📣 Marketing

IN-SHOP VIDEO DISCOVERY

Retailers can surface video content across multiple touchpoints within their online shop, making it easy for customers to find and engage with videos without leaving the shopping environment.

🔶 Product Detail Page (PDP) → Product Experience Page (PXP)

The most direct discovery path is embedding video content on the pages customers already visit. By integrating videos directly into product pages, a static PDP transforms into an interactive Product Experience Page (PXP) — enriching the shopping experience at the point of purchase. This can be achieved through Smart Widgets for Product Pages.

🔶 Dedicated Video Platform (In-Shop)

A shop can host its own video destination, giving customers a dedicated space to browse and discover content. This includes:

• A video hub — a central, browsable library of all video content within the shop

• Social media-style video feeds that encourage scrolling and discovery

• Thematic landing pages tied to campaigns, seasons, or product launches, grouping relevant videos in one place

🔶 Navigation Integration

Video content can be made discoverable through the shop's main navigation, treating it as a first-class content category. This means:

• Adding dedicated menu items such as "Videos" or "Live Shopping" to the header or sidebar navigation

• Organizing content into subcategories (e.g. New Arrivals, How-To Guides, Brand Stories) for easier browsing

• Providing direct, one-click access to shopable videos, reducing friction between content discovery and purchase

TRAFFIC DRIVERS

External channels act as discovery and awareness touchpoints that capture attention outside the shop and funnel interested customers directly into the shopping experience.

🔶 Social Media & Ads

Social platforms are a powerful top-of-funnel channel for driving traffic. Using User-Generated Content (UGC) videos as paid ads on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook tends to outperform polished brand productions, as authenticity resonates more with audiences and builds trust. These native-feeling ads lower the barrier to clicks and direct viewers straight to relevant product or video pages within the shop.

🔶 "Teaser to Shop" Strategy

Rather than publishing full content externally, brands can post short video clips or previews on social media, blogs, or email campaigns — creating curiosity and driving users to the shop for the complete experience. Each teaser links directly to the corresponding Product Experience Page (PXP) or video hub, turning passive viewers into active shoppers. This approach also protects the shop as the primary content destination, keeping the richest experience on owned channels.

🔶 App Integration

For brands with their own mobile app, video content can be embedded directly into the app experience as a re-engagement tool. Short video teasers or personalized content recommendations encourage loyal, existing users to tap through into the shop. This is particularly effective for retention campaigns, new product launches, or exclusive content drops aimed at high-value customers.

IDEAL TARGETING

Delivering relevant video content to the right customer at the right moment increases engagement, builds purchase confidence, and ultimately drives conversion. This can be achieved through smart sorting and content prioritization strategies.

🔶 Performance-Based Sorting

Not all videos perform equally — some consistently drive more clicks, engagement, and purchases than others. By automatically surfacing videos with the highest conversion rates at the top of feeds, galleries, or product pages, shops ensure that the most effective content gets the most visibility. This data-driven approach continuously optimizes the video experience without requiring manual curation.

🔶 Functional Proof Prioritization

Customers are more likely to convert when they can see a product being used in a real-world context. Prioritizing authentic product usage videos — such as UGC or demonstrations — over purely promotional content helps reduce uncertainty and answers practical questions before they arise. Showing the product in action builds trust, sets realistic expectations, and mirrors the kind of social proof customers seek before making a purchase decision.

OWNED MEDIA POWER

Owned channels offer a direct line to existing customers and high-intent audiences. When combined with video content, they become powerful tools for driving engagement, building purchase confidence, and converting interest into sales.

🔶 Email & Newsletter Marketing

Email remains one of the highest-ROI owned channels, and video integration significantly boosts its effectiveness.

What should newsletters contain?
Subject lines should reference video content directly (e.g. "See it in action" or "Watch before you buy") to increase open rates. Inside, GIFs or static thumbnails with a play button overlay simulate a video experience within the email itself, while direct links take readers straight to the relevant product video in the shop.

What content works best?
Rather than repeating product descriptions, newsletters should focus on product validation — showing the item being used, worn, or tested in real life. Social proof content such as customer reviews, community videos, and UGC performs particularly well, as does spotlighting individual creators or brand ambassadors whose audiences already trust their recommendations.

Which CTAs should be used?
Action-oriented, experience-focused calls to action work best, such as:

• "Watch the video now"

• "Experience it yourself"

🔶 App Push Notifications

Push notifications are a real-time engagement tool that can deliver video content at exactly the right moment in the customer journey.

When should push notifications be sent?

• Product launches — notify users the moment new items go live, paired with a teaser video

• Wishlist or cart updates — remind customers of saved items with supporting video content to reignite interest

• 1–2 days after delivery — follow up post-purchase with usage videos, styling tips, or how-to guides

• Trending content alerts — highlight videos gaining traction to create a sense of social momentum

What is the goal?
Push notifications aim to deliver real-time functional proof at decision-critical moments — reducing customer uncertainty, reinforcing purchase decisions, and driving conversions by connecting the right video to the right context.

🔶 WhatsApp Newsletters

WhatsApp combines the directness of SMS with a more personal, conversational tone, making it particularly effective for high-intent moments.

When are WhatsApp messages most effective?

• Product launches — share exclusive first looks or teaser clips with subscribers

• Cart abandonment recovery — re-engage customers who left without purchasing by sending a relevant product video

• Early access invitations — reward loyal customers with exclusive previews or limited drops

• After-sales support — share how-to or care videos post-purchase to enhance the ownership experience and reduce returns

What should they include?
Messages should feature short video teasers or GIFs that load quickly and feel native to the platform, paired with a direct link to the full product video in the shop. Crucially, the tone should remain authentic and personal — overly branded or formal messaging feels out of place on WhatsApp and reduces effectiveness.

OFFLINE TO VIDEO

Offline touchpoints create a natural bridge between physical customer interactions and digital video content. By embedding video access into moments where customers already have the product in hand or are standing in-store, brands can deepen engagement, reduce friction, and encourage ongoing content interaction long after the initial purchase.

🔶 Package Inserts & Flyers

The unboxing moment is one of the most engaged touchpoints in the entire customer journey — and one that is often underutilized. Including a QR code on package inserts or flyers gives customers instant access to relevant video content at exactly the right moment.

Effective use cases include:

• How-to and setup videos linked directly from the packaging, helping customers get the most out of their purchase and significantly reducing the likelihood of returns or support requests

• Styling, usage, or care guide videos that enhance the ownership experience and reinforce the purchase decision

• UGC incentives — encouraging customers to film and share their own unboxing or usage videos in exchange for a discount, loyalty points, or a feature on the brand's social channels, turning satisfied buyers into content creators

🔶 Physical Stores (POS)

In-store environments offer a highly contextual setting for introducing customers to video content while they are actively evaluating products.

Effective approaches include:

• QR codes on shelf labels or product tags that link to product demonstration videos, reviews, or comparison content — giving customers the depth of an online experience while in-store

• Posters or digital displays featuring video previews or stills that draw attention and prompt customers to scan and watch the full content on their own device

• Staff-created content — empowering store associates to film short, authentic product demonstrations or personal recommendations that can be shared in-store via QR codes or repurposed across digital channels, adding a human and credible dimension to the brand's video library

AUTHENTIC CONTENT AT SCALE

Producing a constant stream of high-quality, authentic video content is one of the biggest challenges brands face. The most scalable solution is to move beyond a centralized production model and activate the people who already know, use, and sell the products — customers, creators, and employees.

🔶 Creator & Customer Integration

Everyday customers are among the most credible and cost-effective content creators a brand has access to. Encouraging and incentivizing customers to film their own product experiences — unboxings, reviews, styling, or real-life usage — generates a continuous flow of authentic User-Generated Content (UGC) that resonates far more with prospective buyers than polished brand productions.

To drive participation at scale, brands can offer:

• Discounts or vouchers for submitting a product video

• Loyalty points or exclusive rewards tied to content quality or reach

• Public recognition through features on the brand's website, social channels, or in-shop video hubs

• Creator programs or ambassador tiers for high-performing contributors, building a structured pipeline of ongoing content

This approach not only reduces production costs but also builds a library of diverse, real-world content that covers a wide range of products, use cases, and customer perspectives.

🔶 Employee-Generated Content (EGC)

Store staff and brand employees possess a level of product knowledge and hands-on experience that is difficult to replicate through external production. Empowering them to create short, informal video content — such as product demonstrations, styling tips, or personal recommendations — adds an expert, human dimension to the brand's video library.

EGC is particularly effective because:

• It feels genuine and unscripted, which builds customer trust

• Staff can speak confidently to product details, fit, functionality, and comparisons in ways that answer real customer questions

• Content can be produced quickly and frequently with minimal equipment, making it highly scalable

• It reinforces brand culture and team personality, giving the brand a recognizable human voice across channels

INFLUENCER MARKETING

Traditional influencer marketing — built around polished, aspirational content and broad reach — needs to evolve to meet the expectations of social commerce. Today's customers are more sceptical of overtly promotional content and respond better to authentic, product-specific videos that genuinely inform their purchase decisions.

🔶 From Influencers to Verified Contributors

The shift in social commerce is away from celebrity-style influencers and towards trusted, authentic voices who demonstrate real product usage. Rather than commissioning highly produced campaigns, brands should work with contributors who create content that feels native to the platforms their audiences use — honest, unscripted, and grounded in genuine experience.

This means prioritising:

• Micro- and nano-influencers with smaller but highly engaged, niche audiences

• Verified customer contributors whose reviews and usage videos carry social proof

• Content that shows products in realistic, everyday contexts rather than idealised settings

• Transparency around brand partnerships, which increasingly strengthens rather than undermines credibility

🔶 Structured Content Creation

Scaling influencer content without sacrificing quality or consistency requires giving creators the right tools and direction. Rather than leaving briefings open-ended, brands should provide SKU-level briefings — specifying exactly which products to feature, which key attributes to highlight, and which customer questions to address.

Supporting this with guided creation tools — such as in-app recording flows, content checklists, or structured templates — helps contributors produce content that meets brand standards while retaining their authentic voice. This structured approach ensures that the resulting videos are not only engaging but also directly useful at the point of purchase.

🔶 Funnel Integration

Influencer content should not exist purely for awareness — in social commerce, it must actively drive customers into the purchase journey. Every piece of influencer content should be connected to the shop via deep links that take viewers directly to the relevant product page, PXP, or video hub, eliminating unnecessary steps between discovery and purchase.

Beyond awareness, influencer videos should be repurposed across the full funnel:

• At the top of the funnel — used as paid social ads or organic posts to reach new audiences

• At the mid-funnel — embedded on product pages to support consideration

• At the bottom of the funnel — featured at checkout or in retargeting flows as final conversion triggers

This ensures that influencer investment delivers measurable impact at every stage, not just impressions.

BRAND POSITIONING

External communication should reflect a fundamental shift in how brands present themselves and their products — moving away from traditional advertising language towards a transparent, community-driven, and technology-forward narrative that builds genuine customer trust.

🔶 Ending Traditional Marketing Promises

Customers have grown increasingly sceptical of polished, aspirational advertising that overpromises and underdelivers. External communication should signal a clear departure from this model by replacing conventional ad-style claims with real product proof. This means leading with authentic video content — demonstrations, honest reviews, and real-world usage — that lets the product speak for itself. The message to the market is simple: we show, not just tell.

🔶 Introducing the "Usie" Standard

Brands should actively communicate a new content standard in which videos are positioned not as entertainment or promotion, but as visual product data sheets. A "Usie" — a video showing real product usage in context — replaces the static image and bullet-point description with something far more informative and trustworthy. External communication should establish this format as the new norm, educating customers on what to expect and signalling that the brand is committed to radical transparency at the point of purchase.

🔶 Community Empowerment

Communication should make visible the people behind the content — customers, creators, and employees who contribute their genuine experiences and expertise. Highlighting these voices positions the brand as a community-driven platform rather than a one-way broadcast channel. This builds relatability and trust, and encourages wider participation by showing that real people — not just professional creators — are valued contributors to the brand's story.

🔶 Technological Leadership

Brands should communicate their investment in scalable, AI-supported content operations as a competitive differentiator. This includes highlighting capabilities such as automated content distribution, performance-based video sorting, guided creator tools, and AI-assisted production workflows. Framing these as enablers of authenticity at scale — rather than replacements for human creativity — positions the brand as innovative, efficient, and future-ready.

🔶 A New Shopping Experience

External communication should articulate the evolution from a static Product Detail Page (PDP) to an immersive Product Experience Page (PXP) as a meaningful upgrade to the customer journey. Rather than presenting this as a technical change, it should be framed as a customer benefit — a richer, more confident, and more engaging way to discover and evaluate products. This narrative supports broader brand positioning around customer-centricity and signals a genuine commitment to redefining what online shopping can feel like.

VISUAL EXCELLENCE

Homepage banners are often the first impression a customer has of a brand's social commerce experience. They should immediately communicate the core value proposition — that customers can see products being used in real life before making a purchase decision — while building trust and inviting action.

🔶 Core Message

The central message should be clear, direct, and benefit-led: "See the product in real use before you buy." This immediately differentiates the experience from a conventional online shop and sets the expectation that authentic, informative video content is available. The message should be concise enough to land at a glance, without relying on marketing superlatives or vague claims.

🔶 Visual Elements

Visuals should feel authentic and relatable rather than overly produced. This means featuring:

• Real people in real environments — customers, creators, and employees using products in everyday, recognisable contexts rather than studio settings

• Play buttons and video cues — visual indicators that make it immediately obvious that video content is available and only one tap away

• Product-in-use moments — showing the product actively being worn, used, or experienced, rather than isolated on a white background

The overall visual language should signal that this is a living, community-driven experience — dynamic, honest, and human.

🔶 CTAs

Calls to action should reflect the video-first nature of the experience and speak directly to the customer's desire for confidence before purchasing. Effective options include:

• "See it before you buy it"

• "Watch real product proof"

• "Discover it in action"

CTAs should be prominent, action-oriented, and link directly to video content — whether a product experience page, a video hub, or a specific campaign landing page.

🔶 Trust Signals

To reinforce credibility alongside the visual content, banners should incorporate clear trust signals such as:

• Recognised brand or partner logos that lend authority and familiarity

• Verified contributor badges that distinguish authenticated creators and customers from anonymous sources

• Real customer content callouts — for example, labelling UGC explicitly as "filmed by real customers" to underline authenticity

These signals work together to reassure new visitors that the content they are about to engage with is genuine, independent, and worth their attention.

DISCOUNT STRATEGY

Discounts in video commerce serve a dual purpose: they incentivise the behaviours that make the video ecosystem thrive — content creation, live engagement, and repeat purchasing — while also providing a measurable link between video content and commercial outcomes.

🔶 Content Creation Incentives

Encouraging customers to submit their own product videos is one of the most cost-effective ways to scale authentic UGC. Offering a discount in exchange for a submitted video — whether a review, unboxing, or product demonstration — lowers the barrier to participation and rewards customers for contributing content that benefits the entire community. The incentive can be structured as a one-time voucher, a percentage off the next order, or tiered rewards based on content quality or reach.

🔶 Live & Video-Based Discounts

Exclusive discount codes shared during livestreams or embedded within videos create a direct incentive to watch and act. This approach drives real-time engagement during live shopping events and rewards attentive viewers with time-limited offers that are only accessible through the video experience. The exclusivity of these codes reinforces the value of the video channel and creates a sense of urgency that supports immediate conversion.

🔶 Influencer & Creator Codes

Personalised discount codes assigned to individual influencers or verified contributors serve two functions: they give creators a tangible value to share with their audiences, and they provide brands with a clear mechanism to track performance and attribute conversions to specific creators or campaigns. Analysing redemption rates across creators allows brands to identify top performers, optimise future partnerships, and allocate budget more effectively.

🔶 Retention Campaigns

Discount codes embedded in package inserts, post-purchase emails, or reactivation flows keep customers engaged after the initial transaction and encourage repeat buying. In a video commerce context, these codes can be tied directly to video content — for example, a QR code in the packaging that links to a how-to video and includes a discount for the customer's next order. For lapsed customers, reactivation campaigns featuring new video content alongside a personalised offer provide both a reason to return and a low-friction path back into the shop.

DISCOUNT CREATION

Discount creation in video commerce is a cross-functional responsibility. Effective discount strategies require close collaboration between multiple teams, each owning a distinct part of the process to ensure that offers are strategically sound, technically functional, and seamlessly integrated into the video experience.

Marketing Team — Strategy, Value & Timing
The marketing team defines the overall discount strategy. This includes determining the purpose of each discount (acquisition, retention, UGC incentivisation, or live engagement), setting the discount value, and deciding on timing in relation to campaigns, product launches, or seasonal moments. They ensure that discount activity aligns with broader brand positioning and commercial objectives.

E-Commerce Team — Technical Setup
The e-commerce team is responsible for the technical implementation of discounts within the shop system. This covers creating and managing discount codes, configuring validity periods and usage limits, setting up tracking parameters to attribute redemptions to specific videos, creators, or campaigns, and ensuring a smooth redemption experience at checkout.

Content Team — Integration into Videos & Campaigns
The content team ensures that discounts are woven naturally into the video experience. This includes incorporating codes into livestreams and pre-recorded videos, coordinating with influencers and verified contributors on how and when to present offers, and aligning discount messaging with the tone and narrative of each campaign. They act as the bridge between the commercial offer and the content through which it is delivered.