If there’s one thing I think we can all agree on, it’s that online retailers and product manufacturers want to sell more stuff. So it stands to reason that retailers and manufacturers would do all they can to put video on their sites, right? If only that was the case!

We all believe video increases sales conversion rates. Yet adoption lags. In a September post, Justin suggested the lag is due to a lack of leadership. While that may be the case, I think there are number of factors in play. The one that has been on my mind …

I just returned home last night from the Shop.org Annual Summit where I spoke about how e-commerce retailers could make more money with video “in a week.”  One of the more powerful moments of the presentation was the opening. I asked the 500 or so in attendance the following three questions:

First, “Who believes online video is an effective way to sell products online or persuade shoppers to buy?”

Nearly everyone raised their hand.

Then, “Who is using online video in some fashion today to sell?”

About 3/4 of the audience kept their hands up.

Last, “Who is using online …

There’s been a lot of buzz recently in the blogosphere surrounding the use of interactive elements to drive up the performance of video, so it begs the question – how should video interactivity be applied to e-commerce video?  The answer, I believe, is that interactive techniques should be applied to video when shoppers are both highly motivated to engage in a behavior we as marketers are trying to drive (usually, but not always, this is a purchase), and when those same shoppers simultaneously have a high ability to complete the behavior.

If the idea sounds just a bit academic, that’s …

Last Thursday, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Rob Hughes from Brewster Inc., which operates VacationsCanada.tv among other properties.

Although VacationsCanada.tv isn’t a typical ‘durable goods’ retail site because it exists in the travel vertical, the model Rob and the team at Brewster Inc. have developed around video commerce is not only innovative; it could apply to a wide spectrum of e-commerce business models.  For example, they’ve figured out the following:

- How to maintain a single brand voice across their suppliers and product videos
- How to help fund their video production efforts by working with partners
- …

Last Friday, I had the chance to sit down and interview McKay Thomas, Marketing Manager at BilliardEx.com. McKay led the charge to add video on BilliardEx.com’s site and oversees website strategy and execution.  In our interview, he shared some of his secrets with the rest of us.  Listen in as we discuss:

- Video as a customer experience enhancing tool

- Understanding the motivation behind adding video

- Produced product testimonials from real customers

- Metrics revealing video’s effectiveness

- Tips every online retailer should consider when expanding the use of video on-site

…

I’m pleased to announce that Wes Pomeroy has joined the VCC blogging team as our newest guest blogger!  Wes is joining us to blog about the ROI of e-commerce video.  He’s also the creator of the new product video ROI calculator featured in the last VCC blog post.

Wes is currently the Director of E-Commerce for RIVR Media Interactive, the online division of Emmy Award-Winning television producer, RIVR Media. His primary focus at RIVR is the growth of their new E-Commerce Product Video business including client and business development, and video production and strategy services.  Wes’ professional experience stretches …

I wanted to share with our readers a phenomenal resource created by VCC member Wes Pomeroy of RIVR Media Interactive – a product video ROI calculator:

Using this calculator, users plug in variables that impact on-site video merchandising ROI on a product-by-product level, such as conversion rate, pageviews for the product, gross margin for the product, and expected lift (%) for adding video to the product detail page. The calculator then will give you important data including:

- Video revenue lift
- New profit
- Months to breakeven for the product based on cost
- Number of units you’ll need …

Last week, Larry Joseloff from Shop.org sent me an article he found on Mashable.com, “5 People Who Broke the Rules of Social Media and Succeeded.”  The article highlights the work of one video commerce pioneer, Pinny Gniwisch from Ice.com, for his idea to post a contest video on YouTube as a way to drive email signups and sales.  Not only was Pinny able to gather 6,000 new email signups, but as a result of adding these new prospective customers to Ice.com’s email database, he generated $20,000 in new sales over the holiday season.

I like this case because it shows …

This morning I read a MarketingVOX article highlighting how YouTube just surpassed 100MM viewers in January.  That’s great news for video commerce, right?  It’s all fine and good that YouTube has such a vast audience, but the more pertinent question for video commerce professionals is: should you care, and if so, why?

Unfortunately, I think this is one question that hasn’t really been adequately examined by many video commerce professionals, and like many questions worthy of examination, the answer isn’t always clear cut.  So let’s take a critical look at YouTube’s role in the video commerce ecosystem and outline the …

By John Weaver, FansEdge.com

Creating video content is a time consuming process, and time is money.  I imagine that when the idea was first floated at your company, someone asked about the ROI of incorporating video into your strategy.  Obviously, the longer it takes to produce content, the lower your ROI gets.  Sooooooo…

“How do you efficiently create video content for your website?”

It Starts With a Plan
As with any large project, planning is the most crucial step.  My philosophy with video production is to do all the real work before getting to the shoot so that, once the …