Product videos are known for capturing audience attention more effectively than any other type of content. Research shows that 84% of shoppers admit to buying a product after watching a product video by a brand.
These results can be further improved by making your product videos interactive. This is because interactive videos outperform regular videos at every stage of the marketing funnel.
The main reason interactive videos consistently produce great results is because they allow customers to make a purchase in the moment—they take the customer from awareness to saying ‘yes’ and taking the desired action much faster.
“An interactive video allows you to see something, learn about it, and purchase it all in the same moment. It’s about putting the relevant information (right) there (for the viewers),” Richard Baugh, CEO at COTU, explains.
On the contrary, after watching a linear video, customers have to look for the product on the internet and find the product page to learn about basic specifications such as its price, size, and color options. Essentially, interactive video removes that barrier and lowers the possibility of the viewer abandoning the buying process.
Let’s see how you could make compelling product videos that sell.
Table of Contents
How To Make Impressive Product Videos That Can Compel Customers To Buy
6 Examples of Product Videos In Action
Shorten the Buying Cycle with Interactive Product Videos
How To Make Impressive Product Videos That Can Compel Customers To Buy
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. However, making compelling videos goes beyond simply showing a product and an influencer using it.
According to Baugh, “A compelling video allows people to be informed and influenced in the same moment.” It’s about telling viewers what that product is, what it can do for them, what their buying options are, and how they can buy it, the moment that they become aware of the product and feel the desire to purchase it.
Let’s discuss how you can make impressive product videos to inspire customers to buy.
Step 1: Know Your Audience
A part of knowing your audience is to understand the level of knowledge that your ideal customers are coming in at. Are you creating video content for beginners or experts? This will help you to create specific and truly helpful content for your audience.
Take a seller of fishing products, for example. Their target audience could be new anglers who just want to know the basics of fishing, such as “how to put a rod together” or “does this product work better in fresh or saltwater?”
Compare this with a more experienced audience who regularly go on fishing trips to remote parts of the world.
The content needs of each audience would be very different, and knowing this would help the seller make the most relevant videos.
Step 2: Decide the Purpose of the Video
Knowing the purpose of the video is crucial for optimizing its customer experience.
Is the goal of your video to build trust and loyalty for your brand? If this is your aim, then you might consider featuring products less frequently throughout the video, allowing viewers to truly indulge in the story of your brand.
On the other hand, if the purpose of your video is to showcase a new product, then you’ll want to ensure that the product is front and center in the video with many opportunities for viewers to click through.
Step 3: Consider Where the Video Will Live
Knowing where you intend to share the video could help you decide the video length and how products are presented. Is it a 15-second video for TikTok? A 2-minute video for Instagram? Or a 15-minute video for your website?
For a shorter video, you’ll want to show the product as early as possible within the video. For longer videos, you have a chance to spread your products out a bit more.
Where you publish your video will also determine who gets to see it. The following are a few places where you can display your COTU videos.
Product Pages: Product videos can be used on product pages to show viewers what the product would look like and function in real life, and to explain further details about the product.
Landing Pages: Landing pages are a good option if your goal is to draw viewers’ attention to one specific product or capture leads.
Blog Posts: Blogs are already information-rich content pieces. Including an interactive video on a blog is an excellent way to promote a related product as well as to encourage readers to spend more time on the page and engage with the content.
Ads: Using interactive videos in ads can allow your customers to learn more about the product and buy it while they’re enticed by the ad.
Step 4: Weave the Story Around Product Usage
One of the main functions of your product video is to inspire viewers to make a purchase. For this to work, your video content will need to show your products in situations that your target audience can relate to. This is a part of knowing your audience’s interests and being able to identify their pain points.
Take the same fishing example from earlier. A video showing a well-known angler at the peak of their fishing game reviewing your product would appeal to a more experienced audience, as opposed to a video explaining the basics of how a rod works.
So, make sure the storyline of your video is relatable for your target persona, focuses on product usage from their point of view, and at the same time, reflects your brand positioning well.
Step 5: Write Your Expandable Card and CTA Copy Carefully
The copy you write for the expandable cards and CTA could determine whether a customer clicks through to the product page or ignores the product drawer. The details provided on the expandable cards about the products should be relevant to the target audience and answer the questions they might have about the product.
Similarly, the CTA copy should be actionable, relevant, and inspire the viewers to purchase the product or learn more about it. You can also perform A/B testing to determine which copy would work best for a product.
Step 6: Make Your Video Interactive
At this point, your video footage should be complete and approved by all stakeholders. Once you’re happy with the video, you can add interactivity to it. Here’s how to do that with COTU:
Step 1: Create Your Campaign
The first thing to do is to create a new campaign in COTU. Then follow the steps below:
- Name your campaign.
- Upload your video.
- Add your campaign goals, audience, and budget.
- Click the Create button.
Step 2: Create Your Clickable Links and Product Overlays
This is where you upload products to include in the campaign and add links to direct viewers to the relevant product pages.
- Choose Products from the side menu. Click Add to enter the product details.
- Add the product name, price, and description that will be displayed when a viewer clicks on a card to expand it.
- Upload the product photos and add a URL to include a clickable link on the product card.
- Click on Create Product to add it to the campaign.
- Repeat this process until all your products are uploaded to the platform.
Step 3: Add Products to the Timeline
Once you’ve uploaded all the products, it’s time to start adding them to the video timeline and build the perfect experience for your viewers.
Here’s how to add the product overlays to your video.
- Click and drag products along the video timeline to get them to your preferred position on the video timeline.
- Play the video to preview where each product overlay appears in the video. Drag product sliders along the video timeline to ensure that they are exactly where you want them.
- You can also adjust the duration for which each product card appears in the video.
Step 4: Save and Publish Your Campaign
Once you’re happy with the interactive elements in the video, you can save it as a draft and share COTU’s preview link with all the stakeholders for final approval. Once you’re ready, click Publish, and your campaign will be live.
Step 7: Share Your Video
Now that your interactive video is ready, it’s time to share it with your target audience. COTU offers three easy ways for you to share your video. These include the following:
- QR Code: The QR code allows viewers to access your video wherever they are by simply scanning the code with a smartphone.
- Embed Code: The embed code allows you to embed your video on different pages.
- Unique link: The unique URL can be posted pretty much anywhere or shared through emails and messages.
Shorten the Buying Cycle with Interactive Product Videos
A regular sales funnel consists of awareness, consideration, intent, and then purchase. Adding interactivity to your product videos could invite customers to learn more about a product and buy it the moment they become aware of its existence—thus shortening the funnel for some customers.
Regardless, interactive video can shorten the buying cycle, leading customers to say ‘yes’ much faster. Here are some specific ways an interactive video can help customers make a decision quickly and complete a purchase.
Present Critical Information to the Buyer
With COTU, you can use expandable cards to give viewers important details about a product within the video. Viewers can see all the information they need to make a buying decision without having to leave the video and search the internet.
Even if a viewer leaves the website without making a purchase, whenever they are ready to make a decision, they will have all the critical information they need inside the video. For example, someone buying a car isn’t likely to decide in a single session, but whenever they’re ready to learn more, an interactive product demo video can give them the answers they seek all in one place.
Read more: How To Create Interactive Product Demos for the Automotive Industry With COTU
Provide an Opportunity To Purchase Without Leaving the Website
COTU’s interactive video allows the customers to buy what they want without leaving the website, by putting relevant information directly in the video.
Previously, the customer had to go visit a product page or look for a link if they wanted to learn more about a product. For example, imagine they saw a jacket and were interested in it. They want to know who made it, what size it comes in, what colors are available, how much it costs, etc.
Baugh notes that “Presenting all of this information in the exact moment that somebody sees the product or is interested in it, is what allows that product to sell instantly.”
Enable Single-Session Sale
Interactive videos are said to increase conversion rates by 25%. It’s hardly surprising since an interactive video can take a viewer through the entire buying cycle in a single session.
For example, a product demo video can serve multiple purposes. It can attract customers to your site, show the product in action, list critical specs on expandable cards, compare them with competitors, and more. You can also add CTAs to direct viewers to the product page or other important pages such as for return/refund policies, warranty details, deals, and discounts.
In terms of the sales funnel, linear video lives at the top where customers can see something they like but must go somewhere else if they wish to learn more about it or purchase it.
On the other hand, interactive video allows them to see the product, learn more about it and purchase it all at the same moment.
“So the ability to take action in the moment is what really allows this [interactive video] to shorten the buyer cycle,” explains Baugh.
Easily Present Buying Options
Sharing crucial information through expandable cards isn’t the only way you can shorten the buyer’s journey for your customers. You can upsell products to prevent them from leaving the sales funnel without making a purchase.
With COTU you can group products and add them as a kit in the video to give your customers even more buying options. A kit can group related products that go together. For example, you could group clothing items that could go together to make an outfit.
Another way to use this feature is to showcase the same product in various colors, patterns, or sizes. You could also add complementary products that go with a main product. For example, accessories that could go well with an outfit.
Answer Customer Questions Preemptively
Since interactive videos can present a large amount of information to customers in a non-intrusive way, many common customer questions can easily be answered in a single video. You can use clickable elements to answer frequently asked questions directly in the video before the customers even have the chance to ask them.
Besides product pages, you can also direct them to informative videos and webpages to learn more about a product or the brand and what it embodies. This could reduce the need to wait for information or search through unrelated questions to find the answers they’re looking for.
Baugh states, “Customer support doesn’t just happen where you want it to happen. It happens on the channel where the customer is. So, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the phone, the desktop, the TV, or the tablet; when they want to learn and they want to purchase, we’re there for them.”
Want To Shorten the Buying Cycle for Your Customers and Increase Sales?
6 Examples of Product Videos In Action
Product videos are one of the best tools to encourage visitors to move down the sales funnel. Here are some examples of how other businesses are using them to drive results and how you could elevate the viewer’s experience by adding clickable elements in the video.
Product Explainer: Headspace
In this video, the speaker gets straight to the point. He starts by listing a major benefit of the Headspace meditation app and continues to provide factual information throughout the video. Although the video is purely factual and information-rich, the visuals are colorful, cute, and interesting to watch—a nice balance for the type of details being provided.
How You Could Implement an Interactive Video Strategy:
Since this is a single app, expandable product cards could be used in the video to present important details such as their free package, subscription packages, or a CTA leading to the download page.
Important Metrics You Could Track:
For this video, some good metrics to track are product click-throughs, app downloads, and product subscriptions. Product click-throughs can let you know if viewers are getting all the information they need from the video and expandable product cards. Product downloads and subscriptions are crucial for calculating the ROI of the video.
Product Video Ad: VAT19
VAT19 uses humor very well throughout the video, which matches its brand voice perfectly. The dramatic scenes and sound effects grab viewers’ attention immediately, which is probably the only way to introduce a 5-pound gummy bear. Critical product information is also scattered throughout the video.
How You Could Implement an Interactive Video Strategy:
Expandable product cards can be used at different points in this video to show product details and give viewers a chance to click through. When the video makes references to gummy bears in different sizes, drawers could appear for each product separately or they could be grouped in a kit with clickable links to each product’s page. An end-screen carousel could give customers another chance to buy gummy bears in different sizes.
Important Metrics You Could Track:
You could track product click-throughs, and compare the CTR for the main product being advertised with the other variations mentioned in the video. Product views could also give the brand a good idea of which products are generating more interest.
Product Demo: Solo Stove
Solo Stove pays keen attention to the tone of this video. The video has a calm and positive vibe, and it’s focused on both the tangible and sentimental benefits of having their product. The video uses storytelling with heartwarming visuals to create a desire in the target audience to buy the product and spend quality time with their friends and family.
How You Could Implement an Interactive Video Strategy:
Single product cards can be used for the featured solo stove bonfire, as well as the smaller solo stove products shown in the video. Product groups can also be used to compare the specs of the different products mentioned in the video, and an end-screen carousel can give viewers another opportunity to click through.
Important Metrics You Could Track:
Since more than one product is shown for a fair portion of the video, product views and engagement would be good metrics to track. These analytics will help you learn which product gets more attention from the viewers and whether you should promote one product more over the other.
Product Walkthrough: Kelty USA
This video from Kelty is a simple product demo showing the main features of their adventure backpack. The background music, the wooden walls as a backdrop, and the demonstrator’s flannel shirt all add to the outdoorsy feel of the video.
How You Could Implement an Interactive Video Strategy:
An expandable product card could be used in this video to let interested customers find out the price, colors, and size options available to them. Product groups could also be used to show related Kelty products (sleeping bags, trekking poles, and other accessories) that may form a collection with the featured backpack.
Important Metrics You Could Track:
The important metrics to track here would be click-throughs, engagements, and conversions. Engagements can let you know how many viewers are looking for critical information, like pricing, i.e., how many people are interested in the product. Click-throughs and conversions can let you know if your video is effectively creating the desire and intent to buy the product in your audience.
Product Tutorial: Beauty Bakerie
This video is very short and gets right into the tutorial from the start. The close-up shots and uplifting music makes this make-up tutorial very engaging. The focus of this video is the Lollipop Liner, but they also took the opportunity to show off some complementary products.
How You Could Implement an Interactive Video Strategy:
Product drawers for individual products as they appear in the video would be a good way to give product details to the customers. CTAs on the cards will give the influencer an opportunity to include affiliate links and direct viewers to different product pages to conclude the purchase. Since many products are shown in the video, an end-screen carousel could also be a good idea to drive more conversions.
Important Metrics You Could Track:
Product views and engagement would be useful metrics to know which products got more attention from the viewers. Product click-throughs will help the influencer or the brand to find out how effective the close-up tutorial is at generating viewer interest and which products they should promote more to increase their sales.
Product Video Ad: Nutribullet
This is another ad video, but its narrative focuses more on the health benefits of the product rather than its specs, which is important to Nutribullet’s target audience. Scenes of colorful fresh fruits and veggies add a nice visual touch, while the speaker gives some of the more important product specs.
How You Could Implement an Interactive Video Strategy:
A single product card would be ideal for this video since it’s the only product being featured. An expandable card could include more specific product details, like its pricing, specs, color options, and warranty information.
Important Metrics You Could Track:
Click-throughs and engagements would be good metrics to track in this video. Both of these metrics are good ways to determine viewers’ interest in a product.
Product videos are a vital part of your e-commerce marketing strategy, and adding interactivity is not only a great way to stand out from the competition, but also to sell your products instantly. Luckily, COTU simplifies the process of making your videos interactive for you. Contact our team at any time for guidance on how to get the most out of the platform.