How Advance Auto Parts Uses Online Videos to Increase Conversion
“We see a lift, definitely, in conversion, whenever we have video on the page,” Val DuVernet, Senior Program Manager, Advance Auto Parts, told me during an interview in the MarketingSherpa Media Center at IRCE 2015.
Read on for three of the biggest lessons I learned from my interview with Val, and watch the below video to get your own ideas for using video to improve your brand’s conversion.
Three important points stuck out to me from this interview …
Trust is essential
Val discussed many uses of video throughout the funnel.
At the very top of the funnel, trust is essential. After all, if customers are looking to fix their car or solve any problem from applying makeup to choosing a vacation destination, there are countless videos offering to help.
For example, when I search “how to install brakes” in Google Videos, I get 2.62 million results. Videos made by everyone from Car and Driver Magazine to Eric TheCarGuy.
“What information can you give [customers] that’s going to help them understand that you really are able to help them and have the products they need?” Val asked.
One way Val’s team builds trust is by using a credibility indicator — emphasizing that the advice they offer is from their own in-house, ASE-certified mechanics (from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, an independent nonprofit organization).
Obviously the quality of content in the videos is crucial to building trust as well.
“We don’t want to just be there to hand over the part and take the money. It is about helping the customer, and having the knowledge so that the customer understands — if there is a question, we can help,” Val said.
Front-load value and CTAs on social networks
Advance Auto Parts has videos on its site, which include a related products and a “Buy Now” button and videos on social networks as well.
It handles those videos differently.
Val said “We see, certainly, 25-30% of a video being consumed” on social channels like YouTube and Facebook.
Because customers tend not to watch the entire video on social networks, marketers should front-load their videos with value and appropriate CTAs (calls-to-action).
“What content are you putting in that portion of the video? Are you getting enough of a message across that either they’re going to continue watching it, or at least know where to come and find you? It’s a whole different world in social,” Val said.
Use video to serve the customer
As with any other buzzy tactic or channel, it’s all too easy to just throw it up everywhere and hope for the best. But in our interview, Val stressed the importance of understanding which types of videos to use in different parts of the funnel (from initial pain point to specific product purchase) and how to use videos in different locations (social channel versus product page, for example).
I’ve discussed some of these concepts in general, but they all support the most important principle — helping the customer.
“Understand the reason you’re showing the video, where that fits into the funnel and also where it fits into the user’s need,” Val said. “That’s the great thing about ecommerce and video — it’s serving the customer and it’s serving the business, so you have to make sure you’re doing both of those things.”
Thanks to this approach, video is helping to drive business for Advance Auto Parts. “With all of our videos, I’m glad to say that we do see a lift [in conversion]. But even with the very specific product videos, we’ve seen a high, single-digit lift in our conversion rates,” Val said.
For MarketingSherpa’s next Media Center, we’ll be at &THEN in Boston from October 4-6. We’ll be conducting exclusive, behind-the-scenes interviews with top-performing marketers at this DMA event to share successful strategies and tactics with you.
You can follow Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content, MarketingSherpa, @DanielBurstein.
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Categories: Consumer Marketing b2c marketing, Consumer Marketing, conversion optimization
