3 Tactics to drive online video Sales

There is increasing evidence to show that video is an important part of the online retailer’s arsenal.
Most recently, a study by the e-tailing group found that online video usage on product pages among
the top 100 retailers soared 18 percent between the end of 2009 and the end of 2010.

It’s no wonder why. In a 2010 survey by eMarketer, online retailers consistently reported higher conversion rates
and lower rates of shopping cart abandonment with the use of product videos.
These multimedia assets help consumers understand how products look and perform in the real world,
and lead to more confident, informed, and active buyers. There are several ways to use video on e-commerce
sites, and retailers are experimenting more every day to determine which strategies produce the best results.
 

3 Tactics to drive online video Sales:

• Use video to inspire customers with a lifestyle, not just sell them a product

• Tune up your website infrastructure to keep costs down when deploying video

• Use web acceleration services to improve video performance

B2B Case Study: SKLZ Makes Retail Video Findable and Shareable
SKLZ is a premier developer and marketer of sports training products, selling goods not
only directly to consumers, but also through major retail stores including Dick’s, Sports
Authority, and Modell’s. For B2B sell-through, SKLZ has learned that the best way to move
product is to help its retail partners drive the selling process. To do this, the company uses
online video as a primary marketing tool.

Goal: Show products in action to increase sales.
The major promise of SKLZ sporting gear is not what it looks like, but how it performs. To
inspire athletes and drive sales, the company has shot hundreds of instructional videos
highlighting product strengths and demonstrating how consumers can use SKLZ gear to
up their game.

Challenge: Manage a large online video library while ensuring the best browsing
experience for consumers, increasing brand awareness, and improving sales return
and conversion rates.
With more than 200 instructional videos on file, SKLZ started SKLZtv as a separate
section of its website dedicated to product videos. However, the company worried about
how to keep users engaged with its large library of clips and not confuse them with an
overwhelming line-up of video choices. In addition, SKLZ wanted to enable video sharing
through its site, providing a way for videos to go viral without losing control over the
presentation of its brand.

Strategy: Customize the SKLZtv experience by enabling advanced search and filtering
tools for users, and clearly branding SKLZ videos for greater impact as video files are
shared and embedded on third-party sites.
SKLZ leveraged the Limelight Video Platform and associated APIs to create a solution
that would drive the best results for its business. Using keyword tags embedded in its
video metadata, the company exposed search and filtering capabilities to site viewers
so that consumers could find specific clips in its SKLZtv library. Viewers can now browse
among different sports and skill types, sorting videos into channels and playlists for easy
consumption. This allows SKLZ to continue adding large volumes of videos to its library
while keeping the navigation clean and easy to use.
For branding purposes, SKLZ customized its online video player by adding its own colors
and stylizing the “play” button to match the look of the company logo. SKLZ also now
designates individual URLs for each of its video clips. This strategy improves search engine
optimization efforts, while also allowing users to share links and embed SKLZ-branded
videos on their own sites.

B2B lead generation Results: SKLZ has seen a dramatic increase in online sales.
Scott Curry, Director of Marketing Communications at SKLZ explains how online video has
improved business. “Since adding SKLZtv, sales and traffic to our site have consistently
increased month over month. We can confidently share our videos with consumers and
retailers alike. We have received many compliments from consumers, retailers, distributors,
and especially our overseas partners about the simplicity of the design. Our innovative
training and skill development tools coupled with the impressiveness of our videos
establishes a high level of credibility in the marketplace. By simply sharing a video link,
we can show retailer partners that we are sophisticated marketers and show consumers
that we are committed to delivering products and accompanying video content that will
improve their games.”

Source: LimelightVideoPlatform