A dropshipping business never has a monopoly on a particular product. You’re getting an item from a vendor and sending it straight to your buyer. While the logistical aspect of this sounds just brilliant, this is also a problem.

Why? Well, you’re not the only one selling it, and even if they need the product, they don’t need to get it from you. 

As a dropshipping business, you can provide better terms, but it’s not like you can deliver a higher product quality or anything like that.

So, the question is, how do you persuade people to buy from you and not from your competitors? The answer is simple – you improve your trustworthiness.

Since they’re not an official brand, it’s much harder for a dropshipping business to prove that they’re authentic. So, you’ll have to invest extra effort into your marketing. 

Video marketing is particularly effective when it comes to boosting credibility. Here are some suggestions for using video marketing to promote your dropshipping business and products. 

1. Showcasing Your Products As A Video Marketer

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Customer lifecycle implies that an average needs time to convert into a paying customer. 

• First, they hear of your business or product. 

• Second, they inquire about it. This includes a first visit to your site and social media, watching a video or two, and browsing your offer.

• Third, they do some research and compare you to competitors.

• Fourth, they buy your product.

• Fifth, they return each time with a bigger purchase value.

• They become brand ambassadors, promoting your business and referring their friends.

Why does it take so many steps to make their first purchase, and what helps them decide? More often than not, it’s the reviews and testimonials.

People are cautious about how they spend their money. They don’t want to be first. So, they’ll let someone else buy the product and take the risk. Then, they’ll take their word for it. While this can also be risky, it’s a smaller risk.

Most of the time, they want to know how the product works. While writing a description can be compelling, it’s far better to just show the product in action. Just think about movie and video game trailers.

They show what’s in the movie (or, in the case of games, show gameplay footage). This means people don’t have to buy to see what’s inside.  

Making a tutorial for using the product can drastically reduce your support queries.

According to one report, about 47% of businesses say video marketing helps reduce support queries. Sure, there’s a lot that a video cannot do, but providing some basic starting info can be done effectively. 

Most importantly, you help people get all they need. Why would they go elsewhere if they watch your video and you already have the product? It’s more convenient this way.

2. Optimize The Video With a Thumbnail, Caption, And Subtitle Generation

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Like incentivizing them to buy, you need to convince people actually to watch your dropshipping videos. So, how do you make people click on your video?

You optimize the video for the platform and try to attract attention through a thumbnail and caption.

First, you need to pick the right thumbnail. When promoting a product, you probably want to put it to the front; however, if the product is still unrecognizable, you’ll have to be extra creative.

While some use clickbait, you don’t want to set up unrealistic expectations. You want to use an image that accurately represents your video. There are some other tricks you may want to use. For instance:

• Use a shortened version of the video title.

• Use contrasting colors to trap attention.

• Set up the logo of your business to personalize the video.

Next, you need to choose an appropriate title. It needs to match the content of your video. It also needs to use a call-to-action to give people a reason to check it out.

The key to making the right title lies in knowing your audience. This will help you pick the right tone and voice.

When the duration of the video is in question, you want to choose a length that’s adequate for the platform.

There’s nothing wrong with uploading a 20-minute-long YouTube video, but you don’t want to do this on Facebook or Instagram. Explore shorter content formats like stories and reels.

💡 Tip: Learn How To Make Money On Youtube Without Making Videos [2024].

Lastly, 69% of people watch videos with their phones muted. So, if the video doesn’t have a subtitle, they may skip it.

You can easily solve this problem by finding a reliable auto subtitle generator for your videos. Even at home, 25% of people prefer watching videos on mute. In other words, this step is non-negotiable. 

3. Social Proof, Endorsements, and UGC

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Ultimately, testimonials in the form of a video are just more convincing. With testimonials, people are always wary about whether they’re genuine.

Sure, they’ll read a review, but if it’s written in too formal, academic, or even enthusiastic tone, they’ll suspect foul play.

An average reader cannot know if a marketer or an actual user wrote the article. It’s a lot easier to tell the difference in a video.

Now, social proof doesn’t always come from regular users. Other parties could endorse your business to increase its value. 

Expert endorsement 

One of the best ways to promote a specific product is to get an endorsement from an expert. 

Do you remember those toothpaste commercials that brag about X percentage of dentists using this particular paste? Well, they are pretty effective.

Even if there’s no direct correlation between the quality of the product and the endorsement, experts have authority. 

In the past, there was a lot less ethical campaign where one cigarette brand bragged that more medical doctors smoked their brand of cigars than any other. Was this the right thing to do? Absolutely not! Did it work? Of course! 

Celebrity endorsements

Celebrities have a huge following. This means that even if their conversion rate is substantially lower than that of experts and micro-influencers, the absolute numbers make up for it. 

Just think about it… Regarding audience and percentages, 1% of 1 million people is 1,000. It’s the same as 10% of 10,000. 

However, celebrities and influencers are more expensive. In other words, you need to make a unique calculation to determine if reaching out to a celebrity is worth it.

Most importantly, micro-influencers can be more cost-effective. This is especially the case if your dropshipping business is not globally active.

In this scenario, a local celebrity can provide a valuable endorsement and even provide you with some networking opportunities.

👉 Check out What Is A Digital Creator vs Influencer + How To Boost Your Brand?

User-generated content

Finally, we come to the regular user-generated content. This usually won’t be in a long format.

Ideally, they’ll make a short video featuring an unboxing. If you’re lucky, you can get a tag or a hashtag once they post the product on social media.

This is a video that you can share on your social media. You can even combine several of these dropshipping videos into a compilation and integrate it on your landing page.

Here, you’ll get all the social proof you could hope for. This is also one of the most obvious ways to drastically improve your landing page. 

4. Google Favors Video Marketing Content

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The reason why Google likes video content so much is that its users prefer it. Google is simply a mirror of its user base. A

s much as the algorithm dictates the content that you are offered, it adjusts to the collective viewership in the online world.

So, when you hear that 88% of people spend more time on websites with a video, you can bet that Google will take that seriously. 

Lately, Google is pushing results with videos, which makes it much more likely that you’ll be featured if your page has a video. According to some estimates, you’re 53 times more likely to feature this way. 

Google owns YouTube. So, you can bet that they will favor their platform. In other words, you need to upload and optimize your video for the YouTube algorithm, and you’re improving your rank on both platforms simultaneously.

YouTube shorts

As of today, YouTube shorts are an untapped goldmine. This is a medium that is still not properly exploited by the majority of your competitors.

By focusing on this new format, you’re likely to get more attention and drive more sales. Just remember a few simple rules. For instance:

• Shorts are vertical.

• They last for just 60 seconds.

• Shorts are automatically replayed (so you should think about looping).

• People watch them for entertainment purposes.

• Be creative when inserting the hook. 

While this is common-sense advice, people sometimes forget these few simple facts. This hurts them immensely.

However, sticking to these simple principles will become your second habit after a while. 

5. Optimize Your Sales Funnel

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In one of the previous sections, we talked about the customer lifecycle. To help your audience progress down this path, you must understand how to set up e-commerce sales funnels. Everything needs to feel organic. 

Namely, you don’t want to push people too hard. Phrases like “Buy Now” are great for your CTA, but pushing too hard can create a blowback. Moreover, not every video needs to be about shameless self-promotion. 

According to some older marketing principles, you should upload one self-promoting video for every six entertaining videos you upload.

This way, even those members of your audience that are still not ready to become buyers get something from these interactions. 

There are some tactics that you can use at every stage. For instance, engaging content is great for attracting attention. SEO is also great in this stage since it allows people to find you passively. 

The first time they visit your site, they must like what they see. We’ve already discussed your landing page, but you must make the entire experience positive.

So, you must ensure everything loads quickly enough and the videos you upload don’t take too long.

While product images are standard practice at this stage, even short clips and gifs can be useful. Some products and product types are even more helpful.

Most importantly, you must learn to use videos to reengage your customers. Exploring reasons for shopping cart abandonment is important.

You can later make a short video addressing some of these issues or offering unique incentives.

Videos are also great for return promotions. You can announce giveaways, sponsored contests, and new features through videos.

6. Craft a Video Marketing Strategy

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One of the best things about dropshipping is that you can get started in a few weeks. Sure, you need a great plan and a lot of energy, but it’s doable.

So, you need to learn how to quickly start your video marketing campaign in order to keep up. 

First, you need to set realistic goals. Every time you see that video marketing has boosted sales by X percent, you must be very careful about the specifics.

Sure, it did get these insane numbers, but how much time did it take? How much money did they invest in this video marketing campaign?

You’ll put yourself in a very bad spot by expecting the same numbers and having no clue about the rest of the context. So, you need to set realistic goals.

For now, it might be best to focus on a specific type of video. For instance, shorter video formats, like stories, shorts, and reels, could be a good start.

Also, you might want to leave full product reviews for a bit later (once you’re more experienced).

You need to have an editorial calendar for content of any kind (especially video content). You need to post regularly.

How regularly? Well, it depends on the platform and video format. You can upload these shorter video formats several times per day. This way, they give the best effect.

The most important part comes after the upload. In this stage, you analyze the response to your videos.

Evaluating the effectiveness of your campaign is incredibly important, as well as adjusting according to the results. Keep testing, analyzing, and gathering data. This way, your dropshipping business will have consistent growth. 

7. Set a Budget For Video Marketing

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The appeal of dropshipping business is that you can start with $50. The problem is that it will take you a while to make any profit, not to mention some more significant gains.

Theoretically, you can start a video marketing campaign with just your phone. There are a lot of free video editing tools out there, and if the money is tight, you should do it this way.

However, you can make much progress quickly with a proper video marketing budget. Once you profit, you’ll do well to reinvest some of this money into your business. 

Some businesses set aside 10-50% of their annual marketing revenue. This depends on their overhead and the competitiveness of the industry.

In dropshipping, your overhead is not supposed to be that high. This means that you can afford to spend more money on marketing. 

Regarding video marketing, 26% of marketers generally spend between $20k and $60k for their video marketing.

On the other hand, about 15% of businesses report spending between $1k and $10 on marketing, which is a lot more conservative.

Also, the majority of these businesses are not in the dropshipping industry. Since this is an emerging field, there is still not enough data. 

Video ads are incredibly effective, but they are also incredibly expensive. For professional production, you may pay between $1,500 and $2,500 for a 30-second ad.

However, if you make the video on your own and pay to promote it, you might get away with paying significantly less. The cost, although lower, is still not negligible. 

To grow your business, you need to reinvest; video marketing is one of the most important fields to consider reinvesting in.

Video Marketing Has The Potential To Make Your Credibility And Sales Skyrocket 

Video marketing is great for any business model, but it fits dropshipping particularly well. For starters, with dropshipping, it’s all about trustworthiness.

This determines whether people will buy from you or someone else (since no one has exclusive rights to the product). Dropshipping videos are great for boosting credibility.

Also, since dropshipping businesses don’t have to pay for storage and other overhead expenses, they can set more money aside for their video marketing budget.

While video marketing has an amazing ROI, it’s usually on the bit more expensive side. Therefore, being able to spend more helps you grow more rapidly.

With the right strategy and long-term plan, your video marketing strategy should provide amazing scalability. Make a plan, start making videos, and analyze everything after uploading it.