Modern digital brands must constantly innovate and experiment with new marketing strategies. A willingness to try new tactics and tools is often how contemporary retail brands unlock success and reach new groups of target customers. Flexible and creative marketing strategies often pave the way for increased relevance and even more leads.
As video marketing continues to accelerate this year (and perhaps beyond), brands are turning to new shoppable videos. This user-friendly video format allows customers to shop featured products directly, without having to jump through hoops to complete a purchase.
If you’ve got shoppable videos on your radar this season—and we hope that you do—this post provides a practical starting point. Learn what shoppable videos are, how to leverage them fully, and even how Rockerbox can help you measure results.
Shoppable videos are marketing videos that include embedded links to help users shop retail products directly from a specific video.
While YouTube is one of the leading platforms for shoppable video marketing, it’s certainly not the only channel that brands can use for experimentation. Other platforms include TikTok, Facebook Live, Instagram, and others.
Shoppable videos offer advantages to brands and customers because they directly capture the customer’s attention on an outlet that’s already in use. When brands include embedded links, it simplifies the buyer’s experience by taking them directly to the product that’s being featured. In other words, customers don’t have to navigate separately to a site, find the product, and make a purchase; this process happens in an uninterrupted process from the video.
Embedded product links also increase customer engagement by boosting return on investment (ROI). Since prospective buyers are already spending time watching video content, it’s natural to capitalize on that interest and excitement by offering a direct bridge to the product.
Shoppable videos take advantage of the fact that 80% of consumers are more likely to spend money on products when a brand offers interactive marketing assets. Different types of businesses can take advantage of shoppable video formats, including small online shops and large scale direct-to-consumer brands. Shoppable links also work regardless of whether a brand offers physical products or services, although they might be most effective when linking directly to featured products.
Additionally, shoppable videos can be a good move for any brand that already maintains an active presence on video-based platforms and wants to increase engagement and conversion.
Brands must be willing to build a “shoptainment experience” in comparison to a traditional entertainment experience in which interruptions are kept to a minimum. In shoppable videos, brands craft a spontaneous buying experience that eliminates many hurdles associated with adding products to the cart, submitting personal details, and then relocating back to the video that a user was previously watching. But in a shoppable video, the viewer gets a miniaturized version of the website for a streamlined retail experience.
Digitally native brands already know and recognize the importance of buying behaviors on social platforms. That’s why they’re launching interactive events and using shoppable videos to retarget previous customers and recapture abandoned purchases.
TULA, a current Rockerbox customer, shares how shoppable YouTube videos have helped the brand participate in creative seasonal events and deliver exciting customer experiences. In a recent interview with Glossy, TULA CEO Savannah Sachs shares—
“As a digitally native, social-first brand, we are always looking for new ways for customers to discover our clean, clinically effective products, and this live shopping activation allows us to bring Tula’s holiday shopping experience to life in a festive and innovative way.”
Other digitally native brands should consider forging a similar path, especially in light of increased traffic with holiday and seasonal buying timeframes.
For creative brands, shoppable videos aren’t simply a “one size fits all” solution to new marketing methods. Retailers can use separate formats to reach individual segments of their audience and increase customer conversion opportunities. Shoppable video formats can include:
Even if you’re ready to jump on the shoppable video bandwagon, you should do so with a proven strategy in mind. Adhering to industry best practices helps you optimize each video and maximize the results you receive from your investment.
Check out the following tips to ensure your shoppable videos are as effective as possible.
A key part of introducing shoppable videos into your strategy is making sure you have a way to track their success. With Rockerbox, you have multiple options for following through on the impact of videos to your bottom line, including leveraging link tracking, promo codes, and post-purchase surveys.
At Rockerbox, we know how important it is to create digital marketing initiatives that keep pace with the competition. Whether it’s in seasons of high consumer spending (like the holidays) or any other time throughout the year, you need intelligent testing and reliable metrics that help you match effort with results.
Are you ready to take advantage of current digital marketing trends, including highly engaging shoppable videos?
Rockerbox delivers intelligent attribution so that your brand can test and spend more confidently. Join the ranks of global direct-to-consumer brands and take advantage of Rockerbox’s attribution models.
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