7 Video Marketing Mistakes to Avoid this Holiday Shopping Season

The holiday season is here and smart business owners are already making plans to maximize it. Are you?

It’s the perfect time to develop a strategic marketing plan to deepen customer relationships, generate new leads for the new year and influence holiday shopping decisions.

Video is driving a new wave of customer engagement and conversion, making it an ideal tool for achieving your marketing and sales goals this holiday season.

In this article, you will discover what shoppers are anticipating for 2019 holiday shopping season, how video influences shoppers and finally video marketing mistakes to avoid this holiday shopping season, but first

2019 Holiday Shopping Season: What Shoppers are Saying

Here are some predictions for the coming shopping season according to CBNC.com

• Shoppers are expected to spend 5% more this year than they did last year, a new survey says.
• Around 53% of all holiday shopping is expected to be done digitally.
• This growing shift could even impact how consumers purchase items on big shopping holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Below are what some shoppers are saying about the upcoming shopping season.

How Video Influences Shoppers

Video is a highly effective form of content. These days, consumers watch videos, including unboxing and product review videos, to learn more about products. This increases confidence in the brand, thereby, having a significant impact on conversion rate.

A new study reveals that more than 55% of consumers consult online videos during their shopping research.

Also, Animoto reveals that the use of video has a significant impact on brand awareness and customer engagement, and throughout the purchase process.

Highlights of the Survey by Animoto

• 71% of consumers surveyed confirmed watching a corporate video left them with a positive impression of the brand, service or company
• 96% of consumers surveyed found videos helpful for making purchase decisions online.
• 73% of all consumers are more likely to make a purchase after watching videos explaining a product or service

Now, onto;

7 Video Marketing Mistakes to Avoid this Holiday Shopping Season

1. Lengthy Videos

Thanks to mounting digital distractions, the average human attention span is now 8 seconds. This may further dip during the holiday season as people will be too busy chasing flash deals, and won’t have the patience to watch long videos.

Hence, keep your videos concise and straight to the point. Remember to mention the key points of your message at the beginning of your video and follow up with supporting details that are crucial in understanding the point.

2. Information Overload

Too many details in a single video make the video too long, confusing, and as a result, lead to analysis paralysis and inaction. This is information overload.

Instead, create multiple videos with different messages for your holiday season video marketing strategy; one-video-one message. This will help shoppers understand, remember what your video is about and follow through.

3. Poor CTA

Shoppers like being told what to do when they engage with your brand. Don’t make the mistake of forgetting the need for a strong call-to-action at the end of your video as this might cost you a valuable lead, click-through or sale.

CTAs like “Get in touch with us”, “Visit our website”, shop with us”, “place your order” etc, encourage your viewers to take the next step after watching your holiday marketing video.

4. Poor Branding

If the aim of your video is to create awareness about your brand, products, services or offer; creating a video without your logo, tagline, website URL, and other brand assets is a huge mistake.

To avoid this, be sure to always add your logo, tagline, and/or website URL at the beginning, middle or end of your video, to capture different entry points.

5. Poor Promotion

Facebook has 2.7 billion monthly active users, Instagram over 1 billion, and 79% of internet users have a YouTube account.

Maximize the reach and SEO of your video by publishing your videos on your website, email and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.

Also, endeavor to follow recommended video dimensions for each platform for best results.

6. Poor Measurement

In the frenzy of festivities and activities that come with and surround the holiday season, most brands make the huge mistake of neglecting to monitor customer satisfaction and engagement levels.

In your holiday season marketing videos, let viewers know how to reach your customer care and provide feedback. With this, you can optimize customer service and engagement.

7. Poor Video Quality

In rushing to meet up with the holiday season, most marketers make the mistake of turning out one poor quality video after another. One high-quality video is better than ten low-quality videos.

Invest in creating high-quality personal, fun and holiday-themed videos that remove your brand’s cooperate mask, and allows your target audience to see your fun side this holiday season. Also, don’t forget to publish videos early to reach as many people as possible.

Conclusion

Are you ready to make this holiday season your most profitable yet? Familiarize your marketing team with the above holiday shopping video marketing mistakes, and set out to avoiding or correcting them.

Also, bear in mind that asides your marketing plans, it is vital that your business offers a seamless experience, have products available and deliver items quickly in order to win this holiday season.

Author Bio

Amos Onwukwe is an AWAI trained Business and Ecommerce Copywriter who also covers Tech and Social Media. When not writing, he’s thinking of writing or making music. He’s been featured in Huffington Post, Dumb Little Man, Ecommerce Nation, eCommerce Insights, Understanding Ecommerce, Result First, Floship, GrowMap, Self Growth, among others.

You can connect with him on

Twitter: @amos_onwukwe
LinkedIn:  Amos Onwukwe