Like it or not, video content is surging in popularity.
People spend an average of 84 minutes watching videos online every day. That trend is only going up, with experts predicting that by next year, the average internet user will spend more than 100 minutes each day consuming video.
It’s clear to see that video marketing isn’t going anywhere, considering the fact that 86% of customers wanted to see more video content from brands they supported.
It’s no wonder why a whopping 95% of marketers say a video marketing strategy has helped them build an understanding of their product or service.
Results like these don’t come without some creativity. In this guide, we’ll walk you through 30+ examples of every type of video you can create for your business’s marketing campaign.
Explainer video examples are exactly what the name suggests. You’re on video explaining the “how” of a product, rather than the what.
Consider that our collective attention span is getting shorter because of the sheer amount of information that’s out there. Explainer videos work because they capitalise on speed and efficiency instead of length.
Explainer videos tend to work best for product-based businesses. Think tutorials or infomercials, but better (and up to date!). Let’s walk through a few stellar examples.
Flyp Home is a property transformation business that stages your home so it sells at the best price possible. But instead of simply telling you this, the brand created a short video showing off the “how” of its expertise without going for the hard sell.
Extra points for adding captions that explain what’s being done in each frame.
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Kids toy retailer Smyths sells a variety of play equipment and toys. But instead of simply telling you this, the brand has a YouTube channel packed with explainer videos on the product lines it sells.
Not only that, Smyths Toys Superstores also has short explainer videos that guide customers through using QR codes in its catalogue. The voiceover for the video is a young child, helping reinforce the idea that Smyths’ stores are great for kids products.
Product marketing takes “lights, camera, action” quite literally when it comes to video marketing. The product is front and centre while consumers see it in action. After all, what better way to prove your product is awesome than by showing it off?
If you’re human, you like your nuts fresh, edible, but most of all, crunchy. With a product video marketing ad like this one, you can’t miss how crunchy Nuts Pick’s nuts are. You get to admire them from every angle (and get hungry for some in the process). It’s no wonder why product marketing videos work great for food brands.
As far as classic product marketing videos go, this one from Kodiak Cakes probably one of our favourites. The flowing syrup makes you want to reach through the screen and taste it—especially if you happen to have a sweet tooth. That feeling likely pushes you towards purchasing the syrup off the back of the video.
When you put social media and video in the same sentence, you make for a powerful video strategy. It’s why 88% of marketers say they plan on using video as a marketing tool on platforms like YouTube.
Here are a few examples of brands using this type of video marketing effectively.
First off, the bright colours inside Plump It!’s social media video advert immediately grab your attention. Especially if you’re the target audience for a lip plumper product, this short and sweet video is one you can’t help but stop your scroll for.
When you watch a Charlotte Tilbury video, whether on Facebook or its YouTube channel, the brand immediately pulls you in by using the power of repetition, beauty, and aspirational imagery. Such a blend can be a powerful strategy when advertising on social platforms since a lot of it is already highly visual.
Sometimes video ads don’t have to be overcomplicated. In this Facebook ad example, Airbnb takes advantage of appealing imagery and simple captions to capture your attention. The day-to-night transition with a shooting star proposes a feeling of wanderlust that avid travellers love.
Few things are more relatable than showing a behind-the-scenes example of, well, anything. A majority of brands can take advantage of behind-the-scenes video examples to get closer to its audience and get in front of new ones. Let’s take a look at how.
Nike loves using celebrity endorsements to sell its products. A behind-the-scenes look at how Serena Williams went about picking a design crew for her next Nike collection. The retailer posted a behind-the-scenes video to show its online followers the process behind the new collaboration.
Pretty Little Thing pairs influencer marketing and behind-the-scenes elements to create behind the scenes videos that bring them closer to its audience. Its partnership with Molly Mae is a powerful way to sell the brand’s clothing products as both usable and relatable.
Today, consumers want a more transparent relationship with brands. Black Milk Clothing takes advantage of this by showing raw footage of how its clothes are produced, from concept to printing and sewing.
It’s a fine example of how eCommerce brands can use video marketing to increase the trust their customers have in them.
See Black Milk Clothings Facebook Ad Videos here.
At The Social Shepherd, we also like to show a little bit of our ~Behind the Scenes to show our clients and audience how we work and how we create amazing campaigns for them.
As an example, we recently shared a BTS video about our photoshoot with Vivense, sharing a bit more about the whole creation and editing process, as well as the end result.
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Viral videos tend to become viral videos in hindsight. That is, you can set out to create the best viral video possible, but in the end, the market decides whether your video is worthy of virality or not.
Do a quick search for the most recent viral videos and you see a lot of music videos and pranks. The takeaway? Sometimes the best marketing doesn’t look like marketing at all.
GoPro, a video tech company, pulls at your heartstrings with its viral video. Put two of the two things we universally hold dear (kittens and firemen) in a dire situation where you get to showcase the power of your gear to capture moments, and well, the rest is viral history.
Our list of video marketing examples couldn’t be complete without including Dollar Shave Club as an example of viral video advertising at its finest. Yes, it’s referenced a lot, but for good reason.
While the video is very obviously an advert, it’s pulled in over 27 million views because of how it leverages the power of storytelling. Extra points for making its value proposition immediately obvious (more quality blades for less money, monthly).
Dove makes it a point to touch on a universal insecurity by expertly showcasing how perception affects beauty standards. It’s been viewed in over 110 countries and boasts a view count of over 69 million on YouTube.
Fun fact: The man doing the sketching was an FBI forensic artist. Yet while you don’t have to hire an FBI agent to make your video go viral, it’s always key to strive for more original ways to appeal to universal truths.
Email isn’t the place that naturally comes to mind when you’re thinking about where to place your video ad for the highest ROI.
Granted, you can’t watch a video through your email account (not yet anyway) but you can direct your audience to your video by sending them a personal newsletter.
Considering email marketing typically offers outsized returns to the tune of $42 for every $1 spent, combining it with video can make for interesting results. Below are three examples of brands using this type of video marketing.
There are two things you can’t forget when you include videos in email: a “play” icon and a strong CTA (call-to-action). Without these, readers won’t immediately know that the image you’ve included is a video. It just looks like a standard image.
But if you include a “play” icon and a clear CTA, you up the chances of readers clicking to watch. It’s why the Jot email works so well.
Tracksmith makes it hard to miss that there’s a video they want you to watch in the email. The retailer pairs an appealing image with a “play” icon to entice you to watch more. It also makes sure to include a clear CTA: “watch the film.”
Wistia formats its video image exactly as a video player, except the subscriber has to click on the image to be redirected to the video on a separate landing page.
The brand makes it clear that what it's sent you is “video” mail and the email is mobile responsive. If you’re going to market with video, you always want to ensure it’s visible to users using devices with a range of different screen sizes.
When brands use unconventional or out-of-the-box interactions caught on video, you get guerilla marketing. It’s a strategy that can be effective for brands that want to drive a point home on a budget. If executed well, it can become a timeless piece of marketing content.
However, if you use this strategy to market your brand, keep in mind that you run the risk of your being misunderstood depending on how you use it. Here are a few examples that show how to do guerilla video marketing well.
Always tackles a widespread issue that involves all women: sanitary napkins and gender stereotypes. It does this by creating a video campaign by asking real women, “what does it mean to do something ‘like a girl?’”
In essence, Always hits on a universal issue from a nuanced perspective. It’s one of the most memorable video marketing campaigns of the last decade.
Huge brands like Coca-Cola know the power of candid guerilla marketing. This video ad example, though dated, classically catches people experiencing “happiness” at one of its vending machines—which is a big part of its branding strategy.
Showcasing it in the video through guerilla footage is a smart marketing move. Show don’t tell applies here.
In its guerilla video marketing example, Volkswagen makes it a point to appeal to the inner child in all of us. How? By building a slide in an unorthodox place: the stairs at a train station. As far as brand marketing goes, that can be a powerful way to positively skew consumer perception.
Who doesn’t like interaction? It’s a fundamental human need. When you infuse it into your video ad efforts for a more immersive experience, it makes for a more memorable connection with your brand.
Though interactive videos can be a bit more involved to pull off, they can be a worthy investment for the right brand. In fact, 89% of companies saw an increase in sales after making its marketing videos interactive.
What makes a video interactive is its ability to intake audience input through polls, links, or some type of input. Here’s how you can do the same.
Looking for a clever way to experiment with interactive video? Use YouTube’s video embed feature and present them as a choice to your audience.
Netflix does this expertly in its 25-second video, “Call of the Wild”. The video starts off with a task its audience is likely doing: a Google search related to an upcoming series. However, the screen recorded video is intercepted with a FaceTime from Bear Grylls. Viewers make a choice to accept or reject the call.
This is a great example of how brands can use video marketing on different platforms to engage its audience. Royal Caribbean International uses stellar visuals and a “press OK to explore more” CTA to get its audience to take action. It’s safe to say memorable is an understatement here.
It’s no surprise that video ads, much like movies, can stir powerful emotional connections. It’s exactly what Earth 2045 did with this interactive slider video.
This interactive video example works because it shows a stark contrast between a before and after, making you more conscious of pollution and what it’s doing to our planet.
Classic video advertising isn’t going anywhere. It’s only taken on a different shape with the rise of social media.
Research shows that 87% of video marketers report a positive ROI from the video content, which probably comes as no surprise when you consider a collective preference for video with new social platforms like Tik Tok emerging. Let’s take a look at how eCommerce brands are using this format to reach new customers.
Video advertising is your absolute best friend—especially if you’re promoting a visually appealing product.
At The Social Shepherd, we were able to leverage the physical beauty of London Basin’s products through a professional video advertisement that put them in the best light possible.
Going along with visuals, Squarespace knows how to leverage this by creating cinematic experiences through its ads. The detail in each frame emphasises Squarespace’s value proposition: beautiful websites.
The lesson? Showing the best of what you offer doesn’t always have to be literal.
Did you know that 75% of marketers prefer to post video content on Facebook more than anywhere else? The reason lies within the fact that when Facebook and video are paired together, it garners results.
Facebook video ads boast a 6.04% engagement rate. This doesn’t sound like much until you realise that image and status post engagement rates hover around the 1.66% to 4.36% mark.
Here are a few examples of brands using Facebook video marketing.
Along the same vein, WeQueen, a hair product brand, also employs user-generated content to showcase the quality of its wigs.
It earns extra engagement points because it’s a “how-to” style video that lets the audience in on how the product is used. This goes on to show a video marketing campaign that focuses on a specific target audience can work great for eCommerce stores.
UGC, or user-generated content, specifically in video format, is yet another great way to gain brand credibility and spread the word about your offering with a more relatable approach.
Gone are the days when we would intently listen to salesmen about a product and assume they knew best. Now, the actual user of the product is placed front and centre as the star of a product marketing video.
Some 79% of surveyed consumers say UGC highly impacts their marketing decisions. What’s more, 67% of consumers in the same study say it’s important for brands to offer more personalised experiences.
Let’s look at some specific UGC video examples, keeping in mind the importance of messaging.
Granted, Onda, a sparkling tequila brand, was founded by a celebrity. But this doesn’t take the credibility factor away that comes with UGC. Usually, the less “produced” your UGC video, the more successful and relatable it tends to be. To date, the Onda Tik Tok video has amassed millions of views.
@shaymitchell ""For real though 🔥
♬ Omg so much people used my sound - 🧡Layla Weasley🧡
Levi’s powerfully partners with TIk Tokers to showcase how you can style its jeans with different outfits. Nothing about the Tik Tok is overproduced, and it’s made by an everyday creator as opposed to a celebrity. If you do this, you can’t help but level up how relatable and usable your brand comes across.
@scarfxce.xo ""Which is your favorite @levis holiday look? #liveinlevis #ad
♬ Stunnin' (feat. Harm Franklin) - Curtis Waters
Sephora relies on social media platforms to get in front of consumers by showcasing its product through a candid video that showcases the before and after results on a model influencer.
Doing what Sephora does is a great way for brands to showcase the value of its product in a real way.
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SEO, social media, content marketing, demo videos—you name it, there are several ways to use your video marketing efforts to drive more sales. This is why you might want to consider working with one of the Top Video Production companies.
If you’ve made it this far, you have a clear understanding of the power of video marketing and how it can grow your brand awareness- Even if you're a small business that doesn't have the luxury of a digital marketing team, as consumer preferences change, simply posting images or writing copy won’t always get you the results you’re looking for.
Yet, leveraging video content to hit your sales goals can be a challenge. Why? You have to get creative and make sure your videos don’t put your target audience to sleep. Or worse, you produce just another video they swipe right past.
Thankfully, that’s where we come in. We’re a video production agency that’s seen the outsized returns video marketing can bring. But only if you implement a sound video strategy.
Ready to get started? Book a free strategy call with our marketing specialists to discover how your eCommerce brand can use video to drive awareness, engagement, and sales.