The power of the moving image is undeniable and is often cited as a key influence over audience behaviour. Video is a platform that provides a multi-sensory experience – a visual, audio and emotional experience all rolled into one.
By Adjust Your Set chief executive Chris Gorell Barnes
It’s much more engaging than text and still images and viewers are able to react to video in their own personal way, sharing with their friends via social media and even interact with it. But most importantly for brands, video has the ability to drive an increase in sales.
Internet shopping has steadily increased over the last few years, with Christmas Day 2011 setting a new record. According to Experian Hitwise, 62.8 million UK internet visitors went to online retail websites on Christmas Day.
Big ticket items like laptops, flatscreen TVs and white goods attracted a high number of visits and many shoppers researched post-Christmas sales at leading fashion retailers.
For customers looking to purchase those big ticket items, it’s essential to research products online. Online video provides a powerful medium to showcase the fabric detailing, how the technology works or how to wear particular styles, much more so than text or images alone.
With integrated click-to-purchase buttons embedded within video content, customers are able to buy directly from the content they’re watching, either by directing a customer to a specific product page or even adding to the basket immediately.
And it is not simply providing a purchasing ability that drives sales. For businesses that have video on their website they’re 53 times more likely to be found via Google search. This means their products, over their competitors, are more likely to be found and bought.
When implemented as part of a wider multi-channel strategy, video can influence and impact each point along the user journey, from home shopping to in-store. According to IDC Retail, a multichannel shopper spends between 15% and 30% more than the equivalent single channel user.
Customers are able to research, browse and purchase products from a variety of locations, on multiple devices and platforms. Google released in 2011 research that revealed 90% of smartphone searches resulted in an action such as a purchase or a visit to a business. Having mobile video encourages that purchase if they can view the product in the most engaging way.
Shopping is also an incredibly social experience and with the integration of s-commerce or f-commerce, social media is an additional platform for shoppers to engage and purchase on. When lynx launched its recent “Lynx Attract – For Him and For Her” exclusive fragrance, they sold 100 cans through its Facebook page.
Supported by a campaign across TV, digital, cinema, outdoor and PR, selling a limited number of cans on Facebook drove conversation for the brand, which would ultimately lead to sales. Social video is a key growth area in 2012 and for brands that integrate f-commerce with a rich video experience will increase not only their ‘likes’ but customer loyalty and sales.
In the connected-future, where customers access content on multiple devices, video will be the most powerful and dominant medium in which to engage with customers. Video has the ability to change people’s behavior; done effectively and you not only define your brand position and build customer loyalty, but it can lead to an increase in sales.
AdjustYourSet.tv
