6 Interactive Video Ideas to Get You Started

Over the recent months we have held many discussions with retailers on both sides of the Atlantic that are looking to add video to their websites. One of the issues that inevitably arises is “We have video but are not sure where to start. How do we make this interesting without incurring high production costs?”

Given that this is very much a common theme from prospective user, we thought we would compile a collection of the most popular uses. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, rather a list of practical ideas that retailers are considering.

6 Ideas to get you started:

1. Product page video
2. Repurposing TV commercials
3. User generated content
4. Repurposing celebrity videos
5. How-to videos, style guides and advice
6. Brand experience pages

Product Page Video

Over the last few years images have brought eCommerce websites to life, often with clever zoom capabilities. While this is a good first step, the benefits of many products cannot be demonstrated effectively with static images.  For instance, how do you show the unique flexibility of a new footwear sole design with a static photo?  Video adds a dimension that allows the user to interact with and gain a far greater understanding of the product. Both have been demonstrated to increase conversion and, just as importantly, reduce return rates.

Repurposing TV Commercials

Many companies as part of a new product launch or range produce a very polished commercial for TV. Since this is often an incredibly expensive endeavor, why not take this commercial and repurpose it for the website. By creating an “invisible” overlay, products in the video can be directly linked to places on the website where they can be purchased. The underlying video does not need to be reproduced, just reformatted for the web.

User Generated Content

Much has been written about the challenges of User Generated Content (UGC). While we agree that it needs to be moderated and is not suitable for some applications, many companies are using UGC to great effect as a way of engaging their customers in community applications. After all, one of the key objectives of an eCommerce website is to keep user loyalty rather than constantly spending on acquiring new customers.

Hopefully, as a business you have customers that actually like your products and care about your services. UGC can be a great way to allow them to share their experiences with other potential shoppers and allows the retailer to increase their library of video content.

There are many examples of this, which includes genuine consumer reports of how a product performs in the case of electronic goods, usage experiences in the case of footwear and clothing and cooking experiments for grocery retailers.

Repurposing Celebrity Videos

This is very similar effort to repurposing television commercials. Many brands, especially in the area of fashion retail, use celebrities to endorse products through video. These videos often include multiple products, and hence do not often fit on the product pages of the website. This means that although the consumer can get the “warm glow” and celebrity appeal, they often are left with the need to navigate around the site to find the products mentions. By adding an overlay to the celebrity video, you can create a direct link between multiple products in the video and multi-product landing pages where the video can be purchased.

The call to action is moved within the video rather than expecting the viewer to navigate after watching the video. There are also a number of successful experiments being undertaken in video by adding overlays that allow the user to “buy the look” from within the video. This can significantly increase the average order basket for the retailer.

How-To Videos, Style Guides and Advice

For a number of products that are best explained through video, a how-to video can be a great way of demystifying a potential purchaser and also gives the retailer an opportunity to cross-sell. Recent discussions include a cosmetic company looking to demonstrate to women how to apply eye make-up to achieve a certain look and a DIY retailer demonstrating how to construct a free floating wall shelf.

In each case, as the products are used within the video, product links are directly provided to enable the user to immediately add-to-basket. Moving this call to action directly into the video at the point at which a product is shown has demonstrated an increase in conversion rate. This can also help the consumer feel more confident in their abilities, reducing return rates.  Surveys have shown the consumers feel a closer relationship with the retailer resulting in higher sales.

Brand / Theme Experience Pages

An experience page is a dedicated area of the site associated with a brand or theme. On this page consumers get to experience the brand's “feel-good” factor or theme that the retailer is trying to convey. This is achieved by mixing a collection of premium video with both semi-professional and user generated testimonials. Consumers get to experience the brand through video while still allowing the retailer to build the direct calls to action into the video. An experience page can be expanded to included competitions and consumer feedback mechanisms.

If you'd like to know more about how you can use interactive video on your eCommerce site please contact us at info@overlay.tv.