“Show Human Connection” – Why Creative Content is Essential for E-Commerce

Content has always been an essential part of retail branding and reaching new customers. However, as more retailers rely on new and existing platforms, it’s now more necessary than ever to understand the importance of content.

QuickClips has been helping the retail industry ‘since the early days’ and aims to ‘make video production easy, quick, cost-effective and accessible to everyone’. The business started before YouTube and smartphones were readily available, and a lot of things have changed since then.

“Although SMEs were our target market, we were lucky enough to land Google as a client very early on (still one of our biggest clients to date) which confirmed that big companies were also interested in this type of lean and flexible production,” del Campo tells Power Retail.

For retailers, both online and in-store, content will always be king. “It is well established that visual content provides better recall and higher engagement rates in viewers,” del Campo explains. “Whether it’s because they are processed in the same area of our brain as emotions or -perhaps because they’re faster to process and share than written content- moving images are a vital component on any marketing strategy.”

“Adding to that the targeting, personalisation and tracking capabilities that digital offers, they’re essential items in the toolbox – not just for marketers, but also operations, recruitment, logistics, loyalty or internal comms teams.”

This is a critical time to communicate with your customers, as the outbreak is leaving most Australian consumers in the dark. “Isolation and lack of physical connection make this an important time to communicate and reach out, and every area of every business will need to communicate what they’re doing in a fast-changing environment, so an agile video partner becomes essential,” he says.

When it comes to creating informative and rich content, there are a few ways to really stand out. “Create content that’s informative, fun and relatable and keep it short and consistent,” del Campo says.

Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that retailers show a genuine and human side to their customers, even if it’s not a well-produced piece of content. “Show the human side of your business and be genuine,” he says. “Production values don’t need to be overly polished but get the basics right, so quality doesn’t become a distraction. Test and measure… and have fun with it!”

Since QuickClips began, the type of content retailers use has changed in many different ways. “The industry has clearly moved in this direction,” del Campo says. “DSLR cameras and smartphones smashed any barriers to enter this industry, so nowadays, there is a lot more competition – although the demand for video content is also very high.”

It’s not just about making beautiful imagery or having sophisticated technology that creates meaningful content. “In my view, it’s more than creating beautiful images, though,” del Campo explains. “The customer experience is critical, so content creators must turn around content quickly and efficiently and also understand businesses objectives to interpret a brief correctly and distil the right message rather than creating content for content’s sake.”

How is QuickClips reacting to the COVID-19 outbreak? “Right now we had to adjust to the current situation, so we’ve released some remote video packages -based on animation and stock footage- to continue producing content during the COVID-19 outbreak,” del Campo says. “This, in turn, is an opportunity for us to launch into overseas markets without needing a physical presence there.”

“We’ve been part of the Australian online retail fraternity from the early days, and despite the short term challenges, this industry will no doubt thrive so we look forward to continue working with such young, dynamic and innovative industry. Stay safe and strong and see you on the other side!”

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