The following is a guest post by Dakota Morse, Co-Founder at ALT Group.
With the explosive growth of social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, video advertising has emerged as the single most effective marketing strategy to reach and educate new customers. As the largest eCommerce platform in the US, Amazon took a major leap into video advertising with the launch of Sponsored Brands Video (SBV). Other notable video initiatives include Amazon Live, video curation for launchpad brands, Stores Videos, and we expect more to come. Why is Amazon focusing so heavily on video? Because Amazon knows its customers, and Amazon shoppers love video.
People now watch an average of 16 hours of online video per week, according to Wyzowl. 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video, with 66% of consumers preferring to watch a video instead of reading about a product. With millions of ASINs on Amazon, SBV can differentiate your products from the competition and educate new customers, ultimately growing sales.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Capture Attention
Your video needs to grab the customer’s attention in the first two seconds. They will be scrolling through search results, so it’s important you delight them quickly to stop them from scrolling further. Showcase the product as quickly as possible with content that excites, entertains, and educates the viewer.
Here is an example.
2. Keep It Short
We have found that the best length for SBV is 10 – 25 seconds. Customers are on Amazon for a seamless shopping experience, and you don’t want your video to feel like an obstruction in their path to purchase. If your video is focused on core benefits and features, customers will feel better informed, rather than distracted. If a customer is interested in learning more, they can always watch a longer video after navigating to your Product Detail Page.
3. Lead with Benefits
Reframe the way you think about your products. Rather than features, focus on benefits. Demonstrate how your product solves a problem that your customer is facing and why it will uniquely alleviate that problem. Every product has benefits, see below for examples.
- Furniture: more comfort, improved aesthetic, better materials
- Food: improved health, weight loss, muscle gain, cleaner ingredients
- Baby: peace of mind, improved safety, cleans more easily
- Electronics: enhanced convenience, improved portability, long-lasting durability
4. Mobile is King
Your customers are busy, and the majority are only using desktop at work or late at night. The mobile phone is replacing the desktop computer, and if your brand doesn’t have a mobile strategy, then you’re behind! Amazon has invested significant resources in building its mobile app (#1 shopping app in the US) knowing that the majority of Amazon customers are looking for products on the go, or when mobile is more convenient. According to YouTube, more than 70% of all YouTube video consumption is via mobile devices. Upwards of 60% of Amazon’s total sales come from mobile. Amazon will continue to focus on where customers are spending the majority of their time (video) and money (mobile) and you should too.
This video that takes a mobile-first approach to storytelling, establishing that the brand is both hip and fun, as well as the fact that the product is irritable to dogs.
5. Keep it Silent
The majority of shoppers are browsing the internet without sound: at work, school, in public, etc. SBV ads require sound but are automatically muted unless the shopper chooses activate the videos audio. In a test across 100 SBV ads over five brands, we found that videos with music and text overlay have close to 30% stronger click-through rates. This is in line with market research. According to research by Verizon and Publicis, 92% of consumers view videos with the sound off. The solution? Text overlay. The same report found that 50% of consumers rely on captions or text in place of audio.
Notice how this video includes text overlay and does not require sound to convey benefit of the product.
6. Brand It
Branding is one of the greatest powers of video. Companies like Geico, American Express, and Burger King spend millions on TV commercials with limited measurement of impact. Why? Because these ads build awareness for how they solve their customers’ problems. Think about friendly insurance providers that save you money. Who comes to mind? What’s the best credit card for business needs? Who makes the best burgers for the whole family? You too want customers to say “I’ve seen them before!” when they see your products online or in-store, and remember the benefits you outlined. Don’t forget to include your logo at the end of the video to promote a positive brand perception.
