Getting to Know the Basics of 3D Product Video
A product video is a demonstrative visual tour showcasing the looks and the benefits of the product listed on digital commerce platforms, social media platforms, or any other online space.
The purpose of a product video is to help businesses convey what their products can do, how it looks, the customizations you can make, and even how to put it together. Also, a good video eCommerce strategy enables potential customers to understand all aspects of your product virtually without having to view the product in person or go to retail. This is imperative, but not limited to, D2C brands who do not sell through retail.
By incorporating product videos, it's possible to create a more detailed product experience, providing the missing piece between the digital and the physical store experience. It is simply about increasing buyer confidence that lead to better conversions.
Now let's review different types of 3D product videos worth creating for eCommerce.
Types of 3D Product Videos You Can Create For eCommerce
Video content can delight your customers, proving to be a gold mine in eCommerce. These videos enable visitors to view your product in lifestyle and aspirational scenes, and gives visitors a 360-degree view of your product(s). Much like product configurators, they also decrease the chances of returns and exchanges.
No matter what product video type you choose, the effort should be to create something out-of-the-box that informs and delights your visitors.
Here are some examples of the 3D product videos you may want to include in your eCommerce content strategy:
1. How To's
One of the most commonly used videos is the "how-to" video. They demonstrate how to assemble a product, and even where to place the product and its use cases. Oftentimes there's a risk a buyer takes when they purchase a product with lots of parts, or that require professional assembly. By including this type of video you can ease the fears of assembly and provide an alternative to reading an instructional manual (because everyone loves those, right?)
When to try
If you're in the home furnishings industry and ship products like dressers, TV consoles, shelving, etc. in flat shipment containers, a "how-to" is a crucial piece of content. You can even get creative and suggest some of the numerous features or benefits of the product in question. For instance, slow closing doors, scratch resistant surfaces, or safety features.
2. Storytelling Videos
Tell the story of your product –– provide information about the details of your product. If you are selling textiles or rugs, you may want to explain whether it's handmade, whether it's knotted or woven, and focus on the color selections and more. This is your chance to share the passion behind the product and make buyers feel passionate about it as well.
When to try
If you have a great story that needs to be heard, a story video could catalyze the reach and the respective sales. The best part of using 3D to create these videos is you can zoom in and focus on the most important aspects of your product –– no need to rely on a videographer to capture this footage for you.
3. Unboxing And Installation Videos
These videos are a kind of how-to video that demonstrates how to set up the product before use. If you are a lighting company, or flooring company, you may want to include a video of proper installation that covers the technical part of your product. This may be a quick look at the wiring or how a product fits together. This will help better educate your buyer and ensure they are purchasing a product they can actually install in their home.
When to try
This works well for installations that can be done without external help. You don't want to provide a video that is complex and scares potential buyers. The point is to make them feel more confident in installing it themselves.
4. Product Performance Videos
These videos help build credibility around your product by telling potential buyers how well it works. This video demonstrates an experience with your product in everyday life. Showcase how lights look inside or outside, how a faucet runs, or the way you use certain appliances.
When to try
If your product has everyday applicability and can make a difference in your buyers life, you may want to consider a performance video. If your products are high end, these 3D videos can make a buyer feel more confident in an expensive purchase.
5. Social Proof Videos
Finally, it's possible to weave 3D video in and out of customer testimonial videos or even use an audio voice over to explain how your product has made a difference in their lives. Social proof is extremely important for buyers today and these videos can make a huge impact on sales.
When to try
Maybe you don't have reviews on your website, or this is a new product and you need to market and promote it more effectively. If your product has clear benefits for consumers and you have case studies to support it, leverage 3D content to weave a story together and let your product shine.
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Why 3D Product Videos Influence the eCommerce Journey
To put it "matter-of-factly," product videos are now a clear part of the buyer journey as they:
1. Increase conversion rates by improving the customer experience of digital buyers
2. Increase AOV (average order value) per customer, which generates higher revenues for retailers and D2C sellers
3. Attracts net new customers by offering helpful content that answers their questions and concerns before making a purchase
According to a survey that included 656 unique respondents, 81% of marketers say video has helped increase the average time their visitors spend on-page and those willing to take the plunge are choosing 3D video to boost the eCommerce shopping experience by turning visitors into buyers.
But that's not all, 3D video can do a lot more for your business, in fact there's a number of reasons 3D video for eCommerce is growing in popularity and influencing the buyer journey.
1. Boosts Brand Awareness
3D videos are an effective way to distinguish yourself from your competitors. What makes your rugs so special? 3D video gives you the ability to showcase your products on a deeper level and really connect with your buyers.
As you increase brand awareness, more people will begin to recognize your business. In time, you can turn that brand awareness into brand loyalty and trust. By improving your customer retention, you're ultimately growing your revenue by keeping customers coming back time and time again.
2. Increases SEO
Google loves video content. In fact, companies using video content earn 41% more web traffic from search than other companies. (More on this later.)
Search engines have made changes over the years to favor content like audio and video over just plain text. That means your eCommerce content must have a variety of elements from text, imagery to video in order to appear at the top of search engines. Video tends to be the last on the list of content to create due to cost, but it doesn't have to be that way with 3D.
If you know what keywords your customers are searching for consider creating a video that covers information on that product and offers value to your customers.
3. Works Like A Digital Showroom
It's not always easy to tell customers about your product, especially in the home furnishings industry, and much easier, and more engaging to show them.
By creating an engaging product video, you can bring your showroom to the digital world. Explore how all your products function and interact through the full story you want to tell, just like you would on the showroom floor.
As a result, you're drawing customers in and keeping their interest, allowing them to browse multiple items at the same time through thoughtfully crafted 3D video.
4. Promotes Your Products' Value
Creating a product video is a great way for you to show customers why they should choose you over your competitor. 93% of consumers focus on visual appearance when they buy –– by incorporating video you are adding to that visual layer to help them better understand your product and why it stands above others.
When you create a 3D product video it's easier to highlight what makes your product special versus text and imagery only.
5. Appeals to Mobile Users
According to Google, 89% of e-commerce retail interactions occurred on mobile devices.
Scrolling through online photos or reading small text isn't an ideal mobile experience. Whereas videos are quick and easy to consume through mobile devices.
Consumers may be reluctant to purchase a high end product from their phone, but video gives them added confidence in their purchase, putting more purchasing power in the mobile users hands.
3D Product Videos: How To Skyrocket Your eCommerce Sales
Traditionally, eCommerce visitors rely on content descriptions and images to learn everything they need to know about a product. But when is the last time you actually read a product description? Although they are a necessary part of on-page content, they lack the ability to properly engage and inform your buyers. In contrast, 3D product videos ensure that people clearly understand your product or service and encourage them to make a purchase.
Product videos increase eCommerce sales by 73% on average.
When looking at the ROI of 3D video, there are a few things that support why they are worth investing in (besides saving you money on videography costs):
1. Google And Social Love Videos
58% of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Instagram Stories.
Video has the ability to be repurposed, shared, and distributed across many channels, and all those links help boost your eCommerce website on Google. By sharing video content across your social channels, eCommerce website, third party eCommerce channels, you can climb the latter much faster and drive more brand awareness and traffic to your product pages.
Another thing to note is that many digital algorithms are beginning to favor video over static imagery, so you're more likely to be found in a search if you include 3D video content.
2. Video Is More Shareable
Studies show that people are twice as likely to share video content with friends than any other type of content. Think about the last thing you shared. Was it an image or a video? Interior designers in the home furnishings industry have build entire brands on before and after video content. It provides greater context and helps those who may lack the creative vision to imagine how a room will come together with a certain piece of furniture or accent.
When you're making large purchases for your home, typically you'll want to get feedback from others and having video to support that decision is paramount.
It's all a numbers game, more shares, equals more clicks, which, in turn, leads to more sales made.
3. Videos Turn Visitors into Buyers
In a survey, 86% of marketing professionals reported that they used video as a marketing tool. 78% of those marketers felt videos have directly increased sales for their business and 86% said videos helped to boost traffic to their website.
All you need to do is produce videos that inspire and delight. It doesn't need to be long, or heavily produced. It's just a matter of showing instead of telling and 3D makes this easier than ever to achieve.
“If you build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”— Jeff Bezos
4. Videos Explain More, Faster
96% of people say they rely on videos to learn more about a product, which tells us, they are looking for information as quickly as possible. In the time it takes to read a product description you could have watched a product video 10x!
Videos can convey information very quickly and as our attention spans continue to shrink, our content must adjust to these changing consumer behaviours. Highlighting your product through video will give your customers more information faster, so they will click to add to cart faster. The faster you can turn a visitor into a customer, the more chances you have to increase their cart size and repeat purchases.
5. 3D Videos Cost Less To Build Brand Trust
Consumers know that videos are a financial investment, and take time and energy to create. Unlike traditional videography which require massive budgets and time, 3D video provides the same, if not greater, level of brand trust, while saving time and money. The visuals created using 3D video have little to no room for error, so your production value goes up, even though you are spending less, and so does consumer engagement.
For example, a single 3D product video with imagine.io costs as little as $250 to create and in as little as a day or two to produce. Compare this with a videographer who charges upwards of $500/hour and months to edit and produce the content you need.
How to Create Simple and Effective 3D Product Videos
80% of consumers want to see more videos from businesses.
Now that we understand how video can drive more sales and more leads for your business, let's discuss how you can get started with 3D product videos.
1. Begin With a Content Strategy
Start small, you don't need to create product videos for every single product listed on your eCommerce site. Determine what products you think would benefit most from video content and keep a few things in mind:
1. How will your product be highlighted?
2. Will video improve the customer experience with our products?
3. Is imagery *really* enough? If not, consider video.
You want to be smart about the video create and ensure this is the right content for the product at hand. If you have high conversion rates on a specific produce using imagery alone, video may not move the needle enough to focus your attention there. But if there are more details that you feel could be highlighted through video where imagery just isn't cutting it, that's probably your best place to start.
Take inventory of these products and then determine what type of video content you want: how to, storytelling, installation, performance etc.
2. Determine Your Budget
3D video makes this much more affordable and can cut your traditional video costs down by 90%. So, even if you have a small budget, it's possible to produce high quality video for more products than you ever imagined using 3D. Still, you will want to determine a budget and measure performance against products that have video and those that don't. From there you can always increase your spend.
5. Create A Distribution Plan
Once you've determined the products you want to create video for and the budget you have in mind, you'll want to determine where these videos will live. There are so many placement options and before you start creating content, knowing where exactly your video will go can make the rest of your decisions a lot easier. Do you just want video on your eCommerce website, social, and used in advertising?
All of this needs to be decided beforehand to ensure your visuals are on the mark.
4. Product Video Length
Product videos don't need to be lengthy, they need to highlight your best features and deliver the most important information. Most consumers prefer videos to be under a minute long. Additionally, if you are sharing video to social, you will want to take into consideration the lengths and limits of each platform before creating your content. You may want to have different lengths of the same product to accommodate this as well.
Here's a quick overview of the average engagement versus video length to keep in mind:
5. Create Mobile-Friendly Videos
82% of users don’t like it when a video isn’t optimized for their device.
In the era of smartphones, you'll want to optimize your content for creating a mobile friendly experience. That means video sizing and dimensions will differ for social media and for your website. You'll likely want to create both vertical and horizontal video so you can ensure your content can be distributed across varying channels. The goal is to keep the product visible on the screen regardless of the medium consumers are watching from.
6. Include Buttons To Share And Download
People are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content.
As we've mentioned, social media has a huge impact on consumer reach. You'll want to arm your visitors with the opportunity to share and download your product videos so that they not only share your content with friends and family, but so they can reference and bookmark specific products if they are not ready to buy in that moment.
Making The Most Out Of 3D Product Videos For eCommerce
The human brain retains visual information 100x longer than text.
3D product videos has the potential to completely transform your eCommerce business. The ability to save on videography costs, production time, and increase buyer confidence is a huge opportunity for online stores to take advantage of.
So, how can you start creating 3D product videos for your business? The imagine.io platform makes it easy to turn the content you create into stunning 3D video.
Book a demo with our team to learn how you can get started.
