Your website is your brand’s most valuable resource.
It’s the central hub for all of your online efforts. Your social media posts, email blasts, paid ads and even in-person events all drive leads back to your site. So, optimizing it is essential to leave a lasting impression.
The challenge is that many direct-to-consumer (DTC) sites overlook how shoppers consume content today – by binge-watching videos.
We’re not talking about branded high-production marketing videos.
We mean the ones that go viral on TikTok—short-form video content created by real people, AKA user-generated (UGC) video reviews.
Here’s the thing – tons of brands are already posting UGC videos on their social media accounts. It’s their websites that lack video.
YouTube was once the powerhouse of video marketing, but it alone doesn’t cut it anymore.
In 2023, your website needs to be the backbone of your video strategy. When optimized for performance, it has more power to drive conversions than YouTube ever could.
Keep reading to learn why you need UGC video reviews on your website and why it’s more powerful than YouTube.
Why UGC Videos Reviews?
Shoppers are watching videos about your products, not reading about them. 81% of people say they prefer to watch a video review over reading a text review.
Even more mind-blowing, 90% of people watch videos about the products they want to buy, with 86% of people being convinced to buy after watching a video.
Video reviews are the future of online shopping.
Shoppers already crave video content, which is why UGC videos work so well on social media. To keep up with shopper demand, your website needs to follow suit.
With UGC video reviews, your product pages (PDP) will instantly elevate the customer shopping experience. All while building trust with engaging, authentic and relatable customer reviews.
Still not sure if you’re ready to take your website in 2023? Here are four reasons your DTC site is more powerful than YouTube.
Why Your Website is More Powerful Than YouTube
1. Built for Lead Capture
Your website has the power to convert shoppers into buyers in just a few clicks.
While posting on YouTube expands the reach and engagement of your videos, it doesn’t have the same potential for driving conversions as directly as on your website.
On YouTube, you can direct viewers back to your DTC site through calls to action and hyperlinks. But with video reviews on your PDPs, you have more control over converting leads in one place.
2. Lasting SEO Value
Adding videos to your website is an excellent strategy to increase your visibility and discoverability on search engine results pages (SERP). Search engines like Google prioritize videos, meaning the more quality and optimized videos on your site, the likelier you’ll appear higher in SERP.
YouTube also offers SEO benefits, but optimized videos on your website can have a long-lasting impact. Videos are highly engaging and binge-worthy, keeping web visitors browsing your site longer.
Web metrics like time on page and dwell time are important ranking factors. 87% of marketers say video marketing has increased dwell time on their site.
Over time, the impact of your optimized videos will lead to better rankings and increased traffic. This makes your website more powerful than YouTube when it comes to long term SEO value.
3. Improves the UX
What sets your DTC site apart from YouTube is the ability to embed video reviews directly onto your website. This makes it extremely easy for your shoppers to learn about your products authentically and buy all in one convenient place.
Compared to YouTube, the seamless transition from watching to buying on your site eliminates unnecessary steps in the buyer journey.
Reducing barriers for your shoppers not only entices them to buy but improves the entire user experience, which can lead to increased conversions.
4. Protects Your Brand Network
Shoppers turn to YouTube for answers about products your brand doesn’t address. Typically it’s for troubleshooting like how to fix a broken part or use new features.
There are tons of video FAQs on YouTube that answer these types of questions, which is great for shoppers but bad for your brand. Essentially, the platform is luring your customers away from your network.
Adding video FAQs to your PDPs and support pages will retain customers by allowing you to answer questions directly. This positions your brand as a knowledgeable resource and encourages customers to binge-watch on your site for longer.
Tap Into The Power of Your Website
Video reviews are quickly becoming the new way to shop online. To keep up with the future of eCommerce, your website needs UGC video reviews.
YouTube was once the core of video marketing, but today, your website holds centre stage. All it takes is embedding binge-worthy video reviews on your product pages.
Producing these videos is easy with video technology.
StoryTap is the leading video review platform that automates the production and distribution of UGC video reviews.
With just one line of code, you can seamlessly embed video reviews on your site without affecting PDP page speed. Plus, all videos are optimized for video SEO while pushing a custom CTA.
StoryTap’s customers see an average +40% increase in conversions among video viewers.
Book a demo today to see the tech up close.
