Unboxing videos, or videos that show customers taking a product out of it’s package and beginning to use it, are a goldmine for brands. Made popular by YouTube, unboxing videos can now be seen on almost all social media platforms. This high-quality user-generated content (UGC) performs well, as 55% of unboxing video viewers surveyed claim the video convinced them to buy the product. Influencers have also played an important role in popularizing unboxing videos as they promote brands that they collaborate with.
Many marketers don’t recognize the untapped potential of unboxing videos, and how they can be used beyond showing how a product looks in real life. In fact, if used right, unboxing videos can help create product awareness, promote seasonal deals and campaigns, and boost engagement.
Inspiring UGC: Use Outstanding Packaging to Wow Your Customers
One of the key reasons why users watch unboxing videos is to see what a product looks like in reality, as product pictures can feel misleading. When someone unboxes a product in a video, shoppers can see exactly what you will receive if you order the same product.
This is an opportunity for you to wow your customers with unique, branded packaging. Make unboxing a special experience for your customers and subsequently encourage them to share their unboxing experience online. Especially in lieu of an in-store experience, having a branded package delivered right to one’s doorstep can make a world of difference in brand recall and affinity.
Here are some expert packaging tips to revamp your current setup:
- Add personalized notes to bring a smile to your customers’ faces. Pro tip: Include a note about sharing UGC with the company if the customer likes the product, and include your social handles!
- Add free samples or gifts to tease new products or promote a sale.
- Use eco-friendly packaging materials and promote it as a brand value.
- Make the package a branding experience. Tailor the package to your brand’s look and feel.
Not only will these packaging tips result in a more exciting unboxing video from your brand’s influencers or customers, but it will also inspire more customers to share their unboxing experiences on social media. 40% of consumers say they’ll share a social media post of your product’s packaging if it was unique, providing your brand with more online exposure and user-generated content videos to promote in future marketing campaigns.
Palladio Beauty reshares a customer’s unboxing and subsequent makeup tutorial video on Instagram, featuring a trendy design on the product’s box.
More unboxing videos produced by your customer community means a greater online reach for your brand, and specialized packaging will get viewers excited about buying your product.
Add Value: The Initial Setup for the Product
Unboxing videos can be a very light touch for people just learning about a product, but they can also be highly informational. Some products, especially technology-related products, require some initial setup before you can start using these. For such products, you can use unboxing videos in the form of a tutorial to teach your customers exactly how to set up your product and start using it.
No matter what the product, unboxing videos, created by either your brand internally or your partner influencers, are a good way to educate your customers.
Yakima Racks publishes Youtube videos unboxing its outdoor activity products like this vehicle onramp and taking viewers step-by-step through the installation process.
Getting More Videos: Use Influencer Marketing to Create a Buzz Around a New Product
If you are planning to launch a new product, you can send samples to popular influencers in your field and ask them to create unboxing videos. Given that the product is not available in the market, these videos will generate curiosity and buzz around your product launch.
Influencers are often more than happy to get early access to products and many would make an unboxing video simply in exchange for receiving a free product. So, you can send out samples to multiple influencers to run a whole buzz marketing campaign. The more influencers that create videos to talk about your product launch, the more publicity it will generate.
Use an influencer marketing platform to discover and manage relationships with the right influencers for your brand. After all, working with wrong influencers can do more harm than good.
Youtube influencer Alexa Raye unboxes Revel Nail’s dip powder product and offers an exclusive coupon code from the brand.
Working with influencers also gives your brand the opportunity to take advantage of that influencer’s broad network of followers in the form of a livestream.
You can stream your unboxing videos and answer any customer questions in real-time. Live videos, a capability offered by Instagram along with many other social media platforms, provide the advantage of being able to talk to your customers in real-time.
If they have any questions or concerns, they can share them right away using comments. You can address each of these live, as you unbox your product.
Innovation: Get into Creative Uses For Your Product
One of the best ways unboxing videos can be used is to inspire new ways to use the product. This is where user-generated content can be a goldmine for ecommerce brands. Even if you’re reasonably certain your product is being used one way, chances are customers have shown it to be effective in other impactful ways.
For example, Tile, which creates IoT based tracking devices for consumers, shows how customers can use Tile to locate their car. While Tile can be used in a variety of different ways, this specific use case solves a very unique problem for customers and indicates a way customers are clearly using the product.
Going Beyond: Use Unboxing Videos as Core Marketing Material
As powerful pieces of UGC, unboxing videos are repurposable; they can live on multiple different social channels, product pages, category pages, email communications, and even social media ads. One unboxing video might gain better traction revealing a new product in a social announcement, while others might benefit a product page by showing the different options a customer can choose from.
For example, running a social media contest encouraging customers to share their unboxing videos on social media is a great way to garner engagement and brand buzz while collecting valuable UGC for your various marketing channels. This can come in the form of a contest with the chance to win a discount or special prize, but sometimes even the opportunity to be featured on your brand’s accounts or website is enough incentive.
Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is the co-founder of Attrock, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.
