Video marketing: how to use it on your website

Article topics

1. The benefits of video marketing
2. Different ways you can use video marketing on your website
3. What you need to make a fantastic video for your website
4. How long a marketing video should be
5. How to do video marketing like a pro: eight top tips

Images and copy are great for telling your brand story and enticing customers to make a purchase.

However, if you want high engagement and a solid return on investment, videos are the way forward for your eCommerce store.

But how can you use video marketing, and what do you need to bear in mind when creating a video to drive clicks and conversions? This guide will tell you everything you need to know.

Lights, camera, action!

The benefits of video marketing

Here are some statistics about video marketing that we think you’ll find interesting:

• Videos boost open rates in emails by 19% and click-through rates by 65% (Campaign Monitor)
• Product videos can increase the number of purchases by 144% (Red Stag Fulfilment)
• 62% of people who use Facebook or Instagram have become more interested in a product after seeing it in Stories (Meta)
• 70% of people have bought a product after seeing it on YouTube (Google)
• The average person watches 17 hours of online video content per week (Wyzowl)

So, why do people like videos? They’re informative, engaging, and can be watched on the go – more critical than ever now people predominantly access the internet through their smartphones.

Videos can also help build trust and inspire confidence in your brand. For example, it’s possible to forge a written testimonial, but a video testimonial is harder to fake.

Different ways you can use video marketing on your website

So, how can you use video marketing to promote your website and business? Here are some of our favourite ways to use videos in eCommerce:

• Explainer videos to show how your products work, their features, and the key benefits
• Customer testimonial videos to build trust and credibility
• ‘Behind the scenes’ videos to promote your values and brand (more on this type of video later)
• Social media videos to entertain and educate customers
• Educational videos to position your business as a thought leader in your industry

You can also encourage your customers to create their own videos about your products that you can use on your website and social media. This is known as ‘user-generated content’.

What you need to make a fantastic video for your website

In the past, you needed a lot of expensive technology to create a video. A video camera, a microphone, lighting, and editing software.

Most smartphones now come with a high-quality camera, meaning you have the perfect tool for making a video in your back pocket or bag!

If you want to create awesome videos on a budget, here’s what we recommend to get started.

• A smartphone with a good camera. A wide-angle camera means you can capture more of the scene, and a large sensor lets in more light
• A tripod. This keeps your footage steady. Choose one that is adjustable so you can alter the height as needed. A flexible or ‘spider’ tripod is excellent for wrapping around things like trees and fences
• A microphone. While you can record sound on your smartphone, a microphone makes for crisper, clearer audio – connect to your charging port or headphone jack or choose a wireless one
• A ring light. This is good for close-ups as it reduces shadows and makes lighting appear more even
• A selfie stick. Not just for taking photos, an extendable selfie stick gives you more range, meaning you can film from up above or from a distance
• Editing software. This is essential for refining your video footage. There are many different programmes on offer, both for desktop and mobile, and free and paid-for. Some of our favourites at Xigen include:
  • Adobe Premiere Rush (mobile and desktop)
  • ClipChamp (mobile and desktop)
  • iMovie (mobile and desktop, iOS only)
  • InShot (mobile)
  • LumaFusion (mobile)
  • Quik (mobile)

How long a marketing video should be

It depends on the purpose of your video, your end goal, and who you’re targeting.

People have short attention spans, so as a general rule of thumb, the more brief your video, the better. According to Vidyard:

• 66% of people will finish a video one minute long
• 56% of people will finish a video two minutes long
• 50% of people will finish a video between two to ten minutes long
• 39% of people will finish a video between 10 to 20 minutes long
• 22% of people will finish a video over 20 minutes long

Sprout Social advises that 66% of viewers pay the most attention to short-form videos.

However, don’t discount long-form content. It’s important to remember that the people who watch all the way to the end of your longer videos are highly likely to be interested in your products or services. Why would they keep watching otherwise?

Where you’re placing your video can have a significant impact too. For example, the optimal length for a TikTok video is between 21 to 34 seconds.

The key is to pay attention to your own metrics. Look at which length videos get the most engagement and when people stop viewing. This will give you valuable insight into how long (or short!) your videos need to be for the best results.

How to do video marketing like a pro: eight top tips

Videos are a great way to drive engagement, show off your brand, and encourage customers to convert. But it’s important to do them right.

A long, boring video without a clear message may have the opposite effect.

Here are some of our top tips for creating a video that keeps your customers hanging on your every word.

1. Know your target audience

While it might be tempting to get your camera out and start filming straight away, it’s essential to create content with your target audience in mind.

When you understand your target audience’s demographic, pain points, and personality, as well as where they are in the sales funnel, you can make videos that are more relevant to them. And the more relevant your videos, the more likely your target audience is to engage with them.

For example, let’s say your target audience has a wicked sense of humour. You can add a tongue-in-cheek element to your videos, like this hilarious advert by Ryan Reynolds for Aviation Gin.

2. Don’t forget a call-to-action

You’d always have a call-to-action on a landing page or blog, telling readers what to do next. The same logic applies to your videos!

If people watch to the end, it’s a sign that they loved your video and are invested in what you do. This is a fantastic opportunity to encourage further action, whether that’s visiting a page on your website, subscribing to your YouTube channel, or buying the product mentioned in the video.

You can either do this verbally or through a button or link. Many platforms, like YouTube, let you add an overlay at the end of your video.

3. Repurpose your videos

The great thing about videos is that you can easily repurpose them to get the most mileage.

For example, let’s say you create a ten-minute explainer video for your website. You can extract the key points and make them into shorter video clips, ideal for posting on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels. You can also use short video clips as part of your Google Display ads campaigns.

Alternatively, you can turn your videos into blog posts – we did this when we hosted a webinar about Google Ads trends. This is a great way to go into more detail and optimise your videos for additional keywords.

Finally, you can transform short video clips into animated gifs to use on social media and other websites – like this one from Samsung Mobile. This can be a fun way to showcase your brand and make your business more memorable. Giphy has a great, free gif maker you can use.

4. Add subtitles

You’ll want everyone to understand and enjoy your videos, even when they can’t hear them. Adding subtitles makes your videos more accessible to people with hearing impairments. According to the RNID, 12 million people in the UK are deaf or have hearing loss.

Subtitles also help people who don’t have the sound on, for example, if they’re in the office or looking at their phone in a public place. 92% of people admit to watching videos on mute!

If you’re uploading your video to YouTube, YouTube can automatically create subtitles using AI, but in our experience, they’re not always accurate. The easiest thing to do is to upload a transcript, and YouTube will determine when to show each line of speech.

5. Provide a peek behind the scenes

We’re all curious and a little bit nosy by nature! Creating a video showing prospective customers what you do behind the scenes is a brilliant way to sate your viewers’ curiosity and make them feel like they’re part of an exclusive club.

Behind the scenes videos also introduce customers to your employees, humanising your brand, making you more authentic, and building trust.

Amazon has released many videos showing customers how its warehouse works. The brand has received a lot of criticism in the past about its employment practices and has done a lot to turn things around. This emotional video takes employees’ children to a warehouse so they can see how their parents are helping people get gifts for Christmas.

6. Optimise for SEO

When you want to drive your target audience to your website, it’s crucial to optimise your content for the keywords they’re most likely to use.

Want people to find your videos? Optimise them for the right keywords too.

Google places a lot of prominence on relevant YouTube videos in the search engine results. Not only this, but YouTube is the second most popular search engine behind Google, with TikTok rapidly gaining prominence.

In fact, 40% of young people prefer using TikTok and Instagram over traditional search engines.

What does this mean? Using the right keywords in your videos can lead to more eyes on your content. Here are some quick wins when it comes to optimising your videos:

• Rename your video file to include a relevant keyword before you upload it
• Use your chosen keywords in your video title and description (but don’t go overboard!)
• Add relevant tags and categories to help search engines understand what your video is about
• Provide a transcription for additional context
• Include two or three relevant hashtags for reach
• Use timestamps to increase the number of search terms you could potentially appear for
• Encourage likes and comments – studies have shown that more engagement leads to better rankings

7. Showcase your brand identity

Videos aren’t just a way to appeal to your target audience but can help promote your brand identity.

The average person requires about eight touchpoints with a brand before they commit to a sale. Even if they don’t engage with your video, they become aware of your brand, vision, and values. That way, when they’re ready to buy, they know where you are.

Showcasing your brand identity also promotes consistency, meaning prospective customers can automatically identify your business behind a specific video.

Use your brand logo, colours, font, and other visual elements in all your videos. Here’s a great example from B&Q, which shows the logo in the bottom right-hand corner and cleverly uses pops of white and orange throughout.

8. Ask for feedback

Finally, it’s important to hone your video creation skills as you go to get optimal results and ensure your customers engage with your videos in the right way.

Make it as easy as possible for your customers to give feedback about your videos. One of the easiest ways to do this is to allow comments on your videos on YouTube and other social media platforms.

You can also engage with your email mailing list. An effective strategy is to send your most loyal customers a link to your video before you launch it, asking for their thoughts. That way, you get helpful feedback before you go live and show your best customers that you value their opinions.

Need a little extra help with your video marketing?

Time to grab your mobile phone, download some editing software, and get shooting!

Creating a video to promote your business is much easier than you might think. Planning is key – understand what your target audience wants to see and the message you want to get across.

Not got the time or resources to create an impactful video? We can help. At Xigen, we specialise in eCommerce video marketing, meaning we can create a unique product or explainer video that makes you stand out from the crowd.

Whether you need something to use on social media, promote on your product pages, or showcase at a trade event, you can depend on us!

Take the first step towards a brilliant video for your business – contact our team today.

Need help with your next big eCommerce project? Find out how we can support.