The Most Comprehensive Video Marketing Guide For eCommerce Business Owners

Video marketing promotes your eCommerce products, services, or business through videos.

And you can have different goals for video marketing. It can be to promote your business, engage with your audience, or share educational content.

It's really up to you. And that's the beauty of video marketing.

You have all the flexibility to create and upload the video you think would work best for your business.

You also have the creative freedom to ensure the quality of the video.

So, what are the other benefits of video marketing?

Creating videos might be easy for some. Some of them might even wing it...

But having the proper video marketing strategy can give you these benefits...

1. Give Clarity About Your Business

Since you can use different types of videos for your eCommerce business, it's easier to talk about your products through videos.

This is a great way to give clarity about your business.

You can talk about your products, services, or anything about your brand. It can be your brand story or purpose, too.

The point is that you can introduce your brand and products to more people.

And with the right video marketing strategy, it can also...

2. Spark The Right Emotions

The emotional purchase happens when a customer buys something because of their emotions.

It can be an affinity to your brand, your inspiring brand story, or relating to your cause.

And through well-planned video marketing, you can spark the right emotions in your target audience.

They might take action on your video even if they don't purchase.

It can be through engaging or sharing it, which can help you...

3. Reach More People Online

Have you ever seen a product video go viral on social media?

It all starts with a few shares.

Even if your brand doesn't go viral with millions of likes and shares, you can still reach more people.

How? If your followers share your engaging video with their circles.

And you can also reach more people with the help of having the right social media marketing strategy.

So, are you ready to create your video marketing strategy? Let's start!

Before creating your video marketing strategy, you must prepare your business first.

It means you need the information to help you build your video marketing strategy.

Let's talk about them.

1. Know Your Target Audience

If you already have your brand identity and digital marketing strategy, this is easy for you already.

But why is it important?

💡 To Create The Right Video

This is important because if you know your target audience, you can create compelling video content for them.

For example...

Your target audience is Gen Z. A lot of Gen Zs these days are into entertaining videos. So, maybe you can lean into that.

Because you don't want to produce a video that your target audience wouldn't appreciate.

That's a waste of time, energy, and budget. Speaking of which...

💡 To Avoid Wasting Your Resources

Without knowing your target audience, your video might not be able to reach its goals and audience.

And that's not an option for your business.

Sure, trial and error are expected. But completely missing your target audience is a big no.

That's why you need to know who your audience is.

Another reason why you need to know your target audience is...

💡 To Talk About Their Pain Points

A video that only talks about your brand might not be the best for your target audience.

They would do your desired action if your video marketing talks to them.

Doing that lets you talk to them about their problems and pain points. Then you're going to present the solution.

These are just three of the many reasons why you need to know your target audience.

And to make your video marketing strategy even more robust, you also have to...

2. Identify Your Goals

How would you know if your video marketing campaigns are succeeding? By setting your goals and key performance indicators (KPIs).

This will also help you produce the best video that aligns with your goals.

But what are some goals you can set through video marketing?

💡 Increase Your Brand Awareness

You can set brand awareness as one of your goals in your video marketing campaign.

Once this is your goal, you know what type of video to create to achieve this goal.

You can create videos that talk about your brand and what you do. This will make more people discover your eCommerce brand.

You can also...

💡 Showcase Your Products

Yep, this can be one of your goals.

You won't be able to convert more customers if you don't showcase your products.

So, showcasing your products as one of your goals is excellent. You can produce video content that highlights their benefits.

And when you do that, you can...

💡 Increase Your Sales

Video marketing or not, every business wants to increase its sales.

For sure, this is your goal, too.

So, when planning your video content strategy, remember that you want to make sales out of it, even when they're still in the early parts of the marketing funnel.

You should make a video to help them decide and drive sales to your business.

Since you already know your goals, another important thing you need to do is...

3. Set Your Budget

Producing video content is no joke.

It's not just getting your phone or camera, shooting something, then uploading. That's not how it works in most cases.

If you want to create the best video for your marketing campaign, you need a budget.

What are some things you need to set a budget for?

💡 Tools

To produce a well-edited video, you need to invest in tools.

What are these tools? They're editing software, graphic editor, animation tools, etc.

There are paid tools with premium features that you can use for your business. There are also free, but some of them have watermarks.

So make sure to invest in paid tools with all the features you need.

You also need to invest in...

💡 Filming Equipment

I'm not saying you need high-grade filming equipment.

This could be phones or cameras. If you plan to film for simple social media posts, you must invest in phones with high-quality cameras.

But if you want it to be on paid ads, like Google ads, you need to invest in more expensive ones because more prospects will see your video ads.

You don't want them to watch a blurry and low-quality video!"

But... you don't need to empty your pocket for filming equipment. As long as it works for your plan, that's okay.

The next thing is...

💡 Set Up

You don't need to rent expensive studios. I mean, unless you want and need to.

But there are multiple ways to create a clean and modern setup for your video content.

You can buy props online, lighting, and other accessories to make your videos top-quality.

Again, you need to set a budget so you can avoid overspending.

That's why before paying a sum for these things, you must...

There are times when a 5-minute video ad doesn't work.

But there are times when it does.

There are also times when a 30-second video ad can go viral.

But there are times when they don't.

So, you need to determine the best length that would work for your eCommerce brand.

Since you know your target customers, you also need to consider that.

Now...

To create your video content strategy, you need to know what types of videos you can make for your business.

Again, each video serves different purposes. So, you only need to make the ones that will:

• Contribute to your goals
• Make your audience interact with your brand
• Strengthen your brand message

What are these videos?

🎥 Demo Videos

Demo videos are videos that demonstrate how your products work.

These are perfect if you have an innovative product and you want to showcase how it works.

Here's an example of a demo video.

This video shows how a food slicer works. And it also showcases that this product can slice meats, cheese, and bread.

You can film demo videos to show your target audience the features of your products. And nope, you don't have to sell big products to make demo videos.

You can make a demo video even if you sell beauty or any small products.

You can show how to apply the products and the changes when they use them.

Or, you can try...

🎥 Unboxing Videos

For these videos, you will show what is inside the boxes and inclusions.

This Instagram Reel unboxing from Epomaker Keyboard is another excellent example.

They showed what's inside the box if you purchase their keyboards.

Usually, influencers are the ones doing the unboxing videos. You can ask their permission to re-upload their videos or collaborate with them in a post.

You can also post...

🎥 Behind The Scenes

Behind the scenes will take your viewers to what's happening behind your business.

Here's an example from Up Beauty.

They showed their viewers how to make their products. Since this is a new product to some, many people were amazed at the finished product.

The video has 12 million plays and 2 million likes.

What an engagement, right?

Behind the scenes aren't only limited to the making of your products. It can also be packing orders, preparations for a product shoot, an influencer takeover, or even organizing an event.

Anything that shows the "work" part of your business.

Next is...

🎥 Animated Videos

If you don't want to film videos alone, you can also create animated videos.

This example is from Duolingo.

Duolingo showed an animated video that they are "free, fun, and effective."

Okay, this might be hard to create, especially if you're not a pro in multimedia arts and animations.

If you have the budget to hire professionals or pay for the tools to create this, that would be great.

But some social proof would be good, too...

🎥 Testimonials

Testimonials can come from experts, clients, or customers.

They can film a video talking about your products and the results, just like from Indeed Labs.

They asked their consumers to participate in a 30-second video about their products and their benefits.

You can also do this by asking your customers or clients to make videos about how good your products are. Or, you can invite them for an interview!

Another one is...

🎥 Explainer Videos

Explainer videos also talk about your products.

Demo videos can also explain how your products work. But the difference is, explainer videos do not only focus on showing and demonstrating. It also discusses the "what" and "why" of your business or products.

Let's talk about Logitech.

They are not showing how their products work in this video. But they're showing what the options to choose from are. They also talk about the features of each choice.

If you want to spice it up, you can go for...

🎥 Experimental Videos

The purpose of experimental videos is to see what your target market prefers. It can also be a social experiment that proves a particular expected outcome.

Experimental videos aren't easy to make. But if it's interesting enough, more people can see and share your video.

Let's see an example.

Payless conducted an experiment where they rebranded their store. From being an affordable shoe store to luxury, which is "Palessi."

As you can see, the video has a whopping 5 million views. 👀

Sometimes, experimental videos aren't easy to make. You might need to hire an actual video marketer and a whole production team.

Let's talk about it!

Since you already have your video content strategy, you can now film the video.

But wait... this depends on your strategy!

If you plan to create an animated video, the video creation process might differ slightly.

Here's how to film and produce your videos.

1. Ready Your Equipment And Set Up

To ensure the smoothness of your filming, ensure your equipment and setup are ready.

You need to ready your equipment, like:

• Laptop
• Tripod
• Ring light
• Lightbox
• Camera
• Phone

Because if you want to produce a great video, you must have these essentials.

You also need a setup to make your videos look high-quality. So, prepare these:

• Props
• Background
• Place or studio

You can use props and a nice background to produce a video from home or office. But if you're going all out, you can also book a place or studio to shoot your videos.

To know more about the best practices for video production, you can watch Debutify's "How To Make Video Ads" tutorial:

Next, you have to...

2. Write A Script Or Outline

To avoid blabbering about things that don't matter in your video, you must prepare a script or outline that everyone can follow.

You can give this outline to your staff, videographer, editor, and the person who'll act or talk in front of the camera.

This will help everyone stay on track and avoid confusion.

You and your team will be more organized, and you can achieve the output you envisioned!

And when you're writing the script or outline, make sure to include:

1. About your business. If you're going to talk in front of the camera, you can speak a bit about your business. You can also tell a bit about your brand story. Just make sure it's engaging so your viewers will finish watching it.
2. Unique Selling Point. What makes your product unique? To keep your viewers hooked, it's best to emphasize what makes you different from your competitors.
3. Benefits of your products. This is important, not just in video ads. You should always talk about how your products will benefit your potential customers.

Once you have the script and flow of your video, you can now...

3. Film The Video

It's time!

This is one of the most exciting parts... the actual filming!

After all your preparation, you're now putting your vision into life.

And here are some things you need to remember when filming:

1. Stick to the outline. You can change something if necessary. But last-minute changes might affect the overall production.
2. Remove unnecessary noises. Make sure there are no unnecessary noises in the background. You want your video audio to turn out nice and clear.
3. Include a call to action. Yep, calls-to-action words aren't just valuable for your written content. After watching your videos, you need to let your audience know what they need to do.

Whatever kind of video you're filming for your eCommerce business, there's one thing you need to do after that...

4. Edit The Video

Whether it's a simple unboxing or a professionally-produced video, you need to edit it.

If you don't have an in-house or outsourced video editor, you can edit the videos by downloading free video editors.

Here are some tools you can use on your own:

• Canva (App)
• Capcut (App)
• Inshot (App)
• iMovie (iOS)
• Clipchamp (Microsoft)

But here are some things you need to take note of when editing your videos:

1. Trim unnecessary clips. If you're packing orders, your viewers don't need to see the whole video. You can focus on the packing itself.
2. Add a voiceover or music. This does not apply to you if you're doing an ASMR video. But if your goal is to make your video more engaging and informative to watch, it's best to add a voiceover or free of copyright music.
3. Add subtitles. To make your content more inclusive, you need to add subtitles so more people can access and understand your video.

After video editing and you think it's now polished to perfection, you can now...

5. Upload

Since your video is done, you can now upload it on your platforms!

Before we talk about where you can use your video ads, here are some things you need to prepare:

1. Ad copy. To make your video ads more enticing, you need an ad copy to support them!
2. Thumbnail. Want to make your video ads more clickable and attractive? Create a high-quality and pleasing thumbnail!
3. Title. If you're uploading your video ad on social media, like YouTube, you need to consider an effective title to increase your search visibility.

But wait... I'm sure you're wondering, where can you upload or distribute your video ads?

That leads us to our next step!

Video distribution is a necessary process.

Why? Because this will help expand the reach of your video ads. Consider this as the act of promoting video content.

Even if you filmed an up-to-par video content, it might go to waste if you don't know which channels or platforms you can distribute them.

So, where to use and upload your video ads?

The success of your video ads is not constantly assured.

You need to improve your next video campaigns to achieve more goals for your business.

And to do that, you need to measure the success of your video ads to know which areas need improvements.

Engaging video content will give you great results.

But how to produce engaging video content that will draw your target audience's attention?

First, you need to...

1. Spark Emotions

Want to gain more social shares? Spark emotions! Viral videos start with asserting feelings to your online viewers.

Whether it's a tear-jerking or funny video, it's vital to spark viewers' emotions.

Not only will it encourage them to share the videos, but some customers are also driven by emotions when purchasing.

So you need to think of a video script or flow that will spark emotions.

To help you with that...

2. Incorporate Storytelling

Storytelling makes your brand feel human.

It makes you stand out from the competition because you have a unique story to tell.

It also helps your target audience connect with you more personally, especially if they can relate to your story.

That's why you need to incorporate storytelling to produce more engaging video content.

And of course, to make it more amazing...

3. Create Curiosity

If your target customers become curious about your products or brand, they will look for more.

For example, you can talk about products in your video marketing campaign.

But it should be in an enticing way that will keep your audience asking and wanting more information about your products.

The point here is you want them to execute your desired action and go down the marketing funnel.

From being aware of your brand through video marketing to considering buying from your eCommerce store.

So, make them curious!

Talk about the benefits of your products that will urge them to see for themselves. 😉

It's time to...