Jon and I attended the IMRG workshop on interactive marketing yesterday. We really enjoyed the session and like all IMRG events we met some great new people there, as well as old friends.
One particularly interesting topic of discussion was on the use of digital video as part of the online retail experience. There were good points made by a number of delegates about how video can support brand building and marketing efforts as part of an interactive campaign. I’ve previously blogged about video content on YouTube so I won’t make that point here.
Video content production can be an expensive business so if you’re seriously considering putting video into your retail journey you need to be sure it’s going to give you the return you need.
So, under what circumstances is it optimal to support your customers with video?
In my opinion the best way to work out where in the journey your videos should sit is by examining your customers’ decision-making and discovery process across multiple channels. Videos could be used to provide rich insights at the point when people are scouting around looking at competitior products, trying to understand what features and capabilities they’d like in their new purchase. The kind of product videos that add a great deal of value are the ones that really use the medium to full effect.
For example, videos of expensive, technical products could support customers to answer some preliminary questions about the tactile qualities or usability of a product such as a mobile handset or a digital camera. Apple successfully (and some might say controversially) used product videos of their iPhone across multiple channels to educate would be customers about the user experience of their product. So, there’s a good chance that customers will be visiting your bricks and mortar store to get a feel for the product for themselves and seek some expert advice from your staff. But if you’re a pureplay digital e-tailer then this might not be possible.
So, given the cost involved in producing high quality videos how would you decide which products are worth investing in?
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Trenton commented on 11 September 2009 at 10:00 am
I Want One of Those has replaced product images with videos for many of their products. These are typically low-value products but because consumers typically interact a lot with their playful products I guess it’s important to see them in action.
For example, the video of their twighlight umbrella (something that I’ve always wanted) shows the product working in action and makes me far more likely to impulse buy this product - not only will I stay dry in the rain but I’ll also be able to glow in the dark!