Online sales have become the easiest and most practical way to do business in our interconnected digital world. But still, many people don’t feel safe purchasing products they can’t see from strangers they know nothing about.
If you want to succeed in the eCommerce arena, you need a reliable way to consistently reach your audience and elicit trust. At this point, hiring a media communications expert would be a gem to the team.
People online lack physical interaction with a product and buy with their eyes and minds more than anything else. Thankfully, video marketing can do that. Video gives your audience something they can see and trust, especially when it comes to online shopping.
The good news is that the skilled production companies’ work shows that there’s little you can’t accomplish with the right video and the right strategy.
So, in this piece, we’ll go over the different types of video content you can use in your online marketing strategy and how they can help your brand become trustworthy in the eyes of your audience.
Before We Start, Why Video?
The old saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words. We can update it now by saying that a video is worth a thousand pictures.
When looking for the right way to communicate what your company is all about, only using pictures and text is no longer enough. Not when video can give you the best of both worlds.
A professionally designed video is the single most effective way to promote the products and services of your company. It’s the only medium versatile enough to generate brand awareness and audience engagement while also delivering helpful information.
Videos can translate all of your needs and more into an easy-to-consume piece of content.
Your video can focus on the benefits of your products or services, tell your company’s story, or even give your community of clients a valuable lesson.
So, if you need to build consumer trust in your eCommerce company, there are three main types of videos that will help you: Product Videos, Explainer Videos, and Company Stories. Now we can start.
Put the Benefits Up Front with the Right Product Video
Product videos are the most traditional type of video you will find in eCommerce marketing but are rarely used to their fullest potential. Simply and directly, a product video lists the essential qualities of the product or service you’re trying to promote.
The video needs to explain all its uses and benefits, leaving no doubts about what your product does.
A great product video also shows your product or service being used in context. You need to show the audience how they will benefit from your product in their everyday lives.
Also, if you’re dealing with a complex product that needs assembly of some kind, this is the moment to include a clear and simple list of instructions. Now that we understand what product videos are let’s break down some great examples.
Kelty’s Linger Side Table
This product video starts by showing you a couple of scenarios you might use the product for, illustrating why you would need it.
Then it proceeds to describe the product and its benefits while also showing you how to set it up. All in less than one minute.
You’ll notice this isn’t an expensive-looking production, but it uses its small budget and friendly tone to its advantage.
By prioritising a clean look and simple script, you’ll finish the video feeling like you’ve learned everything you need to know about this product. You can find more examples of these stripped and effective product videos on their YouTube Channel.
Redsbaby’s 2020 Collection
Redsbaby raises the stakes with a video that shows its whole 2020 collection of baby products.
However, instead of making you feel like you’re browsing through a catalogue, this video shows how each different product can be used at a different time of the day or with kids of different ages.
The loving feel of this video’s context uses its families as the real protagonists of the piece.
Notice that each time a new product appears in the video, it’s followed by close shots of the mechanics of the product without being overly specific. If you dig deeper into their other YouTube videos, you’ll find hundreds of how-to videos that address frequently asked questions you may have about their products.
This is an excellent way of building a trustworthy and long relationship with your clients.
Showcase Expertise and Make the Complex, Easy Through Explainer Videos
Most people go online looking for videos that will help them solve a problem they’re having or for videos that teach them about a subject they don’t understand.
Explainer videos offer that type of information to your audience by tackling a complex topic in an easy-to-understand way. Explainers shouldn’t feel like traditional ads or promotional pieces: they are the perfect combination of educational and branded content.
Unlike product videos, they centre on the benefits your product will bring to your specific audience rather than a generic list of features.
That way, they generate brand awareness and audience engagement while also providing valuable information to strengthen consumer trust. A few qualities can help us understand why explainer videos are the most basic yet powerful branded content.
First, they are great at answering the “what,” “how,” and “why” of your service or product, helping advance potential customers down your sales funnel. And also, they are short and concise animated pieces, usually not crossing the 120-second mark.
Let’s look at some explainer videos to have a better understanding of their potential.
Simply Agree’ Software
How can you make an engaging and simple video that explains the work of transactional attorneys?
Or an even more challenging question: how can you illustrate the benefits of a piece of computer software? Well, this cool motion graphics explainer video answers both of those questions.
Look at the creative ways each illustration is followed by the next one, maintaining an engaging pace throughout the video.
It also shows you step-by-step the problem the software solves, how it does it and all its benefits. And one more nice detail: it’s a colourful piece, but you can also notice that the blue and grey brand palette stands out.
This is the type of subtle yet effective branding this style of video delivers.
Green Geeks’ Web Hosting
People are just drawn to good storytelling. This piece created a character, Paxton, to help explain the intricacies of web hosting and the benefits of an eco-friendly alternative.
Scripting a setting and a character that reflects your target audience is a very effective way to get them into the shoes of your video’s protagonists and illustrate the benefits your service or product can give them.
Like the previous example, this piece uses very creative transitions between animations, and its illustrations are green coloured, just like the brand palette.
But, most importantly, after watching the video, you’ll end up feeling that you’ve learned something new about pollution and will think of Green Geeks as a brand that cares deeply about the environment.
Humanise Your Brand with Testimonials and Company Story Videos
So far, we’ve covered videos that put your products or services upfront… but what about the people who make them? And what about the people who use them?
Company story videos and customer testimonials are the best types of content you can use to foster empathy from your audience. While sometimes used as a recruiting tool, company story videos are not just for hiring; they can also be a sales weapon; especially in the era of social media.
Maybe you have an interesting story about how your company was founded. Or you want to interview your employees about what they think of their workplace and company culture.
Company story videos offer a behind-the-scenes look at the real people who make the products or services your customers love.
On the other hand, customer testimonials consist of reviews about your product or service by a current or past client.
It may sound simple, but there’s nothing more convincing than watching someone telling their experience and sharing their views on how your product helped them. While different in their nature, company story videos and customer testimonials offer a solution that no other type of video does: it puts real people in front of the camera.
This way, audiences will stop thinking about your brand as a faceless company and start seeing it as what it really is: a group of people working together to help a community.
Now that we’ve got that covered let’s see some examples.
Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission
Ben & Jerry’s is not just a delicious ice cream company. They are, but this video also shows that the people behind the brand understand the company’s value in its community and their role on a much broader scale.
We all would like to know more about what we buy and the products that make us happy. We rarely get to watch the whole production process as shown in this video, starting with farmers and ending with customers. And this video shows how Ben & Jerry’s team is involved in each part of the process.
Take note that the piece’s most honest and human moments are when Ben & Jerry’s employees are caught off guard in the interviews or don’t know how to answer a specific question. Nothing wring with that! Company story videos don’t look for good answers: they look for the truth.
Tesla’s Customer Stories
The biggest challenge of any branded content, especially video, is bringing a product to life.
When you think about a company like Tesla, it isn’t easy to translate everything the brand stands for into a simple and engaging message.
This is why the company started a series of videos called “Tesla Customer Stories” that focus on real customers and how their lives changed thanks to their products.
This piece manages to explain the benefits of the Tesla Model S but in a very convincing way.
A Few Additional Tips from the Pros
Up to this point, we’ve covered the main types of videos that can help your brand build consumer trust.
But before we move on to that, let’s go over some tips and tricks that will be helpful needless of what type of video you’ll end up producing.
Make an emotional connection: People are bombarded with all types of content in their everyday lives, so what makes certain content stick? The answer is emotion. If your video can make your audience feel something, even a little smile, the chances are that they will remember your piece above all the rest.
Keep it simple and fun (as possible): When looking at content online, nobody has the time to sit through a lengthy and complex video, don’t matter how awesome the product you’re selling is. People are just passing by, scrolling through, and they want to find easy-to-consume and kind-of-funny videos.
This is where your call to action (or CTA) comes in. · Leave them wanting more:
- A good and short branded video should feel like a movie trailer
- Engaging enough to make you want to watch the whole film.
- Make sure you end up with a video with clear directions on where you want your audience to go next.
Wrapping Up
Trust is a challenging thing to achieve for a brand in the online world. Thankfully, video content provides a wide range of possibilities suited to your marketing needs.
That being said, nothing about marketing should be written in stone. The online world is constantly changing, and brands will always want to figure out new ways to connect with their audiences.
Use this article to start thinking about what kind of relationship you want to build with your customers and how you want your clients to think of your brand as a whole.
So, start today. All branded content should focus on fostering trust from clients. If you keep that in mind, organic engagement will come.
Bio Victor Blasco:
Victor Blasco is an audiovisual designer, video marketing expert, and founder/CEO of the explainer video production company Yum Yum Videos. Besides running the business, he’s a lifelong student of Chinese philosophy and a passionate geek for all things sci-fi.
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