Video Marketer’s Guide to Product Advertising

With offices, schools, social events, and many other aspects of the world going digital since 2020, ecommerce shopping saw an enormous leap. Sales jumped by nearly one billion dollars, and those numbers are only projected to keep increasing in the years to come. It’s clear that consumers enjoy the ease of use, availability, and safety that ecommerce shopping provides them compared to more traditional methods, such as brick and mortar shopping. Such a quick switch to and preference for ecommerce purchasing proves that it’s one trend that’s here to stay. 

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As a result, marketers have needed to adapt their strategies to meet consumer needs. One of those central strategies is product advertising. This advertising is defined as promotional activity that demonstrates a product’s feature to induce customer sales, including videos, commercials, or social media posts. Focusing on producing high-quality ecommerce product video advertisements also helps with ever-changing data and privacy changes that have made it harder for personalized ads to reach target consumers. Keep in mind that product advertising differs from product marketing, which instead focuses more on the technical aspect of sales rather than the direct method of selling.

The question then becomes: How can video marketers create product advertisements that stand out from the competition and appeal to customer interests during such a time when the world is progressively becoming more digital? This guide will go over the key factors in understanding product advertising today and give you the top tips and tricks to showcase your own products. 

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Overview of Our Changing Digital Consumption Habits 

The switch to digital shopping and the usage of apps for deliveries of things like meals or groceries was already growing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This digital switch was gaining popularity as more consumers favored the convenience that digital services provided them.  Moreover, video advertising was also continuously on the rise on multiple platforms, including third-party marketplaces and on social media. But the pandemic itself accelerated these trends by at least five years, according to one report from Tech Crunch.

As a result, marketers of all industries had to adapt their advertising efforts to meet customer demand quickly. From the beginning of the pandemic to the foreseeable future, brands can no longer undervalue the importance of great product advertisements. Now is a more important time than ever to work on product advertising skills and strategies. Developing these methods ensures that customer demand can continue to be met in the future. 

Learn More: Social Media Video Ad Specs & Placements Guide

Growth of Third-Party Marketplaces 

Third-party marketplaces give brands a digital platform from which to advertise and sell their products. Naturally, these marketplaces have grown in popularity as ecommerce skyrocketed in recent years. The introduction of third-party marketplaces allows brands without an online presence to build themselves digitally and engage in ecommerce sales — a must in today’s modern climate. 

Third-Party Marketplaces: The Big Players 

Amazon, Walmart, and Etsy are all third-party marketplaces that continue to see increased engagement. Each of the top online marketplaces offers something different in terms of how brands can advertise, but all allow you access to sell products or services to a variety of online consumers. 

For instance, take Amazon Stores, Amazon’s online marketplace solution. Here, you can build a “digital storefront” that introduces your brand and its products to consumers. You can customize the storefront to match your brand’s image and more importantly, feature product advertising, including images and videos. Adding this visual element helps to bring your products to life and differentiate your brand from the competition. 

Alternatively, Etsy offers small businesses or individual sellers shop videos where they can introduce buyers to their shop. For example, if you are an individual seller, you can upload a video introducing yourself, your products, and your story, including how your shop came to be. Personal video advertisements like these provide customers with a personal connection to the seller, which customers crave in a sea of corporations and wide-scale ads. 

Growth of Social Commerce 

Besides third-party marketplaces, social commerce has also seen a recent surge. Social commerce refers to purchases that consumers can make on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok. With over 4 billion social media users worldwide, it’s no wonder that many brands are taking the opportunity to advertise their products on one or more social media sites.

At the same time, recent changes in data privacy regulations impact what consumer data companies have access to on social media platforms, particularly on mobile devices. This in turn affects what ads and information social media users are shown. It’s now more important than ever to stand out from the large wave of competition in the same boat. By refocusing your video creative, you can increase the likeliness of your product advertisement getting noticed by users. 

Social Commerce: From CTAs to Online Shops

What’s great about using social media to sell is that the buying process is much more direct for consumers. Instead of seeing an advertisement and having to look up a brand and hunt down a product, consumers can simply buy through the social media site or app. 

Take Instagram as an example. On the highly popular photo-sharing app, brands can craft an advertisement or “sponsored” post that includes a “shop now” CTA, allowing interested consumers to buy directly from a post they like. Instagram is particularly big with the fashion crowd, as users enjoy browsing different clothes and outfit ideas. This makes it a popular advertising avenue for fashion brands. 

Most apps also take the social commerce experience even further to allow for more shopper immersion. Besides these sponsored posts, Instagram also has an Instagram shop where users can browse products sold by brands or other users they follow. The Instagram shop is completely customized for each user, taking ecommerce personalization to an entirely new level. 

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Emergence of Unique Digital Shopping Experiences

Still, advertisers are doing much more than just selling items online or through a social media post — they are completely revolutionizing the modern-day shopping experience. These new shopping experiences began to pop up last year and received a positive reaction from consumers, prompting the belief that they will only continue to develop in the future:

  • Live Stream Shopping: Originating from the Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik Tok, this new kind of shopping experience allows consumers to buy products directly during a live stream. Companies can perform the live streams themselves, though those with influencers or celebrities tend to be the most popular. Consumers can also ask questions and interact with the liver streamers, bringing a more human feel to the shopping journey that some may miss with ecommerce. 
  • Shop the Look (Pinterest and Snapchat): Pinterest and Snapchat are upping the online clothes shopping game by having users scan a particular piece of clothing to either locate it online, try it on virtually, or receive recommendations for similar clothing or outfits. This feature helps with making clothes-buying decisions and appeals to the increase of individuals buying from their mobile phones. 
  • Shoppable TV: Shoppable TV takes TV watching to another level by letting viewers buy items they see as they watch their favorite shows. Viewers can do this via a QR code that pops up on the screen featuring a product. Viewers scan the code using their phones and are given a link to where they can purchase that product. 
  • “TikTok Made Me Buy It: Showing social commerce at its finest, “TikTok made me buy it” is a widely popular TikTok trend. Users post videos of themselves using products they’ve discovered and purchased from the app for other users to check out or even buy for themselves. Tik Tokers can include product links directly in the video or video caption to create a seamless buying experience. 
  • Digital Out-of-Home Advertising: Out-of-home advertising, or OOH advertising, used to just refer to ads that people saw outside of their homes, such as billboards or posters. In the modern age, advertisers are using a blend of digital and in-person experiences to produce a new ad experience. Ideas could include the use of augmented reality, such as in the AT&T ad below.

While these shopping experiences may differ in their methods, advertisers are taking the plunge to make ads that are unique and draw in consumers in new ways that have never been done before. 

Example of QuickFrame OOH ad for Tubi
Example of an Out-of-Home ad for Tubi

Importance of Video on Product Display Pages

Product display pages (PDPs) are the pages you are taken to when viewing a product on an ecommerce site. They are perhaps the most important pages on your site, as their job is to both inform a potential customer about your product and entice them to make a purchase. There is simply no better way to achieve these goals than to include a video on your PDPs. 

A big issue with ecommerce shopping is the fact that potential buyers can’t try out a product for themselves like they can at a brick and mortar location. Videos are the closest way to give them that real-life experience, thanks to their ability to provide a 360-view of a product and show the product in use via demos. Even better, you can add text, graphics, and voice-overs to get an even more in-depth perspective and add to the visual appeal. 

There are plenty of ways that you can include video in your PDPs, along with many different video placements and types:

Featured Product Demos 

A short product demo video (ideally less than three minutes) allows you to show the product in use rather than simply telling customers about its specs and features. You can place these videos in various strategic areas, such as at the bottom of the product description, so potential buyers can see the product in action after reading about it. 

User-Generated Content 

A big trend with product video production in recent years has been sharing user-generated content (UGC). This content involves showing actual customers of the product using or showcasing the product in their everyday lives. UGC is often collected from customers themselves from their social media accounts (with their permission). These videos can give customers an idea of how they can use the product. You can use several UGC and post them as a video tile. When users click on a video tile, they can scroll through different videos, pausing or playing as they choose. 

Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials help with social proof or the theory that other people are more inclined to buy products if they see others using them. You can have customer testimonial videos pop up on a user’s page after a certain amount of time spent on-screen or after the user has scrolled down. Incorporating this tactic gives users the chance to look over the product description and any other visuals before being given that extra push to show them your product’s value. 

How-to Videos

How-to videos are popular in general as they provide informational use of a product. If your product already comes with instructions, why not add a visual element that explains step-by-step how to use the product? These videos can be placed near an FAQ section on your PDP so users can get visual answers. 

While these videos work well for nearly every type of product, some industries benefit from more specific or intricate video formats, particularly if products are more complex or have multiple uses, like kitchen items. 

Video Tips for Product Advertising: Toy Industry 

One particular industry that’s boomed in recent years is the toy industry, with a 16% increase in sales in 2020 alone. Most advertisers will ramp up their toy marketing during the holiday seasons, but the higher demand for toys has caused them to even further up their efforts. The access to multiple media outlets has also required advertisers to expand their toy advertising beyond the TV screen and onto online sites and social media platforms.

First Things First: What Makes Toy Advertising Work?

Beyond the toys themselves, there are several key elements that make a toy ad effective. Though some of these elements have always been evident in toy commercials, many toy brands have incorporated new ideas or transformed old ones to appeal to new types of consumers. 

Connecting With Emotions

Overall, children connect more with emotions than they do with any factual information or evidence. That’s why the majority of children’s advertisements often show other happy children at play, enjoying toys with their friends or family. This is especially true at a young age where children may not fully understand the purpose of advertisements and aren’t capable of differentiating between reality and fantasy on TV. 

This video QuickFrame enabled Hasbro to create uses the emotion of family togetherness to inspire their target audience to act.

Appealing to Parents

Interestingly, there’s been an uptick in toy advertising that appeals to parents as well as children. Many advertisers have latched onto the nostalgia theme that has increased in recent years, bringing back favorite toys in new ways. Some of the most popular examples include Tamagotchi, Furby, and Polly Pocket. These ads can persuade parents to buy these toys once again — this time, to share with their children. 

This video QuickFrame enabled Barnes & Noble to create is a great example of a video ad appealing directly to parents, because–as the first frame eludes to–it flat out tells them what toys they should buy.

Getting Social

Social media channels like YouTube are filled with toy-related videos from “toy influencers.” These influencers have millions of followers and share videos like toy unboxing and reviews. Tapping into influencer marketing not only appeals to eager viewers, but can also help circumvent data privacy changes that make social media marketing more challenging for advertisers. 

Targeting Video Platforms

YouTube Kids is one social site that is made for children to use instead of adults. Many toy brands have gone beyond simply posting video advertisements, and have instead created entire YouTube mini-series dedicated to toy products, including Barbie and My Little Pony. Producing these kinds of video series makes for a more immersive experience with toys. 

Top Toy Video Advertising Ideas and Tips

Effective toy advertisements not only use the right strategies but also incorporate various types of video techniques and formats. Some of the most popular video ideas and tips are:

Interactive Videos 

Interactive videos are a particularly good idea for toy marketing, as adults and their children can get a feel for the toy on a virtual level. For instance, you can make an interactive toy video that allows viewers to click on different texts or graphics on the video. Each click can show more information about the toy or introduce viewers to its features. Interactive videos work best on your brand’s website or PDPs. 

Tip: Ensure viewers can easily understand where to click so they don’t get confused. You can add a mini CTA below any link or graphic to help, including a phrase like “click here.” 

Play-Along Videos

Lots of children see play-along videos at school, where teachers show clips that children can sing or dance along to. These videos are fun, encourage action, and can additionally be used for advertising. You can craft a video where children see another child playing with the toy, encouraging a particular kind of play or movement.

Tip: Add music, sound and visual effects, and bright colors to make the video both visually and auditorily engaging. Bright colors, in particular, draw in children and help them make sense of what they are seeing.

This ad that QuickFrame enabled Homer to create isn’t your typical example of a play-along video, but it does showcase the power these kinds of videos have. By showing your target audience what it looks like actually playing with your toy or game, they are allowed to vicariously feel like they’ve interacted with your product as well.

Media Carousels

If you have multiple video ideas, you can incorporate the use of a media carousel. When users click on a video on a web page, they will be shown an additional frame to see even more videos. This is a great idea if you want to showcase a toy that has multiple features or capabilities. Like with interactive videos, media carousels do well on PDPs. 

Tip: Use a different format for each video. For instance, if your first video is a product demo, use UGC or a customer testimonial for the next to keep it interesting. 

This ad that QuickFrame enabled Hollar to create shows the value of using media carousels–or giving the impression of media carousels–to illustrate multiple products, or their unique features.

Background Videos 

If you want to integrate visuals but not center on any specific video, you can use background videos. Background videos play on a loop in the background of your site or PDP. These videos are usually short, about five or six seconds, and don’t use sound. They simply show your product or talent using your product as potential customers look through the page. 

Tip: Keep background videos as simple as possible, including only one shot or frame. Otherwise, viewers might get too distracted or find the video to be a nuisance. 

Brand Videos 

If you’d rather focus on building brand awareness over featuring any specific product, you can make a video detailing your brand instead. For instance, you can create a video that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the toys you sell, including the creation process or perhaps the people behind the product. You can upload these marketing videos on YouTube or feature them on your social media pages. 

Tip: A majority of consumers — 77% — buy from brands whose values are similar to their own. Consider sharing your brand values with your audience to tap into this desire and promote authenticity, which makes many brands stand out. 

Alright, so this last video isn’t for a real toy, but it’s excellent at mimicking best practices of toy ads, nonetheless. This video that QuickFrame enabled DoorDash to create shows how they took a brand message, “it’s ok to play with your food,” and converted it into the language of a toy ad to position their food delivery service as fun, eccentric, and engaging.

Toy Video Advertising: Final Thoughts

Making use of the right toy advertisement strategies and video marketing ideas can lead to greater sales and deeper consumer trust in your brand. Remember, happiness and excitement work best with toy ads above all, no matter which kind of video you make. 

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Video Tips for Product Advertising: Gaming Industry

Along with toys, another industry that has seen a recent boom is video gaming. While toys provide a great tangible product, video games allow for a digital, immersive experience young generations crave — especially Gen-Z and Millenials. Moreover, video games are growing rapidly in their technological capabilities, incorporating augmented reality (AR) to allow people to bring their favorite video games to life. A recent popular example was Pokemon Go, which was released in 2016. This AR mobile app brought Pokemon into players’ lives, allowing them to see these creatures in the physical world through their screens. 

What Makes Video Game Advertising Work?

Just like toy advertising, there are a number of video game advertising techniques that work best when trying to appeal to the gaming audience. These strategies have seen similar transformations in recent years. 

1. Emphasizing Uniqueness

With gaming so popular among many age groups, consumers of all kinds seem to have unlimited options in the video games they choose. It’s now more important than ever to find a way to stand out, particularly by defining what makes a game unique above the rest. Advertisers can do this by examining their competitors and observing what they are lacking — either with their game or advertising campaign. 

2. Figuring Out a Target Audience

Each game will have its own target audience, and it’s important for marketers to figure out who that is. While toy advertising is predominantly for children and by extension, their parents, video game advertising appeals to everyone from young children to adults. This means the potential audience reach is huge. At the same time, casting too wide of an advertising net risks the possibility of showing advertisements to consumers who aren’t at all interested in video game purchases. 

3. Zoning in on a Platform

In the same vein of advertising that’s too broad, choosing to advertise on as many platforms as possible can also be a waste of time, finances, and resources. The most successful advertisers settle on platforms or channels that are the most popular with their target audience and invest their time and efforts there. After all, each age group tends to use one particular social media channel over others.

4. Using Video

Video advertising reigns supreme in the video game world, as this is the best way to show actual gameplay and game use. YouTube is a popular platform for video game advertisers to show just this, and social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat, or Tik Tok are popular alternatives. There are plenty of options for video ideas to appeal to your ideal audience.

Top Video Types for the Gaming Industry

There seems to be an endless amount of video game advertising ideas, though the following remain some of the most well-liked by audiences. 

In-Game Footage

The prime way to advertise a video game is to give consumers a preview of what they can expect when playing it. You can do this by showing in-game footage in your ad. In-game footage ads are a great option for all channels, whether you want to post on social media, YouTube, or your PDP. You can choose to show a brief clip or allow for a longer preview, which tends to drive higher engagement. 

Tip: Aim to show footage of a particularly exciting or emotional scene to garner the most interest. 

Achievement Videos

Consumers play video games to win. As a result, showing advertisements of players “winning” the game by defeating a boss, collecting items, or beating a certain level drives way more conversions than footage of a player not succeeding. You can choose to use either UGC content of a win or hire talent to demonstrate excitement. These types of videos add extra excitement to a PDP. 

Tip: You can also create an achievement video that uses in-game footage of a win in the game. If costs are a concern, this is a great cheaper option.

Perspective Videos 

Consider including as many perspectives as possible to get the most out of a video game ad. For instance, you can first display in-game footage to draw viewers in for a few moments. The next frame can show a player happily playing the game, and the final frame can show the point-of-view of a character facing a boss or doing an exciting activity. This mix of perspectives gives viewers many ideas of the game itself. Perspective videos work well as an ad shown on YouTube. 

Tip: Follow a certain order with the perspectives and don’t jump around too much as not to confuse the viewer.

Multi-Platform Videos

If your game can be played across different devices such as a desktop, smartphone, and tablet, consider making a video that demonstrates all the different devices in use. With these types of videos, you can easily share a different perspective on each device, blending the idea of multi-platform and perspective videos. 

Tip: Show the best of each device by using its own latest and greatest features. Make sure all devices you use are updated with the newest software so nothing is out-of-date. 

Influencer Review Videos

Some of the most popular YouTubers are those that play and review video games. Why? These videos give potential consumers the ability to see real people playing and interacting with the game — another form of social proof. Players can also get tips and tricks from these YouTubers for when they buy the game themselves. You can seek out influencers on YouTube or start your brand’s influencer campaign. 

Tip: Just like how advertisers need to research their target audiences, advertisers need to research influencers to see what their reach and level of expertise are. Using the right influencer can lead to more sales, and using the wrong one can lead to wasted resources. 

Video Game Advertising: Final Thoughts

As you can see, the same principles remain in place with video game advertising as toy advertising. Consumers want to see as much of the product as possible to get a real feel for what video game companies have to offer. Plan to combine a good mix of game footage and human reaction. 

Product Advertising: The Takeaway 

Much has changed in recent years, including how individuals shop and interact with products, services, and their favorite brands. Moreover, research shows that these changes are likely to stay in the future as consumers have become used to a more convenient and digital-oriented life. That means there is ample opportunity for any kind of brand to branch out their advertising methods. 

At the same time, ironically, much has stayed the same. Consumers still want an elevated customer experience when it comes to seeing and understanding a product or service. They don’t simply want to see another run-of-the-mill ad spot on TV — they want an advertisement to be innovative and interactive, allowing them to become immersed in a brand’s world.

As a result, it’s important to appeal to the modern-day consumer’s desire to have more online options and visual advertising while using the same sales principles as you’ve always had. Fortunately, you don’t have to do this on your own. Quickframe can help you develop a video product advertisement that will get consumers talking and shopping.  

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