Video Marketing

Why and How to Do Video Marketing This Holiday Season

Holiday video marketing is essential as the holiday season peaks, with retailers ready to sell and shoppers set to spend their hard-earned cash. Reports by the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted that shoppers would spend an average of $86.27 each this past Halloween.

 On November 11, 2019, Alibaba’s Singles Day sales reached a record of $38.4 billion in just 24 hours, exciting retailers and brightening holiday sales prospects for the rest of the holiday season. One of the keys to Alibaba’s Singles Day sales success is live video streaming!

As shoppers and retailers engage and exchange this Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and New Year sales loom. To maximize sales this season, smart businesses must also embrace video marketing.

Following are some

Holiday Shopping Season Statistics to Keep in Mind

• 47% of all online spending during the Thanksgiving period is expected to occur on Cyber Monday.
• Holiday foot traffic to brick n’ mortar stores plummeted by 7.5 percent in 2017, as more shoppers prefer shopping online.
• 4  in 10 people will start their holiday shopping by November 1.
• 61% of holiday shoppers will buy their last gift on the week preceding Christmas.
• 77% of holiday shoppers will buy from the same retailers as they did last year.
• For 95% of holiday shoppers, price discounts can lure them to new retailers.
• 71% of people use their mobile device to research or buy during the holiday season 
• 23% of shoppers use social media to enhance their holiday shopping process.
• 65% of people’s holiday purchases are influenced by sales and promotions, and video plays a huge role here.

So,

Why Video?

 Video is a proven and effective marketing tool. Since the human attention span is short at barely 8s, people generally prefer to watch short videos than read long articles. 

Reports say people watch  4.6 billion video ads online each year, with 45% of people watching an hour or more of video each day.

Incorporating video into your online customer journey map or sales funnel can yield great benefits this holiday season.

Here are other benefits to be derived from implementing video marketing this season:

Increased Conversions

Watching a compelling presenter explain a product or do a tutorial can influence buying behavior and make a viewer convert into a customer. Communicating the right emotions through video is a potent selling mechanism.

Better email click-throughs

Just using the word “video ” in your email subject line can increase the click-through rate by 200 to 300%, according to reports.  People generally prefer to watch a video, especially tutorials or videos that give information about a product, as opposed to reading.

Increased social shares

We are in the age of viral videos. 92% of mobile video users, share videos with their friends, especially on social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. This affords you the opportunity to introduce your products to prospective buyers and also showcase your discounts to your customers and your new targets.

Video shapes trust and credibility

Video aids in conveying accurate messages to your viewers effectively, in a short amount of time. It also has the potential to influence the emotions of your viewers through visual and auditory elements embedded in the video.

Better Engagement

Video marketing is important this season because it gives you the opportunity to relate with your audience directly by creating engaging tutorial videos or explainer videos if they have questions, or just by creating videos that address their pain points. This will make your customers and potential customers feel that they have a personal connection with your brand. This can lead to brand loyalty.

5 Proven Video Marketing Tips this Holiday Season 

YouTube

You can create a fun interactive holiday shopping video and include a hidden offer code like free shipping, buy 2 get 1 free, 50% off on your next purchase, buy this and say goodbye to pain, etc.

YouTube has over 1.9 billion always logged-in users, and must not be ignored this holiday season. It should form part of your core video marketing strategy.

Facebook

With over 2 billion monthly active users and counting, Facebook is another key anchor for your video marketing efforts.

You can create holiday-themed videos for your Facebook ads, with a call-to-action that takes them to your website or Facebook shop. For stories, you can use a descriptive title and highlight your discounted products with a call-to-action. You can also do video posts, Facebook Live or host a Watch Party.

Instagram

Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users. It has been touted as the fastest-growing social network, according to the Search Engine Journal.

500 million people use Facebook Stories daily. You can also use it to share important information like sales, discounts, and promos via text, photo, and video. You can conduct a poll and ask your customers which is their most preferred product this holiday shopping season.  This can help build audience engagement, which is key to sales closure.

You can also use  IGTV to showcase product reviews, announce price slash, flash sales, etc.

Explainer videos

This can be used to explain the features of a particular product,  how it works and how it should be used. Most shoppers who want to buy a smartphone, for instance, do not know the functions of some features. Such knowledge, when presented in video form, can help them make a better, more informed purchase decision.

It can even cause them to spend some more to get extra features, thus raising their average order value. This could further endear them to your brand.

User-generated videos 

Encouraging user-generated content is by far one of the most effective ways to engage with your fans, followers, and customers. Asking them to create videos with your products, themes or hashtags this holiday season can yield big results.

The process of creating a video gets them really invested and engaged. Great user-generated videos are another form of word-of-mouth marketing or customer testimonial, demonstrating customer’s love for and faith in your brand.

Conclusion

Video is key to conversion. 69% of shoppers say video helps them make a purchase decision. As such, smart brands like yours must not neglect video marketing this holiday season, which is the biggest sales season of the year.