While video may be all the rage these days, it’s not necessary for every product page to showcase a video.
Paul and Shiva broke down the question into these three tips:
- Tip #1: It depends on your product
- Tip #2: Use experiments to make the call
- Tip #3: Consider the cost of production
Tip #1: It depends on your product
“This is a great a great ‘it depends’ if you think of the products. If you don't know anything about the brands, a video could be really useful. If it's clothes pegs, you probably don't need a video. It's a very simple commoditized product. There's not really a great reason to watch it. Having said that, I've heard of ao.com having great success with their videos on white goods. And people will sit there and watch a whole video on washing machines. So I think it really depends on the audience, but it does depend on the product,” said Paul.
If you're trying to differentiate your product from someone else's, a product video can help. But if it's a very low-cost product and people aren't investing a lot of mental energy in the decision, a video probably isn't needed.
There’s no obvious right or wrong answer, so consider your produce and your audience carefully.
Tip #2: Use experiments to make the call
“To build on that, that's why you run experiments. To understand if it is worthwhile to add or not. I think there's also a layer of: if one video worked on one product, then we should roll it out site-wide. Or if we tested on a bunch of videos, why not roll it everywhere? But it depends, because even within specific products, maybe there are some users who are watching 15-minute [washing machine] videos. I don't want to be in that camp. I hope I'm never in that camp. But there are people who want to know more about washers and watch these videos,” said Shiva.
This is where testing comes into play. If you want to determine how your audience is behaving and if they are interested in watching product videos or not, run some tests.
You don’t need to roll out product videos on every product page all at once. You can test what happens with one product video, then roll it out additional videos if that first test is successful.
Tip #3: Consider the cost of production
“This adds into the idea of factoring in the cost of production for a lot of those things. So it may produce an uplift. And for an experiment, you could do one as a one-off or you maybe have one that you've got created. But if it's enough and sufficient of a lift for you to warrant that increase in expenditure, and if you're thinking like seasonal or fashion, you're having to do it at such a pace that you really have to make sure that it adds value,” Paul said.
You need to determine if the cost of producing product videos is made worth it by the increased conversions on your product pages. Could the money earmarked for videos instead be put towards additional photography? Could you use social proof to talk up your product instead?
Like any business decision, make sure that you’re spending your time and money wisely. Examine the question at hand from all angles, and test it as necessary.
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