How Shoppable Videos Skip to the Mid-Funnel

Not long ago, the most engagement brands could expect from consumers on their videos was the SKIP AD button. (According to IPG Mediabrands’ Media Lab, 65% of users skip pre roll ads the first chance they get). They’d see a model in that gorgeous necklace along with some brand name and think very little of it on their way to content.

But interactive, shoppable videos bring a new layer to the experience that nudges consumers down the marketing funnel by presenting selling points for them to consider on screen, and the data shows they might be sticking around for it long after the 30 seconds are up. 

When reviewing the data, here’s what we’ve found:

• The top 3 categories utilizing interactive, shoppable videos are Style & Fashion, Health & Fitness, and Shopping. 
• Categories like Style & Fashion adopted interactive, shoppable videos early and are seeing strong click rates—and other verticals are joining in. 
• The engagement with interactive and shoppable objects in video is skyrocketing, demonstrating the power of OLV in the mid-funnel.

Savvy brands turn to video for the mid-funnel

Utilizing our patented machine-learning technology to display KERV’s pixel-edge glow over the video, brands provide consumers with deeper information on the product—shortening their path through the funnel. Whenever Busy Phillips comes on screen to gush over the new day cream from Olay, consumers can scroll over to the jar for an in-video image, text box with information and a link with a direct path to purchase. 

Consumers are treated to additional value props—like the name, ingredients, and a link to purchase— and brands are treated to all the precise metrics of the experience down to the half-second. 

But if you’re only hearing about this now, then you might have some catching up to do. 

Performance for interactive, shoppable video grows year over year

Back in the first quarter 2021, Style & Fashion took up nearly half of interactive, shoppable video volume. This is fairly predictable due to the shoppable nature of the vertical. How many times have you seen a stunning dress on the red carpet and wished you could learn everything about it? 

Now, however, other categories are ramping up their use of interactive, shoppable video. 

• Only 10 categories were utilizing interactive, shoppable videos in 2021 Q1, but this number has increased 70% as of this past quarter. 
• Categories with less of a shoppable implication, like Family & Parenting, have been reaping the benefits of interactive, shoppable videos with click rates over 15% in Q1.

And the growth doesn’t stop there. In 2022, the overall impressions accumulated by KERV-powered video increased by over 1200% when compared to the same period of time a year prior. Despite this massive growth, our average click rate also rose over 56% from 0.57% to 0.89%—the opposite of what you’d expect with such a steep jump in volume. 

It’s clear that not only are brands leaning into this new format and the new opportunities it affords, but consumers are too. And they’re interested in exploring deeper with digital video ads when the opportunity is available to them. 

Interactive, shoppable video creates dimensional user journeys 

The upper-funnel is all about making a strong impression, and interactive, shoppable video clearly achieves this. But what’s more is that KERV’s 20+ proprietary metrics uncover object-level data that reflects attention and consumer behavior—information that brands can use to power more relevant, mid-funnel experiences and more directly correlate performance to ROI and business results. 

As consumers navigate through video, we can see how many users click on the scene and toggle through the frame, as well as deliver data on the Object Highlights—the times a user simply hovers over an object to explore for a qualified amount of time. We call this aggregation of data the Dimensional User Journey—our take on the traditional marketing funnel, but demonstrated through interactive and shoppable video.

Remember, these objects are where the audience is being presented the additional value props you can’t get from traditional video ads—the carat count of a necklace, the material of a dress, and the price and availability of the latest pair of shoes. Again, the data show consumers are leaning in. In Q1 of 2022, we saw an increase of over 3,000% in our Object Highlights across verticals, compared to Q1 2021.