Sourced from the ARA: Original article by Jenn Donovan, Inspiring Retail
Are you using video in your digital marketing to engage your retail customers? As digital marketing evolves, we continue to see trends favoring towards video. If you are ever in doubt that you need to be using more video content in your marketing to engage with your customers, consider the following statistics:
- 85% of the internet audience watches video online
- 92% of mobile video viewers share videos with others
- 51% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI (return on investment)
It’s no surprise to savvy retailers and brands that they need to use video more often on social media and on their websites, sometimes it’s just either getting around to it or understanding what to say or do or what your customers might be interested in watching, that creates the roadblocks!
So, to help with making creative content, here’s a few suggestions that will help attract new customers, engage existing customers and nurture your tribe:
Send a quick, personalised video filmed specifically for a customer. It could be to show a special order item has arrived, a quick surf report of the local beach or to show a repair of their item has been done.
Remember in the old days when we kept card files on customers, their likes and their purchases and we’d give them a call when something we thought they’d be interested in came into the store? Well now film that, send it to them, make it personal and remember, showing is better than telling.
Post a “HOW TO” video on your social media, website or YouTube channel. Never underestimate what you know that your customers need to know. It could be as simple as:
- How to use a product from your store – e.g. the new tide watch or surf board features.
- How to look after a product – e.g. a take wax off your board properly.
Creating great HOW TO content also sets you as the expert in your field, so you become the “go to” person, which keeps you top of mind with your customers making your store the store they come to, to have their problem solved!
HOW TO videos can be HOW NOT TOO as well, now that creates a whole new dimension for ideas, e.g. how NOT to take down a hornet’s nest!
Create a live “happening now” stream on social media. Things that you could stream might include:
- A day of pumping waves down the road.
- A new merchandising display.
- Share a challenge or win for the day – showcase a staff member.
- Something that’s happening in store that day or an event coming up in the near future.
- The unpacking of new, highly anticipated, exciting stock
- A behind the scenes look at your store or offices
Answer your customers most frequent questions – you can either ask for questions or answer the questions you already know your customers want to hear the answers too (because we are always listening to our customers to help build our business!)
The list is endless really, try to think outside the square!
Create some video content that showcases your store or office, who you are, your passion, your staff, your culture, even as simple as where you are and what you do. For a customer who has never been in engaged before, it might be just enough to attract them to come shop with you. Make these fun, interesting and entertaining.
Once you have made all these great videos on your business ensure you keep repurposing them. Share them on your other social media sites, share them in emails, place them on your website and build a library of them.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand pictures! So, embrace video in your digital marketing, start small, just with one idea and one video and build from there.
Use video content to help build a community – your tribe who not only want to hear what you have.
