A lot of businesses make showcase videos, which tend to be professionally filmed, expensive to produce and often quite boring. These days consumers want authenticity and a sense of connection with brands and their stories.
Video is an ideal way to do this. It allows retailers the chance to tell their story in authentic ways using footage shot on their smartphones. Amateur footage can give a more authentic and 'real' feeling. It's never been easier to get started with video for your business.
Here are some ways you can share your videos online and ideas for how to use video in your retail business:
YouTube
5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every day with more than half of views being from a mobile device. It is the third most visited website in the word and is relatively untapped in the greeting card and independent retail sector.
Videos can be longer on Youtube and they are often shot in landscape rather than portrait. Intros and outros are common and they help to build your channel’s brand and grow subscribers. “How to” videos are especially strong on this platform. For example, our Ivy Ellen wedding DIY wedding stationery videos have had thousands of views on YouTube.
As a retailer you can do demonstrations of new products, how to videos and content related to local events that those in your community will want to share.
Facebook recently reached 2 billion users and is encouraging more video content to be posted natively rather than sharing links. Long term they are looking to generate ad revenue from this content in the same way that YouTube does.
Facebook video content tends to be shorter, typically 1-2 minutes and intros and outs are insignificant. You need to make your content shareable, so think about why someone would be compelled to share your content. Shares are more valuable to you than views on Facebook.
Some card retailers and publishers are starting to use Facebook video to connect with their audience. Their stories and content often focuses on the people behind the brand, which consumers love to connect with.
Instagram allows short video of up to sixty seconds. The native aspect ratio on Instagram is square although it does accept landscape. This platform is seeing strong engagement in the card industry at the moment with retailers and publishers having a lot of fun with it.
Instagram Stories in particular are doing well. These show up at the top of your screen and often include short video clips. You can can get creative with text, drawings and filters. Essentially it is a way of allowing your fans to engage with the people behind brands they like to shop with. Some retailers are using Instagram Stories to show off new products with members of their team waving them before the camera. It’s a lot of fun.
Find someone fun and outgoing on your team that doesn't mind being on camera and have them show off your latest deliveries, products and store events.
Live Streaming
Live streaming is essentially broadcast live from your mobile device instead of being prerecorded and loaded up later. Whilst you can live stream on Youtube, Periscope (Twitter) and Instagram, Facebook live video in particular is getting huge traction as they’ve been investing a lot of money in growing it. Facebook Live videos are watched 3 times longer and comments are at 10 times the rate of regular videos. I also think their algorithm pushes live video higher up the feed.
To make the most of your Live Broadcasts: build anticipation by promoting when you are broadcasting ahead of time, make sure you have a strong wifi or 4G connection, have a catchy description for your broadcast to grab people’s attention, say hello to people who engage, be engaging and have something interesting, funny or amusing to show or say. Use a closing line to thank viewers for watching and to signal the end of the broadcast. In Facebook Live it’s OK to go native with the format by holding the phone normally (vertically rather than horizontally).
One major advantage to creating FB Live video content is that you don’t have to edit it, which can take time. The downside is that your mistakes are all up there for everyone to see, so be sure to practice before live streaming. Only a handful or retailers are making the most of this tool.
So, grab your smartphone and give it a go. See what responses you get. The most important thing is to be consistent over time with your output. So allow a year to test video for your business and see where it takes you.
Ten Things to do in your Business before using Social Media
Technical Tips for Making Videos for your Business
