What is video marketing?

Video marketing has become a crucial tool for businesses in recent years. It provides businesses with the advantage of blending images, sound, special effects, and text headings to communicate their ideas and products more effectively. 

In today's fast-paced (e-commerce) world, competition between sellers is high and shoppers don't always have the time or patience to browse and compare products on multiple websites. With so many options available, consumers are looking for efficient and convenient ways to gather information about products they are interested in. This is where product videos come in, as they provide a quick and easy way for shoppers to get a sense of a product's features, benefits, and appearance in action. By presenting information in a visual format, product videos allow sellers to grab consumer attention and make their products known to a wide range of shoppers. 

Videos have become increasingly essential to marketing strategies in recent years, and social ads, specifically short-form videos, are projected to generate more ad revenue than any other platform by 2023. 

The benefits of short-form videos for marketers

Short-form videos refer to videos that are less than 60 seconds in length. These videos can be used to convey messages in a fun and interactive way, making them more engaging and relatable to target audiences. They also have the ability to attract more likes, shares, and reactions than static images, and this high engagement helps to drive sales. Here are some benefits of short-form video marketing:

• High Levels of Engagement: Short-form video posts on social media tend to attract more likes, shares, and reactions compared to static images, making them a tried and tested digital marketing tactic.

• Better SEO Results: they can improve your website's search engine optimization (SEO) by keeping users scrolling for longer periods.

• Easier Content Repurposing: this kind of video can be easily edited and repurposed for different social media networks, email campaigns, advertisements, and other marketing activities.

• Good ROI: Short-form videos yield high conversion rates, making them an excellent marketing tool for businesses.

The types of short-form videos

Here are five examples of the best short-form video types:

User-Generated Content

User-generated content is more likely to be trusted than other forms of marketing since people tend to trust other users of the same products more than marketers. For example, Instagram videos, TikTok videos, and online podcasts on products that users have personally tested.

Soundless Optimization

Many people may watch videos on their laptops or phones without volume. Therefore, optimizing videos for soundless playback (like for instance with animated text or subtitles) can increase engagement rates and improve SEO results.

Animated Videos

Animated videos are excellent for explaining complicated concepts in a simple and fun way. These videos can be used to create engaging content that appeals to a wide range of audiences.

How-To Videos

How-to videos are an excellent way to show potential customers how to use your product or service. These videos can also be used to answer frequently asked questions, which can reduce customer service workload.

Brand Storytelling

Short-form videos can be used to tell the story of your brand and connect with your target audience emotionally. This type of video content helps build brand awareness and loyalty.

Short-form videos: best practices

How can you ensure that your short videos are effective and engaging? Let's explore some best practices for creating compelling video content.

• Keep it Simple: When creating short-form video content, it is important to keep your message simple and clear. Focus on one key message per video to ensure your audience understands your message and is engaged.

• Grab Attention Quickly: In the world of short-form video, attention spans are short. You need to grab your audience's attention quickly in order to keep them engaged. Start with a visually striking image or a catchy phrase to hook viewers and keep them interested.

• Be Creative: Creativity is key when it comes to creating short-form video content. Use visual effects, animations, and music to make your videos stand out and keep your audience engaged.

• Optimize for Mobile: Short-form video content is typically viewed on mobile devices, so it is important to optimize your videos for mobile. For example, use vertical video formats for the purpose of stories and reels and ensure that your videos are easy to view on smaller screens.

• Call to Action: Every video you create should include a clear call to action. Encourage viewers to visit your website, sign up for a newsletter, or make a purchase.

Video marketing has become an essential tool for businesses seeking to engage with their customers and drive sales. Short-form videos have become increasingly popular due to their high engagement rates and the rise of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. By following best practices and staying up-to-date on the latest trends, businesses can create effective short-form video content that resonates with their audience and drives results.

Including videos in your product listings

Apart from serving as a marketing tool, short videos can also be effectively used in product listings to present products in a dynamic and engaging way. A video can give the shopper a better sense of how the product looks, how it moves, and how it can be used in real-life scenarios. For instance, a clothing brand can show models walking and posing in their clothes, highlighting the fabric's texture, fit, and style. A furniture company can present a 360-degree view of a sofa, showing how it can fit in a living room and how comfortable it is to sit on.

By incorporating and repurposing the short-form videos discussed earlier in their product listings, businesses can effectively utilize them as a conversion tool for persuading customers during their product research. Embedding videos in your product listings can significantly impact the purchase decision of potential customers by providing them with a better understanding of the product and its features, ultimately leading to a higher conversion rate.

About KatanaPIM

KatanaPIM is the single source of truth for product information that helps brands, wholesalers and retailers easily collect, enrich and validate their product data and efficiently distribute correct and consistent information to their different sales channels, marketplaces, resellers, partners and catalogs. Implementing a PIM tool allows companies to streamline and automate internal processes and makes product information management and product launches quick & easy. Book your free demo today and discover if KatanaPIM is the right tool for you!