In a recent case study, specialty retailer Brookstone decided to invest more heavily in e-commerce video because they found that the products that featured videos on its site converted, on average, 53% higher than products that did not feature video.  This trend is not going away. Consumers are craving video, and the question is not whether or not to give it to them. The question is, “What types of videos convert the best?”

Liveclicker recently conducted further research into which types of videos were converting the best for its client base. Among the findings, the research included analysis focused on how the length of videos impacted performance.  When comparing shorter videos (under 90 seconds) to longer videos (over 90 seconds) across twelve retail industry verticals and 22,000+ product videos, Liveclicker found that not only did buyers convert more often when watching shorter videos, but they also generated more dollars per play and purchased an item more quickly.

• Converted into buyers 24.7% more often
• Generated 14.1% more dollars for each video play
• Purchased an item 15.1% more quickly after watching

One leading bag retailer, eBags, saw even more dramatic results: shorter product videos generated a 37.3% increase in conversion rate and 21.5% increase in dollars per play compared to longer videos.  Short and simple videos like its “one minute rundown” videos are moving the needle for this retailer.

Looking at the data, it’s clear that for most retail verticals short and simple videos are better for the majority of products (the research did find this was not the case for more complicated products like some electronics where more detail is needed).  The research does not indicate there isn’t a place in the video mix for highly produced longer form branded content or “how-to” types of videos, nor does it state that longer product videos can’t work, especially in verticals like consumer electronics. However, the research does indicate that for the vast majority majority of retailers, short and simple videos generate the best ROI.

So what is the next step?…Find a way to scale these types of videos for your business.  Liveclicker has created a brand-new product called MobileStudio, a video production iOS app tailor-made to allow retailers to capture, edit, and publish professional quality e-commerce product videos quickly and easily from a iPad or iPhone. The quality is amazing considering the optics of the device, and Liveclicker provides tools and tricks to increase the quality to the level of professionalism demanded by leading retailers. Best of all, MobileStudio is free for all Liveclicker clients. If you are interested in learning more, you can contact Liveclicker for a demo.

MobileStudio is the only solution to seamlessly marry mobile devices with demanding retailer requirements for quality product videos, speed of editing, and rapid video deployment.

Liveclicker, Inc., the leading provider of video commerce solutions for the web’s top brands, today announced the general release and availability of MobileStudio, a solution that enables rapid production, editing, and publishing of e-commerce product videos directly from iOS devices.

The new MobileStudio App is able to:

• Assemble simple, high-quality product videos in minutes with easy-to-use templates
• Quickly add transitions, music, and bumpers
• Publish and distribute content instantly through the Liveclicker Video Commerce Solution

“MobileStudio is designed to help retailers quickly expand libraries of short, straightforward product videos,” said Justin Foster, Co-Founder and VP Market Development at Liveclicker. “Across the online retail spectrum, Liveclicker has discovered that with few exceptions these types of videos are the ones that move the revenue needle most for e-commerce businesses.”

According to Liveclicker research comparing shorter videos (<90 seconds) to longer videos across twelve retail industry verticals and 22,000+ product videos where revenue data was available, shoppers who watched short, simple product videos exhibited the following behaviors:

•  Converted into buyers 24.7% more often
• Generated 14.1% more dollars for each video play
• Purchased an item 15.1% more quickly after watching

“Product videos comprise over 90% of the average e-commerce site’s overall video library,” said Foster. “With MobileStudio, e-commerce businesses can now massively scale product video libraries right from the convenience of a mobile app that’s purpose-built to create the videos that impact the business the most.”

MobileStudio is the latest Liveclicker innovation to join the company’s growing roster of leading e-commerce video features. At no additional cost, Liveclicker clients can take immediate advantage of MobileStudio while leveraging advanced video commerce analytics, video SEO capabilities, and automated site deployment of the Liveclicker Video Commerce Solution.

“The industry has been waiting for a video production solution that combines the ease-of-use offered by automated systems while retaining the quality and integrity of footage that only can be captured with a real person on-camera,” said Foster. “MobileStudio is that solution.”

Pricing and Availability

• MobileStudio is available at no charge to all Liveclicker clients.
• Learn more: http://www.liveclicker.com/web/products/solution/produce/studio/

April 10, 2013

I do want to say upfront that I will not be nitpicking and breaking down the nuances of cameras, bulb types or why wired lavalier microphones are better than wireless ones. These assertions are subjective and every situation is a little different.  “Windows is better than OS X as a post-production operating system.”  See, subjective and if you had an opinion on my lavalier comment then you’re probably a DP and you already know what works for you which is important.  Lastly, it’s important to remember that your production equipment isn’t 100% responsible for increasing product conversion in your video program.  Your videos still need to connect with your customers and meet their needs, so you need to make sure you’re spending the right amount of time in your pre-production planning.  I’ll touch on this more in the conclusion.  

Okay, so here is what I did.  I reached out to churches, community colleges and a production equipment rental shop.  These are three institutions that typically have professional equipment around for very specific purposes.  When I contacted each one I had a very clear goal and told them exactly what I wanted:

“I am a specialty furniture designer and want to shoot 15 videos of my smaller products and put them on my website.  I want to invest in my own production equipment but I would like some experience first using professional equipment to see what I can do with these videos.  I know exactly what I want the videos to look like but I will need someone to set everything up and shoot the videos for me.   I’ll be in front of the camera talking about my products so I think this could be a neat learning experience for everyone involved.  Can you help me out?”

The Church

Churches know the value of video to evoke emotions and drive action so here is what I found. Churches operate under a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit status specific to religious, educational, charitable and scientific organizations.  Their assets and facility must be tied in and used only in a fashion that coincides with their 501(c)(3) status so the key word here is educational.  I didn’t find one church that would allow me to borrow their equipment or even pay to rent it (nonprofit, duh but I still asked).  I was able to find a church that would let me shoot on site if their A/V guy was available during the week, and if someone from the congregation (ideally from the youth program) wanted to learn about the process of product video production that they could then use for the church down the road.  I got a green light on both.

They had a Canon XF105, several fluorescent soft boxes and a decent wired lavalier microphone as well as a good backdrop, and misc. grip equipment.  They also had a large, quiet room to shoot in.  All the equipment probably ran around $6,000.  I was able to get a hold of some okay pro equipment, shoot in a large quiet location with help to set up and organize the shoot for free.  I also met some very nice people and built some great new connections.

Church Advice

Not everyone you come in contact with at a church will be savvy about their tax status, what it exactly means and how it can interact with a for-profit business, nor do they want to be educated on it.  All the information I received, I got through friendly conversations.  Ask a lot of questions, be clear about what you want, and the benefit the experience can provide them.  Most churches are pretty large empty spaces during the day all week long so if they can use their space in a helpful way then they’re willing.  It took some time but I got what I was looking for.  With the proper pre-production planning, I could roll in there and shoot 15 awesome product videos and be on my way.

The College

I called some colleges and found some interesting opportunities right away from their digital media department.  One particular junior college has a certificate program in film-making with a heavy concentration in post-production.  They are currently creating a larger program to include more classes on production but they will be focused on traditional formats such as documentary filmmaking, talk shows and interviews.  Product videos for the web sounded cool to them.  After only two phone calls I was told that I could shoot product videos in their studio, with their equipment using their production students to help with setup and shooting.  All for free.  I wasn’t given a list of their specific equipment but was assured it was all professional grade.  I didn’t have a chance to go the studio last week and check everything out (spring break), but I don’t think the head of the production program would lie to me. Also, not one college would let me borrow or rent their equipment to shoot on site. I did find out that the director of the production program won a grant and will be receiving a Red Epic-x Pro Collection.  If you’re not familiar, Red cameras shot the latest OZ movie, along with The Hobbit and the Man with the Iron Fists.  Basically, $50k in equipment headed to a Junior College with a brand new production program.  It doesn’t get more pro than this.

College Advice

Of the all the colleges I contacted I found out that what really peaked their interest was the real world application of production in a way that they weren’t 100% familiar with.  Surprisingly, I had to explain what product videos were, and that I didn’t want to shoot 15 commercials but once they got it, it worked.  The best part was student engagement.  I was able to speak with a few students and they were happy to help for free in their free time if they could use the videos in their reel or on their YouTube pages.  BONUS: They also handled post production for the same price, free.  This was by far the most lucrative and opportunity driven institution to work with.

The Rental Company

I reached out to one photography shop and gave them my speech.  I was advised that I could rent a Sony AX2000, Lowel Core 55 lighting kit, Senheiser EW-100 mic and all the grip equipment I’d needed for $300 a day.  I was also told that if I rented on Friday, I had to keep the equipment until Monday.  So I could pick up close to $7,000 in equipment at 6:00AM Friday morning and shoot until Monday at 12:00PM for $300.  When I asked about help, I was advised that his consulting rate was $50 an hour. He could walk me through the entire setup on-site and would stay as long as I needed. In short, I could have a consultant and shoot with him all day Friday then continue to shoot all weekend in my space for $1,000.  If you feel your pre-production planning needs help then this would be the best bet since this consultant would spend the day planning your shoot with you.

Rental Advice

You can be as ignorant as you want, and let them fill in gaps.  It is easier to learn from the photography shop.  Their job is to educate because at the end of the day, they want to sell you that equipment.  Also, you may need to remind this type of consultant that these videos are for the web and not for a commercial or documentary.  I’ve found that letting an artistic videographer do their thing can result in 7 minutes of amazing footage when you only need 2 minutes that you’ll then cut down to 60 seconds.

Post Production

The college was the only place I found that would take on post-production work for free.  With the church and rental shop I had to figure out post production myself.  I posted an ad on Craigslist and found I could get my 15 videos edited for $100.  At your shoot, have a laptop with you and a portable hard drive with at least 500GB space and a USB multi-card reader to transfer the raw footage from the camera.  You may need to transfer files a few times during the day.  The hard drive won’t cost more than $100 and the reader won’t cost more than $30.  Also, depending on who is handling post production, the hard drive may need to be formatted for OS X or Windows before you transfer the footage from the camera as well.

Conclusion

Many of the concerns I come across with companies are issues of investment into their video program and its assets because of unmeasured ROI.  The bottom line is that production equipment and committing to and launching a successful video program is expensive.  My goal here was to find a way to get at least 15 videos up to a site for as inexpensive as possible so I could measure the marginal increase in product conversion to justify either an initial or further investment into a program.  Not only did I find a way to do it, I networked with some very cool and interesting people.  Even as an established full-service consulting video commerce company, Video Aptitude is already developing the relationships I made when putting this post together.  The largest cost to getting started is your time.

Lastly, you need to spend time in pre-production planning.  Lucky for you, I am speaking on this topic on a webinar tomorrow! Register here: Video Production – Refining The Pre-Production Process

This is the second webinar in a three part series on Video Production I am doing with Kenna Hurd of Liveclicker.  You can access the first part here: Video Production – Getting Started Producing and Acquiring Video Content

Pre-production planning is especially important with the methods above because with each institution on set you’ll need to maximize time and know exactly what you want your videos to look like before you even step in front of the camera.  Many of the people you’ll work with in this capacity will know how to work the equipment, but still need to know if you want product close ups, what kind of shots you want etc.  Have a storyboard ready and take notes during the production to save time and help your guy/gal in post-production.

If you know you want an internal production program, my ultimate suggestion is to hire a director of production (DP) or work with a consulting company to build this program.  They should be able to put a budget together with equipment that works best for you and your brand based on your space, location, internal assets and goals using their expertise and experience.

Last February, Liveclicker’s Retail Video Production A to Z webinar was one of the highest attended events of the year so we decided to expand on the topic this year into a three part series. For the first part next week, we will explore how to get started producing video content as well as other options for acquiring content.  If you are just starting to build your video program or looking for different ways to source video content, this webinar is not to be missed!

Learn about:

• Defining the scope and goals of your video program from the start
• Pros and cons of using automated video production services or software
• Setting up an in-house video studio vs. outsourcing to a full service vendor
• Sourcing outside video content from partners, manufacturers or user-generated video

Register here today >>

For nearly four years, the blog at Video-Commerce.org has been dedicated to bringing you the latest video commerce best practices and industry developments.  We’ve hired bloggers and blogged ourselves to make sure that the content posted here remains fresh and up to date.   As some of you may know, this blog is funded entirely by my company, Liveclicker.   In addition to this blog, Liveclicker also runs a separate blog at VideoRetailer.org.  VideoRetailer.org is a video commerce blog, but it’s more centered on Liveclicker while this blog remained a general industry resource.  Recently, we’ve decided that it’s no longer worth the financial investment to continue paying bloggers to blog at this site and to keep content fresh on both blogs.  We have decided to combine VideoRetailer.org and Video-Commerce.org into a single blog.

What changes can you expect as a result of the blogs merging?  

You will continue to access the blog at Video-Commerce.org.  Content will be updated more frequently since postings that would have previously gone up only on VideoRetailer.org will now be posted here at Video-Commerce.org.  We will continue to blog about best practices and industry developments.  We will continue to have guest bloggers share their cases, ideas, and stories.  We will continue our commitment that began in early 2009 to have video-commerce.org be a premier destination for all things video commerce and video marketing.  These things will not change.

The biggest change you will see is that we will now use the blog at Video-Commerce.org to share Liveclicker-specific content in addition to industry best practices and cases.  We will announce our company webinars, presence at trade shows, product developments, and other Liveclicker-centric information.  We think you will find the information valuable and helpful as a complement to all of the best practices content.

I invite your comments, emails, and questions.  You can comment below or email me at justin [at] video [dash] commerce [dot] org or justin [at] liveclicker [dot] com.  Thank you readers and as always…

Happy Selling!

Justin Foster

Founder, Video-Commerce.org

Video has been a trend in fashion with brands like Topshop and Burberry, but those brands have yet to deliver sitcom type entertainment and retail merchandising. Typically the video has been product focused and less entertainment value. For example, this is a screenshot from Topshop:

Here we see a similar user interface, but very different content approach. There may be many factors at play here but the most interesting is the role of video content on what is widely known as an effective selling experience.

Video content inherently has a segmenting effect on your audience. Taking the step of adding entertainment value for your shoppers amplifies the user’s desires from the product to what they choose to do on a Friday night. This does not mean entertainment in e-commerce selling is a bad thing, it just needs to be done with an understanding of how that entertainment is segmenting your customer base.

Segmentation is a good thing, especially when talking about fashion. Clearly Target knows it’s customer and has thought through the characters they created in their short film series. Each character maps directly to a user persona that shops at target. The films are not only entertaining but they elicit the metaphors of the Target customer’s desire for romance and self confidence.

Finally, the campaign ended with a live event from NYC. This live video experience capstones what I think was target’s main goal with introducing such entertainment into the traditional product video: BUZZ. Not many brands have tried this approach and the e-commerce results likely would not be known going in, so marketing had to be the key driver of the campaign. As we see in this screenshot and in the final interview with Target’s VP, he explains the campaign was really about having fun, building buzz and engaging the Target customer.

In this screenshot, we don’t see any e-commerce features or much product merchandising at all. This event was all about the live buzz and celebrity entertainment. Brands have been doing this for a while, Crock-Pot(R) launched a new product called “Create-a-Crock” last year using a similar live experience:

Video is a powerful tool with so many applications for brands to experiment, communicate and wow their customers with a different experience.

(And by interactive video I mean video containing clickable text overlays, interactive hotspots, buy buttons, product ratings and reviews, clickable descriptions of products or navigation to other videos in-video.)

It’s looking that way. Several ecommerce merchants have begun providing engaging, interactive video experiences to prospects in an effort to boost sales and conversions.

interactive video commerce examples

Advance Auto Parts
The auto parts retailer leverages customer reviews and ratings in-player via PowerReviews integration. Video product callouts include reviews that can be navigated within the clip along with a Buy option. This can be helpful to enable prospects to see what are others are saying about your products if you or your customers are sharing your videos out to Facebook. Prospects don’t have to leave the video to read product reviews and ratings.

Barney’s New York
The Barney’s Women’s Co-Op video released in March has interactive callouts describing the products featured. On mouseover, Buy Now buttons appear which direct you to pages on Barneys.com where you can purchase the products. This clip generated a 30% playthrough rate, and 55% of viewers interacted with the video by clicking on it.

Handbags.com
A campaign on handbags.com, Handbag Designer-For-A-Day, takes the idea of interactive video to an extreme where video content is sourced directly from viewers. Users record content directly on their webcam, or upload video from their desktop or mobile device, to attempt to win an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to work alongside a bag designer.

7 Interactive Video Best practices

Whatever style of interactive video you’re using or considering using, here are some tips to help improve the success of your efforts:

1. Make interactivity obvious
   Text prompts remain by far the most popular way to drive interaction but hotspotting, where you make certain regions of your video clickable (say, a model’s dress) is a largely untapped opportunity. If you choose to use hotspots, make it obvious that you want users to interact with your video by placing animated bubbles or symbols over clickable items.
2. Facilitate cross-selling
   If you feature multiple products within a single video, switch out cross-sells as the highlighted product changes. Give the customer the option to view or purchase related items if one or more of the products you show in a video become discontinued.
3. Distribute interactive video everywhere
   Enable interactive video across channels, but especially off-site such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, where it’s important to drive traffic to buy. Look for a video commerce platform like Liveclicker that supports 1-click publishing to make this easy.
4. Use an HTML5 video player
   If you’re considering using interactive video, and want to take advantage of traffic from iPads and iPhones, use a video player that supports interactive links and elements both in an HTML5 version and in a Flash version.
5. Test and learn
   Employ A/B testing to pit video thumbnails against each other and quickly learn the overall effectiveness of each thumbnail.
6. Take advantage of YouTube TrueView video ads
   Avoid third party or competitors’ ads showing up on your YouTube videos. Use YouTube TrueView video ads to place links back to your own site on your clips.
7. Amp up the amount of interaction
   Consider upping the level of interaction by soliciting videos directly from consumers as in the handbags.com example.

Lonny Paul

I recently spoke with Lonny Paul, VP Marketing & Strategic Initiatives of Systemax Technology Group North America, about his company’s video program. A Fortune 1000 company, Systemax is a leading retailer of personal computers, computer supplies and consumer electronics under such well-known brands as TigerDirect, CompUSA and Circuit City.

In this interview, Lonny talks about his perceived approach to video and some initiatives which have been launched for Systemax’s Tech Products Group.  He also shares some details about what he presented at  his keynote at the 2012 Video Commerce Summit this past August.

INTERVIEW WITH SYSTEMAX

Amanda Dhalla: Please tell our readers a little about Systemax and your major brands.

Lonny Paul: Systemax Technology Group North America encompasses TigerDirect.com, CompUSA, Circuit City, TigerDirect.ca, Global Computer, InfotelUSA and Systemax PC Brands. We are an omni-channel marketer utilizing e-commerce, business-to-business, direct response and retail channels to conduct business.

Amanda Dhalla: I heard that you were the first to launch a retailer YouTube channel. When did you start getting into video and why? Which brand did you start with?

Lonny Paul: 2007 – and at the time TigerDirect was our only brand. I’ll never forget the conversation:

(ME):  “We need to launch an initiative on YouTube.”
(EXEC):  “How do you spell that?”

The first video we posted was literally filmed on a webcam in my apartment and edited with Windows Movie Maker. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it got over 10,000 views.

Amanda Dhalla: How important is e-commerce video and marketing efforts of your major consumer brands?

Lonny Paul: Video is not a primary component of our marketing strategy, however with the extensively technical aspect of electronics – we feel it is necessary to show people more than what they can see online through photos, specs and descriptions. While many people are out ‘showrooming’, our customers get to have a quasi-physical interaction with the product through our in-house video productions.

We have also realized with over 100,000 products on our site, it’s impossible for us to produce a video for every product in-house, so we turned to an automated solution that now populates over 90,000 skus on our website today with a compelling overview of the product.

Amanda Dhalla: Alongside your more traditional how-to and product videos, I hear that you’re getting into live video at TigerDirect and CompUSA. Can you tell me about that?

Lonny Paul: We were at the forefront of live video – our streaming events started in 2008 with the launch of an event during Black Friday. A live, 24-hour stream featuring deals at half their regular price with 100% of the proceeds going to charity. After that broadcast, we were hooked! We did live Deal of the Day broadcasts, even special ‘clearance events’ where the deals were ONLY announced on the broadcast.

We even did a 14-day bus tour – streaming during travel as well as 6 hours each night from a retail location. People would drive up to 6 hours in some cases just to meet our video talent and be part of the event.

Amanda Dhalla: I hear that you’re using video to enhance the in-store experience too. Can you say a little more about that?

Lonny Paul: In our retail operations, we have been able to extend video to our customers as well. We have an advanced ‘connected store’ format we call ‘Retail 2.0’ which provides customers with product specifications, customer reviews, photo galleries and videos on hundreds of products within each store. Live broadcasts from retail store events have also proven successful to extend the event to people who can’t make it due to household commitments, and into markets outside of our retail footprint.

Amanda Dhalla: How do you measure success – what are the key metrics you track?

Lonny Paul: Video for us was an early entry into the social media space. We have the 2nd largest number of subscribers on YouTube after Nike within the retail space. As well, we are the 2nd largest producer of video after the Home Shopping Network. Over 100,000 videos are viewed on a daily basis on our website. That shows our shoppers are voting for our videos and is a success metric in itself. One of our best measures of success – one of our video hosts was in a Japanese retail store and someone came up and said: “Oh – you are Albert!” In addition, one of our video hostesses is now the morning talk show host on a local New Mexico station. We’ve had some great talent along with our success.

Amanda Dhalla: What positive measurable impacts has video had on your business?

Lonny Paul: We have been able to measure the variance in conversion of a ‘video viewer’ vs. a ‘non-video viewer’ on our item detail page as well as increased referrals from YouTube and other syndicated sources. The branding impact is also great from YouTube and syndication. Our videos are used on hundreds of websites around the world which are focused on technology and the latest gadgets – and direct lots of new visitors over to our websites. The other interesting fact is the long tail effect. A product video is made for the product’s US release, but over the next 2 years you see traffic coming from various other regions of the world as the product makes it way to secondary and smaller markets. I get emails on products up to 3 years old sometimes!

Amanda Dhalla: Beyond the automated videos you mentioned earlier, do you make other videos yourselves, or do you use an outside video production company?

Lonny Paul: In addition to the outside firm we use for our automated videos, we have an efficient internal production team that handles all of our TV and radio commercial production. For live video production, we couldn’t do without our TriCaster.

Amanda Dhalla: How do you see e-commerce merchants using video in the future?

Lonny Paul: Video is becoming another ‘must have’ feature of e-ommerce. TV shopping will evolve to a live-stream web based platform in the next few years.

Amanda Dhalla: What other types of video are you experimenting with or considering?

Lonny Paul: There are lots of new and interesting video technologies on the rise. We most recently have been experimenting with re-targeted video ads, which are rendered in real time, as well as looking at some incredible solutions for B2B and post-transaction. All of these are dependent on an efficient, data-driven, automated video solution which does real-time rendering, pulling data from a number of sources in real-time to deliver personalized, timely and relevant emails with opportunities for upsells and other initiatives.

Amanda Dhalla: What was your session at the 2012 Video Commerce Summit about?

Lonny Paul: My session was called Video Commerce Evolves from Talking Heads to Multi-Channel Implementations and I talked about how video has evolved into a critical element of e-commerce and brand vision. I shared how TigerDirect is complementing our more traditional how-to and product videos with in-store video initiatives, live video and mass personalization of automated video content.

Amanda Dhalla: Thanks, Lonny.

To watch the session recordings of  the 2012 Video Commerce Summit, sign up here: http://www.liveclicker.com/web/resources/video-commerce-summit/.

In this interview, Christy talks about how Nutrisystem is pioneering social video integration with its member communities and shares some details about her recent keynote at Liveclicker’s 2012 Video Commerce Summit, the largest event dedicated to advancing video commerce.

INTERVIEW WITH NUTRISYSTEM

Amanda Dhalla: Please tell our readers a little about Nutrisystem. What is your company’s mission?

Christy Monaghan: At Nutrisystem, our corporate mission is to provide a weight loss program based on quality foods and a nutritionally balanced meal plan; individualized counseling is the core of our commitment that customers always have the privacy, support and knowledge needed to reach their goal weight.

The mission of our online community is to engage our members and support them in their journey towards lifelong health.

Amanda Dhalla: That’s great, Christy. Now let’s talk a little about how Nutrisystem is using video. What types of video are you using and where?

Christy Monaghan: We’ve been dabbling with video for awhile. Originally we used it to facilitate selling but decided more recently to start using it to engage our membership. And it’s been working for us that way to foster engagement.

We use lots of different types of professionally produced video including celebrity videos, celebrity chef videos, inspirational videos, recipe videos and exercise videos. Over 40 in all right now.

Celebrity video featuring Janet Jackson, Nutrisystem spokesperson:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Program participants can share their own Nutrisystem stories on video as well. We have about 10 customer-created, customer-submitted videos up on YouTube, with maybe 20 in total. It’s just starting to build.

Nutrisystem program participant speaking about the self-confidence she’s gained through losing weight:

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

Amanda Dhalla: How is social video helping Nutrisystem’s marketing and sales efforts?

Christy Monaghan: We use video to help people on their journey towards weight loss and weight maintenance. We started by showing success stories that we facilitated. Now video is coming directly from our membership. Our bloggers and members are generating their own content and submitting it to us because they want to help out the community, because weight loss is not something that you can easily do alone.

We don’t have stores so all of our member support, motivation and education is online. And video is a big part of that support network. Program participants think, “If she can do, then I can do it. What excuse do I have?” I personally have been inspired by many of our members who don’t just inspire through video but also on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

Amanda Dhalla: How are you gauging success?

Christy Monaghan: That’s a tough one. We look at what those on our boards and blogs are saying and the type of comments. We measure the customer experience with a tool called ForeSee and the evidence suggests that video content is helpful to our membership.

Amanda Dhalla: Is video changing the behavior of your membership as well?

Christy Monaghan: We know that program participants stick to their plan longer when they engage with us online. And we see more engagement when members talk about how their weight loss journeys have changed them. Members really respond to the real life stories of other members. They reach out to them for help, and motivate and inspire others in turn.

Amanda Dhalla: Where do you distribute your videos?

Christy Monaghan: Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and our own site. It’s important to us that customers can access our video content from wherever they are.

Amanda Dhalla: What was your session at the 2012 Video Commerce Summit about?

Christy Monaghan: My session is called Accountable Social Video: The Nutrisystem Story.  In the session, I talked about how  it’s possible to marry social to video to help people be accountable for their decisions. Also I talked about how video can help support others to make real life changes. I also talked about how are using video to drive behavior change and sell a hard-to-display product.

Amanda Dhalla: What do think the main takeaways were for attendees?

Christy Monaghan: I think attendees discovered some new opportunities for fusing social and video and learned how to drive behavioral change through video. They also got a  firsthand account of how developing a better understanding of user behavior can drive lifetime customer success. If we give our members the tools that they need to be successful as people, we’re successful as a company.

To watch the recording of  Christine’s presentation at the 2012 Video Commerce Summit along with many more expert retail video presentations, sign up here: http://www.liveclicker.com/web/resources/video-commerce-summit/.