Never has the need to produce more and better content been so acute for brands. Against myriad global macroeconomic headwinds, a shrinking household discretionary spend, and the ever-rising cost of digital customer acquisition – the pressure to deliver efficiencies in marketing spend while somehow getting more impact from less budget is mounting.
And with competition for the online share of wallet increasing in the months post-pandemic, Brands have a fresh requirement to redouble their efforts to stand out from the crowd.
Wouldn’t it be useful, then, to get a view on what content is most likely to offer that differentiation, and play the role of nurturing customer attention toward customer acquisition?
Together with the IMRG, the U.K.’s eCommerce association, we asked 1001 U.K. consumers drawn from a range of demographics what kinds of content resonate best with them when they’re shopping online.
We asked them about the content they seek out, the content formats they expect to see, and the content that most often inspires them to make a purchase.
How to create more and better content is the pressing question for eCommerce brands today … but it might be that those best placed to answer that question are the customers themselves.
- Download Report One: Winning Attention, Supercharging Conversion
- Download Report Two: Video Commerce & Live Video Shopping
FIVE KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The perceived authenticity and trustworthiness of a brand are crucially important factors to consumers when deciding what to buy: 91% of respondents said that they are more likely to remain loyal to a brand (i.e. buy from them again) that they find trustworthy and authentic.
- 73% of respondents said that User-generated Content (imagery shared on social media, reviews from customers, etc.) has directly influenced their online purchase decision-making.
- The majority of consumers surveyed in the U.K. are already tuning in to Live Video Shopping streams, with Gen Z particularly likely to have watched one or more streams in the past 12 months.
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- 64% of respondents have watched at least one Live Video Shopping stream in the past 12 months, with 16% having seen five or more.
- 75% of Gen Zs have watched at least one Live Video Shopping stream in the past 12 months.
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- 57% of respondents said that Live Video Shopping would increase their likelihood of purchasing a product.
- 62% of respondents said that they would like to see more Live Video Shopping streams from brands they follow online.
This research shows us that, for brands looking to grow the share of revenue generated through eCommerce, authentic content is an indispensable ingredient to successful online sales growth. User-generated Content offers key social proof at crucial points of a consumer’s decision-making process – and is something online buyers proactively seek out to inform their purchase decisions. We are encouraged to see that Live Video Shopping is already attracting consumer attention, and helping brands to translate that attention into action. Though early days for the technology, it is apparent that setting and executing a strategy for video commerce represents a huge opportunity for brands.
