How to Use Promoted Videos to Generate More E-commerce Sales

Organic and promoted videos serve multiple purposes for consumers in their increasingly multi-channel B2C journey. More than half of the participants said they switched between search and video channels (Google and YouTube) to make an informed decision about a purchase in a YouTube study. But it’s not just YouTube—Instagram’s video content consumption has shot up by …

The post How to Use Promoted Videos to Generate More E-commerce Sales first appeared on Online Web Store Site.

How to Use Promoted Videos to Generate More E-commerce Sales

Organic and promoted videos serve multiple purposes for consumers in their increasingly multi-channel B2C journey. More than half of the participants said they switched between search and video channels (Google and YouTube) to make an informed decision about a purchase in a YouTube study. But it’s not just YouTube—Instagram’s video content consumption has shot up by … Continue reading How to Use Promoted Videos to Generate More E-commerce Sales

How to Use Promoted Videos to Generate More E-commerce Sales

Organic and promoted videos serve multiple purposes for consumers in their increasingly multi-channel B2C journey.

More than half of the participants said they switched between search and video channels (Google and YouTube) to make an informed decision about a purchase in a YouTube study.

But it’s not just YouTube—Instagram’s video content consumption has shot up by 80%, and Facebook users consume one million hours of video content every day.

All these platforms—along with most other social media sites—are ones consumers go to regularly. So as online sellers, these should become your go-to places for running promoted video content. In one study, US online shoppers said they expect to see at least three videos connected to each product when making an online purchase.

But how do you use promoted videos from paid campaigns that translate to tangible results for your e-commerce store?

Create Your Promoted Video E-Commerce Goals

Goals of promoted videos for e-commerce businesses mostly come down to these three:

  1. Increasing brand awareness: -This essentially means if you make and sell, say, scarves, people looking to buy scarves know about you. Promoted videos are a great tool for building brand awareness as people are increasingly discovering new products through videos. In a YouTube survey, more than 90% of shoppers said they’d found new products and brands on the platform.
  2. Boosting consideration: You want to know if people looking for scarves and checking you out are actually considering buying from you. When done right, promoted videos can push your “aware” audience base to the consideration stage. More than 50% of shoppers say online videos have “helped them decide which specific brand or product to buy.”
  3. Generating more sales: YouTube’s “which product to buy” video watch time doubles each year.  Promoted videos can give shoppers the push they need to choose your product.

Translate Your Promoted Video Goals Into KPIs

Take your goals for promoted videos and choose KPIs that reflect them.

Bigger e-commerce brands often use KPIs like ad recall, message association, and purchase intent, among others.

However, if you’re just starting out or are in your early stages of growth, these KPIs won’t make so much sense for you. Instead, you should map your goals to the more “real” KPIs, like upper funnel metrics like views and impressions, middle funnel metrics like watch time and view-throughs, and bottom-funnel metrics like click-throughs, signups, and sales. (Here’s a primer on e-commerce attribution modeling that can help you with this.)

Analytics in most video platforms will report on the general performance of your promoted videos, including:

  • Views
  • Watch time
  • Clicks
  • CTR
  • Engagements
  • Unique viewers
  • Viewership

Different video platforms have different ways of calculating these metrics. For instance, watch time of three-seconds counts as a view on Instagram (where video content maxes out at 60 seconds), whereas for YouTube,  a view happens when someone watches the video content for at least 30 seconds.

Tap Into Your Users’ Moments of Need

Now that you’ve taken care of the “business side” of using promoted videos for your e-commerce business, it’s time to look into the “people side.”

One way to go about this is to tap into the idea of “moments of need” that drive video search and consumption. These are the things consumers want at this exact second.

The four key micro-moments of needs you must factor in when planning video content for paid promotions are:

  • I-want-to-watch
  • I-want-to-do
  • I-want-to-know
  • I-want-to-buy

These micro-moments represent opportunities for engagement, and videos fit seamlessly into them.

For example, if you sell skincare products, you could run a sponsored video on YouTube that targets users in your target market who also Googled “skincare products,” capitalizing on an I-want-to-buy moment. Google’s research has found advertisers who use YouTube video ads and Google search ads report 3% higher conversion rates and a 4% lower search cost/acquisition.

Or you could target broader audience segments and educate them about their top relevant concerns (ingredients, benefits, etc.). This is geared toward the I-want-to-know moments.

When you brainstorm ideas for videos using moments of need, don’t only think in terms of pitching your products. Some of these moments aren’t moments of buying but opportunities to connect with your users via meaningful video content.

The idea is to meet your users with relevant video content wherever they are in their buying journey with you—unaware, considering, or ready-to-buy.

Identify What Drives Your Users to Different Video Platforms

Each video platform has a unique video consumption pattern driven by the viewers’ intents.

For example, Pinterest users appear to have an appetite for “inspirational” video content, with searches for this content increasing 31 percent. “Inspirational,” in this context, means things like how-to guides and backstories of companies and products, making this platform great for “I-want-to-know” and “I-want-to-do” moments.

For YouTube, on the other hand, the top four content categories are comedy, music, entertainment/pop culture, and “how to.” And, 68% of their users take this information and make purchase decisions—so, you can find all sorts of opportunities to use “moments” on this site to make your sales.

It’s also worth exploring how a user engages with the platform you’re using to promote your videos. Pinterest, for instance, serves as a wishlist for many users, as people save images and videos from all over to their personal pages. Meanwhile, a customer who uses YouTube may watch videos to learn how to use a product they want.

Instagrammers’ “moments” can fall into any category, but they want to use the information right now. When you create videos for Instagram, they need to be fast, informative, and provide easy purchasing information.

Before you pick a platform, dig into its demographics and research data. This information can help you set expectations for your promoted videos.

Optimize Your Video Content For Paid Campaigns

When it comes to creating video content you’ll pay to promote, the only rules are the ones mandated by the video platforms. These rules are about the formats supported and the approval policies, plus a few best practices.

Content-wise, there’s no one right way to do video. You need to know your company, your audience, and what works for similar brands.

For one brand, simply using stock photos, text, and music could do the trick.

Another brand might do better if they use video showing a product in action.

While there’s no one single way to create videos that work, some video types more consistently deliver results when promoted:

  • Product explainer videos: Sometimes simple product explainer videos—videos showing products in action—work as excellent content for promoting.
  • Storytelling/Sneak peeks/Behind-the-scenes videos: For some platforms, like Instagram, video content that tells a story, gives viewers a preview of new products, or shows them how things were created or who the workers are can generate great ROI.
  • How-tos: How-to videos directly address the “i-want-to-do” moments and often offer opportunities for showing products in action.
  • Unboxing and haul videos: Depending on your product(s), unboxing, or haul videos, too, can work well in paid campaigns. These are videos showing customers opening their new purchases and talking about their initial responses to the items.
  • Shop with me: In a two-year period, the watch time for “shop with me” videos increased tenfold on mobile alone, making this yet another video content type that can work well when promoted. These are videos where influencers literally share their shopping experiences with viewers.
  • Videos answering the “W” questions: Video consumers often have “W” questions— “what to buy?” “where to buy,” and “when to buy?” This may also include, “who should I buy this for?” Depending on your paid video campaigns’ goals, these questions can make good jumping-off points for promoted videos.

The above ideas for promoted video content may often overlap with the video content you’d produce for typical partnerships—but not always. It’s common for brands to create content specifically for partnerships and use it in addition to their other ads.

Alongside these promoted ads and partnerships, UGC (user-generated content) and testimonials can act as good ideas for promoted video content.

No matter what video type you choose, you need a video creative brief to prepare for your campaign. Below, Nic Burrows from Google shares a simple yet effective creative brief you can use to create compelling videos.

His template forces you to think about and research every aspect involved with creating useful, action-inspiring videos:

Promoted video optimize your video content

You can download your copy here (no opt-in needed).

To learn how to make your video content pop, Ben Jones and his team from Google review 1,000 video ad creatives each month and share how brands can improve. Check it out here:

Experiment With Your Promoted Videos

Like your other marketing assets, experiment with your promoted videos to know which ones drive the most revenue.

You can test pretty much everything, from your video’s length and opening sequence to the background music and interactive elements.

You’ll be surprised to realize significant savings with even simple experiments, so don’t shy away from trying all sorts of different things.

For example, when the coffee and bakery brand Dunkin’ experimented by creating an Instagram video ad with poll stickers and another version without them. By comparing these two concepts, they discovered a 20% lower cost per video view for those with stickers.

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Avoid testing too many ideas in a single experiment because you likely won’t be able to tell why the winning version succeeded.

Document your findings to save on the next campaign. Additionally, your discoveries can fuel your follow-up experiments.

Analyze and Improve Your Promoted Videos

As with any other marketing channel, you may improve your ROI with your store’s promoted videos if you analyze their performance.

Just remember to look a little deeper than the top-of-the-funnel metrics like views and shares to uncover the “real” performance. No matter how impressive those numbers may be, they don’t necessarily translate to sales and profits.

So keep an eye on your sales volumes and value.

Also, when you use promoted videos on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, you can get instant feedback from your users via their comments, likes, dislikes, and shares.

Listen to the feedback they give and use any insights to optimize your videos.

Conclusion

When trying promoted videos for generating more sales, you should try a variety of platforms one by one.

That way, you’ll be able to identify which platforms produce the best ROI for your promoted video campaigns without needing to invest in complex attribution modeling.

Also, don’t think you need the most high-definition production equipment or the best creative agencies to produce the video content for promoting your products. Audiences crave for authentic content the most—so focus on that.

Remember, you’re competing against your own benchmarks, as there are no industry standards here.

Dive in, try different things, listen to your viewers, and—perhaps—have a little fun along the way.  

Have you tried promoting videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or any other platforms? Share your experience in the comments!

The post How to Use Promoted Videos to Generate More E-commerce Sales appeared first on Neil Patel.

Check Out the Best Discover Business Credit Card and More

Are you looking for a Discover business credit card?

The Very Best Discover Business Credit Card

We looked into lots of corporate credit cards for you, to find the best Discover business credit card. So, here are our choices.

Per the SBA, company credit card limits are a whopping 10 – 100 times that of personal credit cards!

This reveals you can get a great deal more money with company credit cards. And it likewise reveals you can have personal credit cards at stores. So, you would now have an additional card at the same stores for your small business.

And you will not need collateral, cash flow, or financials to get business credit.

Discover Business Credit Card Benefits

Benefits can vary. So, make certain to pick the benefit you would prefer from this choice of alternatives.

A Discover Business Credit Card and More Cards for Cash Back

Here is a great Discover business credit card and some similar cards from other providers, so you can make a reasonable comparison.

Flat-Rate Rewards and No Annual Cost

Discover it® Business Card

Check out the Discover it® Business Card. It has no annual fee. There is an introductory APR of 0% on purchases for twelve months. After that the regular APR is a variable 14.49 – 22.49%. 

Get unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no category restrictions or bonuses. They double the 1.5% Cashback Match™ at the end of the first year. There is no minimum spend requirement.

You can download transactions| quickly to Quicken, QuickBooks, and Excel. Note: you will need good to outstanding credit scores to get this Discover business credit card.

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/business/

Flat-Rate Rewards

Capital One ® Spark® Cash for Business 

Have a look at the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business. It has an introductory $0 annual fee for the first year. Afterwards, this card costs $95 annually. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 18.49%.

You can get a $500 one-time cash bonus after spending $4,000 in the initial three months from account opening. Get unlimited 2% cash back. Redeem at any time with no minimums.

You will need good to superb credit to qualify.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-cash/ 

Discover Business Credit Card Credit Suite

Establish business credit fast with our research-backed guide to 12 business credit cards and lines.

Bonus Categories

Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card

Check out the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card. It has no yearly fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the first 12 months. Afterwards, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%. You can get a $500 one-time cash bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months from account opening.

You can get 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on web, cable, and phone services each account anniversary year. 

Get 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases. There is no limit to the amount you can earn.

You will need exceptional credit scores to get approval for this card.

Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/cash?iCELL=61GF 

Boosted Cash Back Categories

Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards MasterCard® credit card

Have a look at the Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards MasterCard® credit card. Get an 0% introductory APR for the initial 9 billing cycles of the account. After that, the APR is 13.74% – 23.74% variable. There is no yearly fee. You can get a $300 statement credit offer.

Get 3% cash back in the category of your choice. So these are filling stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services. Earn 2% cash back on dining. So this is for the first $50,000 in combined choice category/dining purchases each calendar year. Then earn 1% after, with no limits.

You will need superb credit to qualify.

Find it here: https://promo.bankofamerica.com/smallbusinesscards2/ 

An Alternative to a Discover Business Credit Card: Company Credit Cards with a 0% Introductory APR – Pay Zero!

These cards have another feature similar to the Discover business credit card rated above.

Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Have a look at the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. It has no annual fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the initial one year. After that, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.

Get double Membership Rewards® points on day to day business purchases like office supplies or client dinners for the first $50,000 spent each year. Get 1 point per dollar afterwards.

You will need good to outstanding credit to qualify.

Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/bluebusinessplus-credit-card/

American Express® Blue Business Cash Card

Also take a look at the American Express® Blue Business Cash Card. Note: the American Express® Blue Business Cash Card is identical to the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. Yet its rewards are in cash rather than points.

Get 2% cash back on all qualified purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year. Then get 1%.

It has no yearly fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the first year. Afterwards, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%. So, the APR is comparable to that of the Discover business credit card.

You will need great to superb credit scores to qualify.

Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/business-bluecash-credit-card/

Here are a few more great business credit cards with different features which may also be of interest.

Secure Business Credit Cards for Fair Credit Scores

Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business

Have a look at the Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business. It has no annual fee. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 24.49%. You can earn unlimited 1% cash back on every purchase for your business, without any minimum to redeem.

While this card is within reach if you have average credit, beware of the APR. However if you can pay in a timely manner, and in full, then it’s a bargain.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-classic/

Discover Business Credit Card Credit Suite

Establish business credit fast with our research-backed guide to 12 business credit cards and lines.

Outstanding Business Credit Cards with No Annual Fee

No Yearly Fee/Flat Rate Cash Back

Ink Business Unlimited℠ Credit Card

Take a look at the Ink Business Unlimited℠ Credit Card. Past no annual fee, get an introductory 0% APR for the first 12 months. Afterwards, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.

You can get unlimited 1.5% Cash Back rewards on every purchase made for your business. And get $500 bonus cash back after spending $3,000 in the first three months from account opening. You can redeem your rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more via Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You will need excellent credit to get approval for this card.

Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unlimited

Unbeatable Cards for Jackpot Rewards That Never Expire

Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business

Take a look at the Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business. It has no annual fee. You can get 1.5% cash back on every purchase. There is no limit on the cash back you can get. And get a one-time $200 cash bonus as soon as you spend $3,000 on purchases in the initial three months. Rewards never expire.

Pay a 0% introductory APR for 9 months. Then pay 14.49% – 22.49% variable APR after that.

You will need great to superb credit scores to qualify.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-cash-select/

Small Business Credit Cards for Luxurious Travel Points: Alternatives to the Best Discover Business Credit Card

Flat-rate Travel Rewards

Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business

Take a look at the Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business. It has an introductory yearly fee of $0 for the first year, which after that rises to $95. The regular APR is 18.49%, variable due to the prime rate. There is no introductory annual percentage rate. Pay no transfer fees. Late fees go up to $39.

This card is wonderful for travel if your expenditures don’t fall into standard bonus categories. You can get unlimited double miles on all purchases, without limits. Earn 5x miles on rental cars and hotels if you book via Capital One Travel.

Get an introductory bonus of 50,000 miles. That’s the same as $500 in travel. But you just get it if you spend $4,500 in the first 3 months from account opening. There is no foreign transaction fee. You will need a good to outstanding FICO rating to qualify.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-miles/

Discover Business Credit Card Credit Suite

Establish business credit fast with our research-backed guide to 12 business credit cards and lines.

Bonus Travel Categories with a Sign-Up Offer

Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card

For a terrific sign-up offer and bonus categories, take a look at the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card.

Pay a yearly fee of $95. Regular APR is 17.49 – 22.49%, variable. There is no introductory APR offer.

Get 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 in the first 3 months after account opening. This works out to $1,250 towards travel rewards if you redeem with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Get three points per dollar of the initial $150,000 you spend with this card. So this is for purchases on travel, shipping, internet, cable, and phone services. Plus it includes advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year.

You can get 25% more in travel redemption when you redeem for travel using Chase Ultimate Rewards. You will need a great to excellent FICO score to qualify.

Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/business-preferred

No Annual Fee

Bank of America® Business Advantage Travel Rewards World MasterCard® credit card

For no yearly fee while still getting travel rewards, check out this card from Bank of America. It has no annual fee and a 0% introductory APR for purchases during the initial 9 billing cycles. Afterwards, its regular APR is 13.74 – 23.74% variable.

You can earn 30,000 bonus points when you make a minimum of $3,000 in net purchases. So this is within 90 days of your account opening. You can redeem these points for a $300 statement credit towards travel purchases.

Get unlimited 1.5 points for each $1 you spend on all purchases, everywhere, every time. And this is no matter how much you spend.

Likewise get 3 points per every dollar spent when you reserve your travel (car, hotel, airline) with the Bank of America® Travel Center. There is no limit to the number of points you can earn and points don’t expire.

You will need outstanding credit scores to get this one (as in, 700s or better).

Find it here: https://www.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/credit-cards/products/travel-rewards-business-credit-card/

Hotel Credit Card

Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card

Take a look at the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ Card from American Express. It has an annual fee of $125. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 17.24 – 26.24%. You will need good to outstanding credit scores to get this card.

Points

You can get 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after using your card to make purchases of $3,000 in the first 3 months. Get 6x the points for qualified purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You can get 4x the points at United States restaurants and filling stations. And you can get 4x the points on wireless telephone services bought straight from American providers and on American purchases for shipping.

Get double points on all other eligible purchases.

Rewards

Plus, you get a free night every year after your card anniversary. And you can get one more free night after you spend $60,000 on your card in a calendar year.

You get Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status with your Card. Plus, spend $35,000 on qualified purchases in a calendar year and earn an upgrade to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status through the end of the following calendar year.

Also, each calendar year you can get credit for 15 nights towards the next level of Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.

Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/bonvoy-business/

The Best Discover Business Credit Card for You

Your straight-out best Discover business credit card will depend upon your credit report and ratings.

Only you can select which features you want and need. So, ensure to do your research. What is exceptional for you could be devastating for another person.

And, as always, make sure to establish credit in the advised order for the best, fastest benefits.

The post Check Out the Best Discover Business Credit Card and More appeared first on Credit Suite.

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