on your page will immediately know that you have videos available.
DON’T autoplay
This is a great example of how different types of marketing require vastly different strategies. For social media and sales page marketing, autoplay is the secret weapon. On sales pages, autoplay allows the brand to control the message, leaving the viewer with no choice but to hear the sales pitch. On social media, autoplay is seen as a convenient feature to have when scrolling through your personal feed—especially since the video is muted by default.
On ecommerce websites, however, autoplay can break the visitor experience. According to Unbounce, it’s considered intrusive. 53% of people polled by Ask Your Target Market clearly stated that they disliked autoplay videos, while 19.2% had no strong opinion regarding their existence. Only 15.2% said they liked the feature. If you want people to watch your product video, do not enable autoplay.
DON’T disregard mobile
Another big mistake most brands make is forgetting to optimize their ecommerce website for mobile support. It’s 2017. According to Impact BND, 80% of internet users own a smartphone or mobile device. Almost everybody is connected to the internet, 24/7. According to MicKinsey & Company, 61% of users are “unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing.” Meanwhile, 40% are likely to visit a competitor’s site instead.
If your ecommerce website doesn’t translate well to mobile viewing, you’re going to miss a huge chunk of your market. Yes, this includes your videos. During ecommerce video production, make sure the end product can be optimized for mobile viewing. Also be sure to test that your video plays just fine on your website. You might want to reconsider your setup if clicking on the video reroutes visitors to YouTube (like The Body Shop’s mobile site). This can easily disrupt the consumer’s shopping journey on your website, causing more harm than good.
