With the wide range of online businesses emerging on the ecommerce scene, it can be difficult for websites to differentiate themselves.
With the wide range of online businesses emerging on the ecommerce scene, it can be difficult for websites to differentiate themselves. Although some consumers will know precisely which product they want and will seek out the most convenient option, other shoppers can be drawn in by engaging page content and product descriptions. Organizations that invest more heavily into the content published on their websites need to consider a variety of factors, but perhaps the most important is what type of content they want to produce.
One of the ways Sears has ramped up its ecommerce efforts is through user-generated content. According to MediaPost blogger Drew Neisser, the company uses its ecommerce hosting platform to store 33,000 videos that were created by consumers. So far, much of the content consists of video reviews, which have been directly linked to increased Web sales. Neisser identified several key benefits of using this strategy for engagement:
- User-generated content drives sales
- These videos are more affordable than professional advertisements
- User reviews add credibility to the site
- Video reviews also provide in-depth customer feedback
“It’s important that all consumer-generated product review videos – whether good or bad — are available so it’s authentic,” said Sears’ John Courtney, according to the news source.
Courtney also noted that the presence of user-generated content contributes to higher engagement, even when consumers do not watch the videos. He suggested that the content serves as a “seal of approval,” and can build trust in a brand.
Convergence of Social Media, Video
Maximizing the value of producing video content requires an in-depth knowledge of an organization’s target audience, as well as an understanding of social media. While it is beneficial for companies to host video content on their ecommerce sites, it’s also essential to ensure users know when something new has been published.
Drawing insight from social media marketer David Howard, Onlinevideo.net recently highlighted several tips for using sites like Twitter in conjunction with video content, including:
- Identify commonly used hashtags among the brand’s target audience
- Keep videos short whenever possible
- Ensure that the site hosting the content is reliable
- Deliver key messages in the beginning
“Twitter provides fertile ground to promote video and gain a group of highly dedicated followers,” the news source stated. “It lets video marketers identify target users and build a following for their videos. Use it to build brand equity and dedicated consumer relationships. Failing to use it is connectivity lost.”
While companies can use a third-party video site like YouTube, an ecommerce hosting service with support for high quality and high performance content can drive traffic to the site itself. This will raise overall site engagement, as it did in Sears’ case. Furthermore, business decision makers will be able to maintain some oversight of the infrastructure used to store and deliver the content. Particularly in cases where content produces a high impact, organizations will need to ensure that the hosting infrastructure is there to handle large fluctuations in Web traffic.
Brain Brafton loves and lives technology. A big data geek and an information retrieval junkie he consumes, analyses, interprets and process data like he was a machine. On a continual learning iteration his believe life is a journey not a destination. To keep in contact with Brain find him on Google+ or on Twitter
