How marketplaces can nurture customer engagement with video

The changes that COVID-19 is forcing on businesses all over the world are vast and sure to bring long-lasting implications across a broad variety of domains.

In today’s installment of our four-part series on life after coronavirus, we’re going to be focusing on how marketplaces can leverage video to not only survive but to thrive in the days to follow the pandemic.

It will be no surprise to learn that during coronavirus induced lockdown, online commerce around the world outperformed brick-and-mortar peers.

In this same survey, sellers also noted that in the effort to grow sales they won’t be increasing their number of online properties, listings, nor products over the next six months.

So, as we come out of the pandemic — what can be done to drive growth? What can online marketplace owners and sellers do to retain their online customer base, nurture it, and drive growth in the new-found, post-pandemic selling reality that awaits us?

There is no doubt. Developing and growing an online presence is a must for any marketplace owner and seller in the days to follow Covid-19.

While these numbers are like to decrease somewhat as we come out of quarantine and as the global economy starts to shake things up again, it is expected that consumers will nevertheless continue to be weary of the in-person commerce experience for a while to come.

In this new normal, what is the one tool that every online marketplace owner and seller must include in their arsenal so they can ensure competitive differentiation and customer engagement?

You guessed it! It’s video!

In a world where engaging with consumers will be more challenging than ever, there is no other medium available to businesses of any size and shape that is more effective for securing attention and nurturing relationships than video.

Among the multiple marketing wares that we have at our disposal, video is the only one that enables our target audience to actually see and hear us. This is why video is the greatest engagement differentiator.

Indeed, video is critical for bringing the ‘in real life’ (IRL) experience to a coronavirus-enforced reality that will remain very virtual for a while to come.

With the online world to continue getting more and more engagement than the outside world in the post-pandemic era, online marketplaces will need to adjust their marketing strategies to account for and take advantage of all those hours people will be spending traversing the cybersphere.

So how can businesses best leverage video to resonate, engage, and convert?

Let’s take a look.

For marketplace owners in the days after Covid-19, the question is — how can they continue to provide differentiated value to sellers (who, in turn, will be able to better attract customers)?

The answer is enabling sellers to independently create videos that engage and convert. For example, they can create videos that:

Now, regardless of the kind of video you’re creating, making sure that the message that drives your creation is spot-on is critical.

Crafting the right marketing message for your audience is always an über-task of über-importance. But, this is even more so during a crisis, and in the days that follow it.

During regular days, the marketing message is designed to optimally describe your business and products or services. It is the very foundation of your brand and the ‘big idea’ that underlies every story you tell. Its effectiveness is measured by awareness and sales.

However, when buyers are apprehensive and shell-shocked from having been quarantined for weeks on end, they will less likely be impressed by a ‘me me me’ messaging framework.

The last thing they want is to hear how awesome you are. What they do need to hear is how you are there for them, how your product or service supports their needs and will help them achieve their goals.

So, remember — when it comes to scripting your video — think outward-in. Be customer-first and customer-centric.

It’s not about you. It’s always about them.

For marketplace owners and sellers, Wochit has the tools that enable nurturing customer engagement with video in a post-COVID-19 world.

With Wochit Inside we provide a white-label, embeddable video creation solution that is ideal for marketplace owners and sellers.

The solution is comprised of Wochit Studio, for creating video templates, and Wochit Shortcut, through which the templates are available for customization by the marketplace seller, regardless of their video editing background (or lack thereof).

Wochit Inside also offers unmatched creative freedom with the ability to fully customize transitions, text overlays, infographics, logos, intros and outros, and more. And, it offers users a pre-licensed library of 200 million ready-to-use images and videos, as well as tons of music tracks.

Needless to say — as lockdowns begin to ease up a bit around the world, the aftermath of a socially distant era will continue to impact consumer behaviors for a long time to come. And, for marketplace owners and sellers — the best way to keep the socially distant consumer engaged is, hands down, with video.

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