A step-by-step guide: How to make a product video for your Shopify store

Every online store needs video content.

Why? Because while online shopping requires less effort and provides more convenience than your average brick and mortar, many consumers still experience certain downsides. 56% of consumers want to see and touch the products before they make a purchase.

 To make up for this shortcoming, eCommerce stores present detailed text and images – but even better yet, videos. Remember – If a photo is worth a thousand words, then video content is unbeatable.

So we know we need videos but how do we make them? Is there a formula for creating a high-performing video for your store?

The answer is yes. While we encourage creativity, there are 7 fundamental guidelines to follow. In this article, we take you through all of the steps using the Free Promo App for Shopify. If you don’t have it yet, you can install it here.

To illustrate the process, we’ll use examples from a fake Shopify store looking to create a fake product video to boost their fake sales. The formula, however, is anything but fake.

Step 1: Set a clear goal

The first step in the creation process of any video is setting a clear goal. Ask yourself why you’re making this video – Are you showcasing an item on a product page? Are you announcing a storewide sale?  

To avoid convoluting your message and confusing your viewers, it’s important that each video has a single goal. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have more than one goal, it only means that you should have more than one video.

The Promo App on Shopify offers four common objectives:

• A brand video – Introduce your brand to new visitors. This type of video will convey who you are and what you do to anybody who lands on your site. The best placement for this kind of video is your storefront – aka homepage.
• A product video – Showcase a specific product and highlight its benefits. This video helps your visitors better gauge your product and, of course, the best placement for it will be on the product page.
• A testimonial video– Give your product the ultimate stamp of approval with the words of a satisfied customers overlay images of your product. 
• An occasion video – Announce special store occasions, such as sales, new products, events and holidays. While it depends on the occasion, the best placement for this video is usually your homepage.

For the sake of this walkthrough, we’ll create a product video – the most popular choice.

Once you selected your objective and you’ve selected a single product to showcase, you can choose the video style accordingly.

Step 2: Choose a style

The next question you should ask yourself is where will you put this video. While we already mentioned the best placement for each video within your store, you might want to publish it on social media as well to drive people to your store. With this in mind, you should determine the ratio and style of your video.

For example, if you want to share or advertise on Instagram, you should select a vertical template for Stories or a square template for the feed. Both square and landscape will work within the store itself.

The Promo App offers different templates in various ratios so you can choose one that works for both your style and your chosen placement.  Try to stay consistent with your video style throughout your store. If a visitor sees one style of video on a given product page, they’ll expect to see the same on the others.  

Step 3: Compose a coherent message

Now that you’ve selected a goal, your message should come naturally. Just remember – your message isn’t about you or your product but about your potential customers.  If you are creating a product video, your message should convey why this is the best product for them. If you are introducing your store, emphasize why this is the best place for them to shop. 

Your video should have one clear takeaway. Make sure you have it in mind before building the video because it will ultimately make the video much easier to put together.

Example message: These are going to be your go-to shoes for years to come AND now you can get them at these affordable prices.

Step 4: Bring your video to life 

Step 3 actually is comprised of 3 sub-steps so bear with us:

Once you’ve predetermined your goal, style, and message, you can start putting it all together to get the ultimate end result.

Footage – You set your goal, you composed a message now it is time to string it all together. When creating a product video, your product should, of course, be front and center. The purpose of the video is to help the viewer experience the product before they decide to purchase.

In the Promo App, all your product assets will already be populated in the media tab for you to use or you can always upload external media.

Beyond your product images, you can also enhance your video with extra stock footage. For instance, if you are selling shoes you can reinforce your video with footage of happy, comfortable consumers.

To find something that works,  you can search and select complementary videos and images from Promo’s vast stock library.

Text – Once you’ve selected your footage, write the text that will accompany each frame. When writing your copy, keep in mind that text and visuals need to go together. Make sure the copy coincides with your footage in a seamless rhythm, not random or out of place.

If you’re not sure what to write, go back to your intended message and articulate in the shortest (but catchiest) way possible.

It should be brief and to the point, conveyed in a clear and compelling way. If it’s a sale, consider adding a sense of urgency (for a limited time only) or a sense of exclusivity (for subscribers only).

Music – Music has the power to set the tone so make sure it compliments your message. Consider the tone of your message and find a track that matches that. Check out Promo.com’s fully licensed music library and choose and soundtrack for your video.

Step 5: Culminate with a strong outro frame

The final frame of your video should include your logo and the most important part of your message. Whether it’s your call-to-action or final sale, it’s the biggest take-away of your video.  This is not a place to tease your audience, but to clearly spell out to them, who you are, what you’re offering and how they can take action.

Step 6: Review your masterpiece

Okay, it’s done. You’ve pulled all the pieces together and you have a fully functioning video. At this point, you’ll want to make sure that all the elements flow smoothly. Your visuals, text, and music should all do their part in enhancing your core message.

Watch and rewatch by using the live preview feature to ensure that the graphics, and colors are consistent and correlate with your overarching message. Don’t hesitate to go back and continue tweaking the video. That’s why we made sure to include this step. 

Step 7: Publish your video

It’s money time! Now is the moment to get your video out into the world. If you created a product video, you can place it directly within your product page. Considering your initial goal, you can embed it anywhere on your site.  You can also share it on your socials or even boost it as an ad to drive traffic to your store. 

With the Promo App for Shopify, you can publish your video directly to your timeline, a page you manage, or even to an ad account. 

That’s all there is to it

Now that you know how to create product videos for your Shopify store, you can start using them as a tool to effectively push your visitors through the sales funnel and ultimately, increase sales. 

 The most important thing is to find a scalable option that works for you in the long run. Creating product videos for your eCommerce store is a long haul effort that you’ll need to upkeep for as long as you are coming out with new products to sell to your customers.

Make stunning videos for your Shopify store for free today!