Social media and video content go together like macaroni and cheese. However, getting the right recipe to drive sales from your video content isn’t always as easy.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know by now the most effective way to engage your audience is with video. According to HubSpot, an astonishing 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service by way of video.

Alongside this, over the past decade, we’ve witnessed how social media has played an explosive part in the evolution of online shopping. So, how can brands combine the two?

Facebook adverts are a tried-and-tested way to drive traffic to a site. However, consumers usually have reservations about buying from sites they don’t know and can be too cautious to seal the deal. You can eliminate this by advertising and driving traffic to a trusted third-party website like the mighty Amazon - especially if you have a brand that’s not well known yet. Market research firm Mintel found 86% of Brits (almost 9 out of 10 shoppers) are using Amazon, while as many as 15 million people in the UK are now signed up to Prime.

Why do we love video when we’re making purchase decisions?

Because we hate disappointment. (No, seriously!)

Video allows consumers to see the product up front - its size, colour, what it looks and feels like. With the power of video, we can almost touch it. Video manages expectations, allowing consumers to experience the product and gain a clear picture of what it would be like to own or use it.

However, it’s not just about what you show with your video. It’s how you show it that counts.

Today’s consumers are tired of sales-based advertising. They want lifestyle content.

What is lifestyle content?

Lifestyle content either appeals to the consumers' unique personality, aligns with their interests or inspires and educates them.

Video content shouldn’t feel like a hard sell, it should feel aspirational to the buyer, enabling brands to reach an audience that doesn’t even know they need it. The content should capture attention and demonstrate what the brand wants the consumer to feel when using their products. In today’s overcrowded online marketplace, emotional content trumps all.

Some lifestyle content might not even feature a product at all. Think of brands such as Red Bull. Red Bull creates content around a sentiment, an adventurous, adrenaline rush. This daredevil feeling is one they want you to associate with their name. However, for the purpose of driving to Amazon, I’d recommend focusing on and featuring one hero product rather than trying to incorporate a whole range. This is to simplify the purchase decision for our audience; it’s a case of less is more.

In terms of the length, there are no hard-and-fast rules except that videos should be long enough to show every step and short enough to be engaging. It’s also essential your video works with and without sound (as most videos on social are muted until the user chooses to up the volume).

Why should I spend my budget on social?

I’m not saying to completely disregard PPC as it can be an effective way to drive sales, but social traffic can deliver a more targeted route. With a long term investment, social traffic can help to build brand awareness, brand loyalty and an organic audience, increasing the sustainability of the brand.

Are you ready for social traffic?

There’s no point ushering in potential customers unless you’re good and ready for them. Before you post your content, set yourself up for success.

To create a seamless user experience and to increase chances of conversion, your Amazon product page should be sparkling with high-quality lifestyle imagery, optimised copy with targeted keywords and enhanced brand content (EBC). Make sure you also have some organic product reviews (you can request these from your buyers). All of these elements will contribute towards improving your ranking. This is essential because not many people scroll past the first or second page when searching for an item.

Influencers

To support your campaign, send your product to influencers - we’d always recommend using micro influencers. Although they have a much smaller following, it can be more beneficial to the brand as their communities are extremely engaged and they are generally more 'trusted' than larger influencers. For example, their followers are more likely to read a post and trust in a product recommended by a smaller influencer as they have a more personal relationship, rather than a celebrity influencer who is obviously being paid to post about a brand.

The purpose of a parallel influencer campaign like this is to raise brand or product awareness, but it can also help generate a range of user-generated content that you can share across social channels, supporting your videos. This adds real value, from real people, increasing visibility.

Optimising the campaign

Offer the audience a limited-time promo code you can include in the ad copy. This helps improve the conversion rate as consumers are more likely to make a purchase decision when incentivised within a time-frame. With an increase in purchases and product page views, it helps improve the Amazon ranking, in turn, encouraging more organic sales.

Upload your video natively. Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes native video, meaning your video is more likely to be seen in users’ feeds. Be specific when targeting your audience and track your campaign and ads. What’s working? Is there a particular audience it resonates with? If you’re not 100% sure about certain areas of your target audience, use it as a test and learn period. Organic social content should be planned around the campaigns, to align with the ads and create a unified brand experience.

Need help? Get in touch.

We recently worked with a slime toy brand to target a new US market with a social-Amazon campaign. Subsequently, we smashed it over Black Friday to become the No.1 Best Seller ‘Slime & Putty Toy’ on Amazon.com. We also ranked as No.16 Best Seller in the ‘Toys’ category on Amazon, positioning it above the likes of toy giants — Lego, Playdoh, and Monopoly. In fact, at that point, we had done so well that Amazon completely sold out of our Slime products! Otherwise, we’re confident we’d have continued oozing further up the toy category charts.

If you feel like your brand could benefit from some social video content and want to see some examples of our work, or just need some advice, just drop us a line: hello@agencyuk.com