The term “ecommerce video” is actually very broad. It can generally refer to several different video formats. A product video seems to be the most obvious type of ecommerce video, as well as its counterpart, the product demonstration video. But did you know that a 360-degree video can be considered an ecommerce video as well? Even motivational videos can fall under ecommerce video production when they’re done right and contain just the right number of product shots.
Let’s dive into a few examples.
Motivational Videos
Motivational/inspirational video content can double as an ecommerce video. Best example we’ve seen so far is Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” video series, alongside their “Unlike Any” campaign. In these videos, Under Armour uses well-known female athletes to promote their clothing line. However, unlike typical ecommerce video production, these videos are more than just women modelling sports bras and shoes.
Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” and “Unlike Any” campaigns focus hugely on female empowerment and body positivity. Using a hot topic that encourages social discussion and engagement, their video views number from 50,000 to 3.4M. And rather than highlighting their clothes, they instead choose to focus on each woman’s personal trials and success stories.
Ballerina soloist Misty Copeland’s video opens with the narrator reading the rejection letter she received, telling her she didn’t have the body for ballet. Model Gisele Bundchen’s video features her intense workout as online comments from people saying she’s “just a model” are flashed on the walls around her. Champion Alpine Ski Racer Lindsey Vonn shows the scars from her numerous career-ending injuries. Stunt woman Jessie Graff features how she defied conventional roles by learning how to defy gravity.
All great and inspirational videos that encourage social discussion and subtly advertise Under Armour’s clothing line.
360 Degrees
360-degree video is perhaps the biggest step interactive video content has taken in the past few years. Using a mix of camera angles and coding magic, viewers are able to control the angle and degree of the video’s viewpoint. This allows them to see and focus on details at their own leisure. As an example, check out Fox International’s ‘The Walking Dead’ trailer or Discovery’s ‘Mega Coaster: Get Ready for the Drop.’
Woman Within takes ecommerce video production to the next level using the 360-degree format. Check out this product page from their online store. The product photo on the left side of the page has an extra tab next to it titled ‘Video.’ By clicking on that tab, it reopens the same product photo as a 360-degree video. The shopper can then look at the shoe from all angles by using the sliding bar at the bottom.
This technique encourages a shopper’s purchasing decision by easing product anxiety. Giving someone the ability to look at the shoe from different angles is the closest they can come to physically holding and examining the merchandise. By giving the option to view the product through either photo or video, they grant even more control to the buyer. This is a great way to marry traditional ecommerce setup with more modern, unconventional ecommerce strategies.
How-To Videos
“How to” searches on YouTube have increased 70% year over year, with 91% of smartphone users watching them religiously. According to Think With Google, more than 100M hours of how-to content has been watched in North America back in 2015, and the number has only increased.
Ergo, your ecommerce site can stand to take advantage of this popular video format as well. Try including how-to videos showing shoppers how to use your merchandise in every-day scenarios on their corresponding product page. Alternatively, you can group both brand-generated and user generated content on a separate How To page to encourage leisure visitors to see your product in action.
This is what Sephora does. They showcase how-to videos from brands like Dior as well as how-to videos from celebrity YouTube makeup gurus all on one page. Tabs on the side allow users to filter the content. If they want to watch strictly how-to videos on nails and nail art from Sephora itself, they can. In this respect, how-to videos can still be classified under pretty effective ecommerce video production.
