Research shows that video will make up 82% of all consumer web traffic by 2021. With more and more people choosing to spend their time watching video over other content, this creates a massive opportunity for ecommerce businesses to get in front of new audiences, convert more customers and drive real Business results. 

At the final Brisbane Shopify Meetup of 2019 the focus was video advertising, exploring how brands can take advantage of this powerful tool, regardless of size or budget. With a fantastic lineup of speakers featuring Elias Lattouf from Google, Paul Cochrane from Shopify Plus, and Jakomina Vidakovic from Adrift Clothing, the evening was packed with valuable insights and takeaways for the ecommerce community. 

Driving business results in a cross-screen world with YouTube – Elias Lattouf, Google

In June this year, 16.5 million Australians spent an average of 24 hours per person on YouTube. Marketers can leverage this by converting these engaged audiences into customers for their business. So, how can you do this? 

Use Google tools to find more valuable customers 

Taking into account information like age and gender or broad passions and interests, Google’s Audience Solutions can deliver your ads to the right people at the moments that matter. Google can deliver these targeted ads to your audience across many platforms, including Search, Display, Mobile and Video. 

Customer Match lets you use your online and offline data to reach and re-engage with your customers across Search, Shopping, Gmail, YouTube and Display. Using information that your customers have shared with you, Customer Match will target ads to those customers and other customers like them. 

Capture & convert attention with effective creative 

Once you’ve found your most valuable customers, the next challenge is to capture their attention long enough to convert them into customers. Effective ad creative and messaging is key for delivering successful campaigns and driving business impact. 

Google Trends is a useful tool which allows you to find out what your target customers are currently searching for, so you can deliver content that answers their search queries. 

To creative effective ads for YouTube, Elias recommends following the ABCDs: 

YouTube offers a variety of different ad formats to capture attention and encourage engagement across different screens. YouTube for Action ads make it easier for users to take action directly from the campaign, so you can optimise towards your goals – whether it’s generating new leads, or driving purchases, app installs, or offline store visits. 

Measure the impact of video with in-depth data 

If you don’t know if something’s working, then why are you doing it? This is why it’s important to measure the success of any marketing activities. Google’s analytics tools provide a comprehensive look into whether your campaigns are achieving your goals and driving real business outcomes. 

With YouTube’s analytics you can even see when users are dropping off or skipping your video ad, so you can make informed creative decisions. Generally, your content shouldn’t be longer than 90 seconds, as it’s unlikely you’ll be able to hold viewers’ attention for anything longer than this anyway. 

Use video to tell your story – Paul Cochrane, Shopify Plus 

If a picture tells a thousand words, then imagine how many you can tell with video? Paul says that storytelling and great content are the key to direct to consumer (DTC) growth. 

New Zealand born shoe company Allbirds use video to showcase their products, capture new audiences, and share their brand story. Check out Koala, HiSmile, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo to see how other brands are using video to tell their own stories.

Paul also shared five key types of videos you can use to optimise your marketing funnel: 

1. ‘Show me’ videos 
2. ‘100% proof’ videos 
3. ‘Tutorial’ videos 
4. ‘Product demo’ videos 
5. ‘Benefits’ videos 

Each of these offer opportunities to tell a story about your product – whether it’s showcasing the benefits, explaining how it works, comparing the before and after state, or featuring real customer stories or testimonials. 

Build an authentic brand with video – Jakomina Vidakovic, Adrift Clothing 

Since launching in 2012, Adrift have grown to have four Brisbane stores and over 300 stockists across Australia, New Zealand and the US, but their strongest sales channel by far is their online store. Over the past five years, they’ve had over 100,000 orders and sold over 150,000 dresses. 

So, how did they achieve this phenomenal growth? Adrift know that for many women, shopping is an emotional experience, so they aim to create an emotional response for their customers, which they have been able to achieve through video. 

Adrift adopt an entirely customer centric approach to video and aim to create the connection that they might have formed if the customer had come through one of their bricks and mortar stores. They use a combination of full service agency creative, part service solutions like Wrappt, and their in house team to create branded campaigns and educational or consideration based creative.  

Being an online store, it’s easier to engage customers and showcase the quality of their clothing through video, rather than static images. Ecommerce product videos allow customers to get a better idea of how the clothing looks, moves and feels. Adrift also use on demand videos like Facebook live to talk about design features and offer styling advice to mimic the in-store experience. 

Not only does this allow them to create a community and deeper connection with their customers, since releasing product videos they have seen a 12% increase in customer return, a 1% increase in overall conversion rate, and 2% decrease in returns. 

As a small business, Adrift only produce videos with a full service creative agency for two campaigns a year, but they’re finding that their customers are interacting with these videos more than ever. To make the most out of these videos, they try to use them as much as possible – in Facebook, Google and in-stream ads, and on their website. 

Earlier this year, Adrift took home Best Loyalty Campaign of the year in the 2019 Retailer Awards for their ‘Every Woman’ campaign, where they were up against brands like Cotton On and Boost Juice. 

That’s a wrap on Brisbane Shopify Meetups for 2019! We’ll be back in 2020 with more speakers, business insights and networking opportunities for the ecommerce community. Make sure you’re following @Reload_Media on Twitter or join our group on Meetup.com to stay in the loop for future events!

This event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our sponsors – Shopify, Okendo, Stead Lane, Wrappt and dotdigital.

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