To enhance product understanding and boost online conversions, incorporating conversion video tips can be highly effective. While text and images convey basic information, product videos offer a more comprehensive and rapid learning experience for visitors, often resulting in improved conversion rates on your website.

In this episode of eCommerceScale.com, Thierry Denis from h1productvideos.com shares details on how to create product videos including a done-for-you streamlined service he's built for eCommerce stores.

If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us.

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Conversion Video Tips: Do Product Videos Improve Conversion?

Text and image content is static. Product videos are as close as possible to human explanations of your products. A video can share certain details in 15 seconds that would require a lot of text and many images. For example:

1. The size of a product - Using an image or explaining dimensions of a product in text is not as effective as showing the product being used by a person. The video helps visitors understand how big the product is in relation to another object, usually a person using the product.
2. Material and quality - By zooming in on your product, and showing it from different angles, you can quickly demonstrate the quality and material used in your products. While you could explain this in the specifications on your page, video communicates it much faster.
3. How to use the product - Certain customers may use the product differently. So showing video of how the product is used helps them understand more detail about the product, especially for complicated products.

Using product videos effectively can have a huge impact on your business. Below are just a few of the metrics mentioned in this interview.

1. People that watch a product video are 85% more likely to buy the product than people that don't view the video.
2. Visitors that view a product video are 144% more likely to add the product to their shopping cart.
3. People that view product videos are 25% less likely to return a product.

If you use product videos on your site strategically, you'll see strong improvement in how visitors interact with your site and purchase products.

What Should A Product Video Include?

There are a number of things to consider when making a product video. But below are the main things to focus on:

1. Keep the video short and simple - Making the video short and to the point, usually 15 to 30 seconds is recommended. This gives you enough time to share important information with the visitor, but keeps the video short enough where visitors will be likely to watch it.
2. Don't use a host - Having somebody introduce themselves on a video, and then talk through the product details might seem logical, but it adds a few seconds to the video, and can sometimes distract the visitor from your product. Rather than using a host, focus on just showcasing your product.
3. Background and lighting - Make sure that the lighting of your video is good and balanced. Also use a plain background to keep the focus of the viewer on your product.
4. Share product details - If there are specific things visitors care about in your product, be sure to show those in the video. For example, show the product with different angles, zoom in on certain parts of the product that visitors are interested in. And also, share the most important specifications visitors might care about, such as the size of the product in relation to somebody holding the product.

Below are a few examples of product videos, so you can see these recommendations in action:

Creating Your Own Product Videos With An iPhone

You can definitely create your own product videos with a camera such as the iPhone, but there are certain things to consider to make it as high quality as possible.

1. Shoot the video horizontally - Shooting the video vertically can make it look unnatural when your visitors view it online. Keep the phone horizontal when you are shooting the video to make it look like it was shot with a standard camera.
2. Stabilize the video - Use a tripod or other stabilization equipment to make sure that the video is stable. Having a video with any movement that is not intended is a give-away that it was created yourself.
3. Don't use the phone's zoom - Zooming in on certain product features is helpful for visitors, but this should be done by moving the camera closer to the product, or by zooming in when you're editing the video. Zooming in with the phone's zoom can sometimes cause quality issues that look odd in the final video.
4. Use great lighting - Lighting is one of the most important parts of shooting a great product video. You can create your own lighting kit using simple products from Home Depot, or you can purchase basic lighting equipment on Amazon. If this is not an option, make sure you have great light in the location that you are shooting in.
5. Don't use the camera's autofocus - The auto focusing function of the iPhone called "exposure" is great for shooting photos but can cause quality issues when shooting a video. Lock the exposure on your iPhone within the iPhone's camera settings before shooting your video to avoid this.
6. Edit the video on your computer - Use iMovie or other editing software to make basic edits to the video before publishing it on your website. You can definitely create high quality video using the iPhone, but there are still a few downsides.

Investing in conversion video tips can require a budget and significant time commitment, and the DIY approach may result in a product that clearly looks self-made. While this might be suitable for initial trials of product videos on your site, it’s generally not advisable as a permanent strategy.

Hire A Videographer To Create Product Videos

Instead of creating videos yourself, you can hire a videographer to create the videos for you. You can ask friends and family for good videographers in your network or use Craigslist to find potential people to work with. Make sure to review samples of their work and discuss your project to gauge their quality in advance. The shooting process will vary depending on the videographer, but will usually include the below steps:

1. Project details - First you'll discuss the details of your project usually on the phone, so that the videographer can get an understanding of what you need. For example, you'll need to share the number of products, the style of product video you want, and any additional parts of the video you want such as, narration or animation.
2. Shooting the product videos - The videographer will come to your location, or you will go to theirs to conduct the actual video or shoot. They'll set up your products in good lighting to get the shots they need based on your project needs.
3. Editing - After the shoot, the videographer will edit your product videos, and share with you along the way. This can sometimes be simple, but is often complicated, especially if you have unique project needs.

At that point you'll have product videos completed that you can use on your website. They'll be definitely higher quality than creating videos yourself, but the budget can be gigantic. For example, creating five to ten product videos could cost you anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 or more, depending on who you work with, and the style of video you want.

Product Video Creation Tools and Software

One option to consider that is between do-it-yourself, and hiring a videographer is to use video creation tools and software. The process varies depending on what tool you use (Treepodia is popular) but usually includes:

1. Uploading your product images.
2. Choosing a template or style for the video.
3. Adding text, music, voice-over, or other features.
4. Creating the product videos using the software.

These tools can create reasonable quality videos, especially if you have great product images as a starting point. But remember the final result is still based on the product images you have and is not really a full-scale product video.

Done For You Product Video Creation Service

Engaging a professional videographer ensures quality but can be expensive. Opting for a product video creation service can be a cost-effective alternative, providing high-quality videos that surpass simple slideshows. This approach aligns with conversion video tips that advocate for balancing quality with budget. This is possible, because it's a streamlined service that removes a lot of the custom work that a professional videographer would require for your project. Here's how the video creation service from H1 Product Videos works:

1. Discuss project details - You'll discuss your project details with the H1 Product Video team. So they understand how many product videos you want, and which style of video you want based on the options they provide.
2. Ship your products to the studio - Rather than having to meet at their studio, or have them come to you, you can simply send your products directly to their studio. This eliminates a lot of the production and travel costs associated with hiring a typical videographer
3. Creating the videos - H1 Product Videos will then create your videos at their studio according to the project details discussed. Depending upon how many videos you're creating, they can finish the videos in as little as three business days.
4. Get your videos - They'll ship back your products right away, and also give you the product videos. You can use additional services, such as analytics and video hosting they provide, or host the videos yourself.

Below are a few examples created by H1 Product Videos, so you can see the style:

Additional Product Video Considerations

There are a number of other things to consider if you're creating product videos which we can discuss in the comments, or create additional content about:

1. Make sure your videos are optimized for mobile devices.
2. Configure the videos on your site to fit the current purchase process of your visitors.
3. Measure the results of videos, such as views and conversions within your analytics or shopping cart system. Tools like Wistia can help with this.

Additional Product Video Resources

To learn more about the H1 Product Video Creation Service, visit h1productvideos.com. If you have any questions about creating videos for your products comment here and share examples of your progress along the way.

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