Product Description Video: Crafting Compelling Visual Content

Video content, especially product description videos, are becoming hugely popular across ecommerce sites and social media. Like an infomercial on steroids, product description videos showcase products, demonstrate features, provide usage tips, highlight components, and really sell the value of an item to potential buyers. When done right, nothing beats video for showing rather than telling what a product can do.

But generic, dull product videos do more harm than good. Low-quality videos filled with stock footage and robotic narration will quickly lose viewer attention. Crafting compelling product description videos takes strategy, creativity, and an understanding of what makes viral visual content shareable. This article will explore best practices for developing videos that capture interest and drive conversions.

What Makes a Good Product Description Video?

Product description video encompasses a few key qualities:

Informative and Detailed

The video needs to teach viewers all about the product. What does it do? What need does it address? How is it used? What situations is it for? Delve into features, dimensions, materials, assembly, applications, care instructions and anything else relevant so customers feel fully informed on what they would be buying.

Shows Rather Than Tells

This is the power of video. Demonstrate the product visually through demos of features, 3D rotations of the product, examples of it in use across situations, and more. Let dynamic footage showcase functionality rather than relying solely on narration to explain.

Conversational Tone

Craft narration in an approachable, engaging style that feels like you’re explaining the product to a friend. Avoid overly salesy, hype-filled language. Be casual, warm and enthusiastic as you walk through what the product offers.

Smooth Pacing

Keep shots moving fluidly from one to the next. Match narration pace to onscreen action so they align cleanly. Prevent a choppy feel with thoughtful scene transitions, clean cuts between hand positions/angles, and balanced timing across shots.

Polished Visuals

Have excellent lighting, color correction, set design, shot framing, focus pulls, clear onscreen text, smooth camera movements and more. High production value immerses viewers in content rather than distracting them.

Product Description Video Structure

Effective product videos tend to follow a similar structural flow:

Hook Introduction

Open with an intriguing hook drawing viewers in within the first 5 seconds before they click away. Consider a surprising product demo, engaging question, metaphor for replacing a common frustration, or anything else that grabs attention.

Overview

Give a high-level explanation of what the product is, key components, the need it fills, and situations it targets. Help viewers quickly grasp the purpose of the item.

Key Features and Benefits

Dedicate the bulk of runtime to an in-depth exploration of functionality, dimensions, materials, usage across contexts, care instructions, and special features that set it apart. What pain points does it address? Why should someone buy it over alternatives?

Product in Action

Show diversified lifestyle footage of the product actively in use so buyers imagine themselves using it. Are exercisers wearing it at the gym? Chefs using it in the kitchen? Artists wielding it in the studio? The more relatable scenes, the better.

Call to Action

Wrap with a clear CTA steering viewers to purchase channels or social links to learn more. Let them know exactly what next step you hope they’ll take.

Types of Product Description Videos

While the core purpose remains demonstrating and selling an item, companies can take various stylistic approaches to product videos:

Standard Product Video

This is the most basic video where someone speaks about product features in voiceover narration while demonstrating visually. It delves methodically into details through talking head or over-the-shoulder hand shots combined with supplemental b-roll and graphics. Standard yet effective when done right.

Story Videos

Rather than dryly list specs, story videos embed product benefits within a relatable anecdote. They recount a common frustration then show how the item solves for it. Like a hero overcoming a battle, the product stars as protagonist. Stories feel less salesy while showcasing tangible value.

Comparison Videos

These pit a company’s product against inferior competitors or outdated tools tackling the same need. Side-by-side visual juxtaposition calls out exactly where the product excels in contrast so buyers recognize its superiority. People love before-and-afters.

Process Videos

For more complex or multifaceted products, process videos provide an A to Z walkthrough of setup, assembly, features, usage across contexts, accessories pairings and more. It serves as a extended owners manual breaking down everything about the item.

Sliced Videos

One lengthy video can feel overwhelming. Sliced videos divide content into bite-sized chunks, each targeting a specific sub-topic or feature. Short episodes make it digestible to watch without losing interest midway. Their modular nature also enables custom combinations when embedding across channels.

Interactive Videos

Elevate viewer engagement through tap/click hotspot layers over footage which trigger extra informational pop-ups, image galleries, website links, infographics and other supplemental content without leaving the video. It keeps eyeballs glued in one seamless experience.

Behind-the-Scenes Videos

Pull back the curtain to showcase product design decisions, manufacturing processes, testing procedures, company culture and more to build consumer trust in the brand ethos and craftsmanship behind items. It cultivates community and connection.

Optimizing Product Videos for Different Channels

With such a wide spectrum of platforms available, product videos must align to the channel where they will live. Optimization per platform is key.

YouTube

Given YouTube’s expansive reach for discovery, videos here should focus on information over promotion. Optimize titles, descriptions and tags for SEO while crafting thumb-stopping preview imagery. Playlist creation draws viewers across related videos.

Social Media

The short attention spans on sites like Facebook and Instagram call for condensed, engaging video ads, carousels, or natively uploaded snackable clips with captions conveying the core pitch. Lead viewers back to ecommerce product pages with Tracking links.

Landing Pages

Embedding a descriptive yet concise product explainer video on a website landing page or product page makes information easy to absorb. Supplement around the video with customer testimonials, buying options, technical specifications and promotions.

Email Marketing

In corporate newsletter, promotional emails, or transactional messages, short embedded video gives engaging life to otherwise text-heavy content. Ensure crisp imagery, simple calls to action, and relevance to email topic at hand.

Live Video Shopping

Leveraging built-in-streaming functionality on social sites, live video shopping enables real-time product showcases, demonstrations, and personalized viewer consultation driving instant purchases. The interactive nature builds rapport and urgency.

Measuring Video Performance

While compelling footage, smooth editing and savvy optimization check important boxes, companies must analyze hard metrics revealing how videos perform after launch. Key data to track per channel includes:

• YouTube: Views, average percentage viewed, audience retention, traffic sources, subscribers gained, likes/dislikes ratio
• Social Media: Follower growth, engagement rate, clicks, link clicks, cost per result, impressions
• Website: Bounce rate, time on page, pageviews per session, CTR, conversion rate
• Email: Open rate, CTR, conversion rate, repeat engagement
• Live Video: Peak concurrent viewers, average view duration, comments, reactions, purchases

Consistently assessing performance through an analytical lens rather than gut reactions prevents wasted marketing dollars. Numbers reveal what truly resonates for fine-tuning.

Wrapping Up

At its core, product video content showcases goods in an informative yet engaging manner guiding customers toward purchase. But truly impactful product description video requires forethought, creativity and polish tailored to platform. From interactive snippets on Instagram to in-depth explainers enriching online product pages, compelling visual storytelling, dynamic demo footage and strategic optimization tag team to drive tangible ROI.

When leveraged to its full potential, product video acts as digital salesperson, evangelist and teacher all in one, building desire through demonstrating value on terms personalized to viewers. Look at the first blog of this series.