Shoppable Video Strategies to Transform Ecommerce with Eitan Koter, Co-CEO @ Vimmi

Andy Splichal:

Welcome back to the Make Each Click Count podcast where we dive deep into strategies, tools and insights that help e commerce businesses grow, scale, thrive in today's digital world. I'm your host, Andy Splichal. Today we're venturing into one of the hottest trends reshaping ecommerce as we know it, video commerce. Our guest today is Eitan Koter, the co-CEO of Vimmi, a revolutionary video commerce platform that empowers brands and retailers to create dynamic shoppable experience across websites, social channels and marketplaces. With over two decades of experience spanning media, commerce and telecom, plus a background in leading companies from startups to Nasdaq IPOs, Ayton brings a wealth of knowledge about the interaction of technology and commerce. So whether you're an e commerce store looking to stand out from a crowded marketplace, or a marketer searching for innovative ways to increase your conversion, this episode's packed with actionable insights you won't want to miss. So let's get started. Welcome to the show, Eitan.

Eitan Koter:

Hey Andy. It's a pleasure to be here. How are you?

Andy Splichal:

You know, I'm great. So you know, dive right in. Shoppable video, it's a live shopping. I mean there's. Those are buzzwords. Everybody's talking about them in e commerce. Can you explain exactly what they are and why have they been so effective for your clients?

Eitan Koter:

Yeah, so I mean all the shoppable experiences and probably the interactive experiences that are by definition meant to trigger conversions and checkout actions started in China, by the way, about five, six years ago with live shopping where some of the sellers there, this is the day job, this is what they do. They just stay in front of camera all day and just sell products. The experience is quite unique because shoppers can ask questions through a chat, there are moderators who can respond to questions and you have a call to action button on the video player itself that says buy now and when you click on that button is gives You a checkout opportunity with the ability to create a purchase, to make a purchase. Now this is evolved into the western world in the US about three to four years ago. And it's really a fundamental and important part of a lot of marketing teams out there who are trying to include these type of experiences into their marketing plan. So the overall shopping shoppable video is the ability to add product pages and checkout options within the video player itself. Not just a simple video that probably can, you know, create some kind of an engagement or work on the exposure of the brand. But shoppable video helps with conversion.

Eitan Koter:

It's actually a checkout opportunity. The ability to integrate and sync product pages to videos. And it can be on those short form videos that they usually upload to Instagram Reels, YouTube shorts and TikTok, those longer form videos that are pre recorded and fully edited. That traditionally goes to YouTube but it also for live events which is gaining an amazing popularity because it's more of an emotional experience. It's more of kind of a formal type of experience. And if it's done right, it can create 10 times even conversion rates than a traditional product page.

Andy Splichal:

You know, I got to be honest, it sounds expensive. I'm thinking of a smaller retailer. I mean is there what kind of investments involved and is there a price point where if you're not selling products, at least at this price point, it doesn't make sense?

Eitan Koter:

Okay, great question. So there are so many types of video, right? And I mean I've started in media entertainment video where you invest hundreds of millions in a movie, right? And then you need to put it in the library and sell it through a transaction or through a subscription. What probably the most TikTok taught us in the US is that authenticity matters less. The production value, the background and the editing investment that you put in place. Authenticity and consistency wins the market these days. Specifically for organic videos. It's just a matter of, you know, find the right content to, to talk about. And usually what I recommend is just create a list of like 50 pains your customers are experiences experiencing and create a content around each one of those.

Eitan Koter:

Share your personal story, your personal experience and just provide value. This will create a community and of followers that are will be more open to conversion opportunities at a later stage of the, of the, of the marketing funnel. So it's not a matter of being expensive. What is working today is founder led content and also employee generated content. Egc we all know about UGC which is users generated content, probably content created by professional content providers or Influencer created content but employee generated content, founder led content. These authentic short form videos are creating an amazing ROI for brands out there. And they are not expensive at all. This is something you do on your smartphone, spend really small amount of time just editing, probably remove the noise and some of the ums and hums.

Eitan Koter:

And there are so many AI tools out there that can do it just in one click. I usually don't spend more than 10 minutes on creating those videos. Some of the videos are getting hundreds of thousands of views. So it's, it's a matter of just what's important in the short form video is the content itself and the value that you provide. So there is a way to create some research trying to identify what's working and what's not. But at least try for two, three months, post three to five videos a week on a variety of topics. 80% of those videos should be just provide value and build your community. 20% you can just pitch a product with these unique selling points.

Eitan Koter:

So that's the short form video. If you go to like long form video, those 16 by 9 videos that traditionally goes to YouTube, this will require longer video post production investments. Right. And these indeed may ask for like a more professional editors and all. But this is not something you do on the first phase, first phase and that live show just need to prepare it right in terms of having the right script in place, probably a good promotion and marketing before the event, during the event and after the event. And again it should be authentic. The videos that are working the best are videos that are created and hosted by the founders, by the employee themselves because they know how to answer the questions and they are the expert in the field. And it's resonate, it shows and it creates really very, very good type of experiences.

Eitan Koter:

So this is usually where you need to start. Just start with those short form videos, create a list of customer pains and just provide the, provide value to your customers. Don't spend more than 15 minutes on one video including editing and posting.

Andy Splichal:

That's, I mean those are, those are great tips. So you have your short term video short form videos, excuse me, where does a business post them once they have the videos done?

Eitan Koter:

Another amazing question. So the first thing you need to identify is where your ideal customer profile spends time. Right? So if, if you're targeting Gen Z's for example. So definitely you need to be on TikTok. I don't know what's going to happen with TikTok but. Or definitely, you know, short form videos like Instagram Reels YouTube shorts, right? This is where you need to be. If you're targeting like millennials, Yannick. So they are on Facebook, they're on Instagram, they're on YouTube.

Eitan Koter:

YouTube is like all over the place, right? So YouTube is just definitely for all generations and it's important to be on YouTube. So first thing you need to understand and identify which target, which market demographics you are planning to approach and just focus on that specific, you know, channel. You can, you can post on all the channel. There are many tools out there that can do that for you. But try to get, get more experience and get more knowledge on that specific mark channel that you're trying to approach. If you're in B2B then definitely LinkedIn. If you're direct to consumers or just you have so many options out there, just define your ICP and based on the demographics you need to focus on that specific network.

Andy Splichal:

And when you post, are you just doing organic? Are you putting money behind it with ad campaigns? How are you making sure people, your customers are even seeing these videos?

Eitan Koter:

Okay, so no, you start organically, right? We know that cost of advertising is increasing and retain on ad spend is difficult these days. Writing CPCs are increasing. So the idea is to create content organically and the content should be very, very relevant to where you are on the marketing funnel. If it's just in the awareness stage, just provide educational content marketing information checklist. If your consumers are in the consideration stage, provide comparison table. Don't be afraid to talk about the competition, share how to's and variety of case studies and when they are in the decision mode, provide the product reviews, provide testimonials and prices and unique selling points and try to identify where they are in the marketing funnel. This is the way to build some kind of a relationship and then grow to create those type of conversion which users are mostly more, more open to.

Andy Splichal:

Now I would think one of the probably pitfalls is for a business is they would create, you know, they got the list of questions. They, they create this video, they spend time on it, they post it organically and they are, they see four views, they see six views. So so many views that they're why am I doing this? What would you say if, if or when that happens?

Eitan Koter:

Yes. So and I want to just finalize where Mari's answer to your previous question. So yeah, you start organically for at least two to three months and based on analytics you can know, you know what's working and what's not. Now the way it works is that when you find one of those videos that is performing relatively good. And again, it can be on any channel. In the vimmi platform. You can have a holistic analytics of what's working and what's not in on your website and also on the other social media marketplaces that you work on and just zero in on these videos and you can then push them with advertisement. And we guarantee that this, the return on ad spend on that specific video is going to be amazingly well.

Eitan Koter:

Okay. So we usually recommend those two to three months, create at least 50 videos, just put it out there and see what's working. And once you get a, get a feeling of it, probably do a weekly live show, see what's working and what's not and then put advertising budget on that specific social network just promoting those video in a very, in a very, in a very nice way. And it's all organically, right? This is probably the best ROI in terms of any marketing channel or activity that is available out there right now. Right. We know that brands need to diversify their lead generation opportunities. Not just spending a lot of money on Meta or Amazon. Right.

Eitan Koter:

On another platform, just acquire new customers, bring them to their own amazing brand.com, right? So the idea is to enjoy the benefit of social commerce to deploy those videos and check out opportunities where users are spending their time. We all spend two to three hours on social media. Just identify where your customers are and just promote that these type of videos, you work with influencers or create your own content by the founders, by the employees, by the key executives. And this is very, very, I would say highly probable activity that will generate great success because those social media networks, they give higher priority to videos versus any type of media out there because videos are just longer form of content and yet just keep the users stick to the app for much longer time. So the priority, there is a higher priority in the algorithms for videos and the way it works, referring to your full views and data. You know, this is, it doesn't work in a linear way. It's working a hockey stick, right? Okay. You can have a full month with 10 views on each video and suddenly one video, okay, is going to jump to 50,000 views, right? Initially it's going to be a surprise and you wake up in the morning and say, okay, what, what happened here? But this is the way it works.

Eitan Koter:

It's like a hockey stick. And then it brings you into a new level of exposure and you can continue for a few more weeks with few, you know, dozens of visitors or views or even more. But then you hit another Hundred thousand views. This is what's happened to me and this is what I how I hear. Many, many brands and companies are experiencing. This is the way it works. It's working a hockey stick mode. Just keep it out.

Eitan Koter:

I mean you don't know to attribute sometimes conversion or success from people who watch your video. By the way, 90% or even 95% of the people who watch your video, they don't engage with your video. They don't, you know, click on the like or they don't share, but they watch that video. So don't get discouraged by the bad analytics. I highly recommend and to our listeners, ignore it at the beginning. Just go out there, try to find your flow in this video creation, in this mode of posting on a daily basis, a few times a week. Just enjoy the experience. Don't care too much about analytics.

Eitan Koter:

And once you become more professional and yes, you need to deep dive, figure out analytics. But the idea is that there is an overwhelming effect. It's like a snowball, right? So you post on various locations and people suddenly people contact you or there is a, there is a, there is a sale that you did. It's going to be very difficult to contribute it to a video you posted, you know, three weeks ago. But definitely it came from that video. And you can, if you ask the customers, they say hey yeah, I saw you on Instagram and I remember your video about this and this. So that's a very, very powerful tactic. So don't get discouraged by analytics.

Eitan Koter:

Just keep showing up and be consistent. This is what's, what's working and what sets you apart from the rest.

Andy Splichal:

So how is Vimmi working with, with their clients?

Eitan Koter:

Yeah, so we have, we're, we enable video experiences. So we have a lot of technology that we develop in the last 11 years. Everything that relates to making video shoppable, all the live experiences. Our platform is connected to all the social media networks and the marketplaces. So it's a video based social commerce platform that can help them accelerate sales. With the power of video that we just in one click we can deploy these shoppable videos across your website, as a brand and on all your social media channels. Gives you the ability to easily work with influencers, content creators, just moderated content and in addition we provide a list of managed services. We understand that brands today, they don't have time because video is probably a more complex way of creating content.

Eitan Koter:

We help with a lot of managed services to help you with content production, with scripting, AI implementation tools, just helping brands doing this Transformation for a immersive experience for a future proof video based experiences that are like fundamentals for the future of E commerce. So this is who we are. We are a subscription based technology and managed services that help brands out there just doing this transition and enjoy the benefit of social commerce and video commerce.

Andy Splichal:

You had mentioned AI. What are, what's your feeling about AI generated content especially for business owners who might feel uncomfortable getting in front of the camera?

Eitan Koter:

Yes. I mean AI is like super, super, super critical. The things that are, we are monitoring this very, very closely and the progress with AI video creation is absolutely amazing. So I have a, I'm running a list for the last year of all these AI tools and a variety of video categories. For example, you know, animation creation, film production, influencer marketing, you know, variety of, you know, video types you can do for businesses. And I can tell you that the platforms out there, there are solutions out there that are just amazing. Right. You won't be, there's no way for you to figure out that this video was created by an AI avatar.

Eitan Koter:

And it can be even an AI avatar that is just showcasing a product, explaining it, even unboxing and it's all virtual. So there are so many tools out there to create all these type of experiences. I post videos of myself, but it's not me all the time on the videos. It's like an AI virtual, you know, avatar of myself.

Andy Splichal:

So do you find that those AI do as well as somebody just 100%.

Eitan Koter:

They'Re doing the same as the, as the regular videos because people can't figure out that there is any difference. Right. Because people are scrolling, scrolling, you know, this endless scrolling and they see a video, they don't figure, they don't spend too much time analyzing what's really happening behind the scenes in terms of video. And, and these videos are created by avatar. So that's just a way to just expand capacity, use AI to reduce time time to video like in terms of the scripting, the production capabilities, the post production, the editing, even the AI avatar. So definitely AI. This is why we launched that managed service type of solutions that we provide because we saw that there is a huge demand for that. Yes, brand owners and people are so, I mean busy with what they do and it's, they don't have a lot of time just to figure out what's working.

Eitan Koter:

And like every day there is a new tool, new engines that are published to create those video, those videos. And we are the front, front of this and we know what to deliver and we provide it as a service so customers don't really care how we do that but they get the benefit and bottom line they get more sales, more conversions, more, less cart abandonment, higher aov, even a lot of help on the back end side in terms of logistics and everything because it helps them with forecasting, it's making things more efficient. So just transitioning to video because it's such reach in data just makes the whole experience on the E commerce much more, much better and future proof.

Andy Splichal:

So take me through the process. Somebody is interested in your they want to get into video, they want to get their word out and start doing video marketing. They come to you, they've never done a video before but they say we're going to engage with you. How does the process work?

Eitan Koter:

Yeah. So we try to identify what is the mentality or what is the how much our prospect is willing to spend. The first thing that top priority is just start creating your own videos. Because founder led content we know are working the best, right? And even you need that first few videos before you create an AI avatar of yourself. You need to create those three videos on your own. And so we give some help in terms of scripting and just best practices to do that. We also offer variety of other services. So our platform is like the foundations for everything.

Eitan Koter:

It connects to your existing e commerce platform doesn't matter which platform you use in terms of the provider. We sync those pages and we make sure we manage all the videos in a professional way and we publish and post them all over. We also provide the ability for brands to work with influencers. So that's very important. So we manage all the influencer outreach, the creators relationships and try to increase the level of content. And we have a variety of content packages in terms of volumes like a daily. A daily volume or like a 30 videos per month or even hundred of a few hundreds is even more so like variety of packages and a combination of tools and training that if there is an internal team that can take over those responsibilities then great. But if it's not, we manage this as an extension of their their team of their marketing gene just taking responsibility for the content creation, posting get the analytics improving and and we do that as a service for them.

Eitan Koter:

So it's combination of our technology and a mix of services that is that are usually targeted for. For specific customers based on their need.

Andy Splichal:

And is it a monthly retainer or an annual retainer or it's a subscription.

Eitan Koter:

It'S just a monthly subscription that involves the technology stack and the combination of those services.

Andy Splichal:

Right. Well if somebody wanted to learn more about it, how would be the best way to contact you?

Eitan Koter:

Great. So just the website, it's vimmi.net it's v I m m I.net and I'm quite active also on LinkedIn and on my personal LinkedIn it's Eitan Kotor. E I T A N K O T E R can definitely reach out and chat up all things video commerce.

Andy Splichal:

Well, this has been great. Is there anything else you would like to add before we wrap it up today?

Eitan Koter:

No, I think it's all great. Was really, really a pleasure and we truly see, you know, things. A lot of things are changing. Definitely TikTok is a really an important part of that mix. They pushed a lot of becoming themselves as a shopping platform. Right. Competing with Amazon. So let's see what happened there.

Eitan Koter:

But I'm sure there are other platforms will jump in. We see a lot of development on all channels like YouTube Meta, you know, Pinterest and also X and definitely with, with Snapchat just launching commerce application and commerce capabilities and we, we've implemented all their APIs and we keep them updated on a daily basis just to streamline social commerce for our customers. So great development on commerce. Social commerce is going to be huge and video is just the foundation for everything. So this is something that no one can ignore. And definitely the best way to spend a marketing budget these days.

Andy Splichal:

You know I'm curious, do you need to have your, I guess one last follow up question. Your own store? What if you're an Amazon seller, does this work? Sending traffic to Amazon?

Eitan Koter:

Yes, 100%. I mean the first thing that you do when you launch, when you onboard our platform, we ask you if you are a brand, if you are a creator, do you have a website or you're on a marketplace? Amazon and also Walmart for example, there is marketplaces, they have Amazon Live and Walmart Live. Right. And it's a live shopping experience. They also have that shoppable video kind of implementation. So yeah, we can definitely sync with Amazon Walmart for product pages and just post on Amazon Walmart. So this can definitely work and it's I think an amazing opportunity. And we also help launch those social activities, social commerce activities on all the other channels.

Eitan Koter:

Because if you already, you know, created those video, we usually recommend to do that on a multi channel kind of experiences and over definitely post this on the other channels as well. So yeah, if you're on Amazon, great. If you have your own website, great. If you're a creator without any Amazon or your own brand, your own Shopify or your own e commerce platform. And you're just active on Instagram, for example, or YouTube. We can help you as well. Right? So that's by providing, you know, those landing pages and product pages from within our platform.

Andy Splichal:

Well, thank you very much again for joining us today and it's been great and that is a ton of information. So if any listeners are interested, I highly recommend go ahead and check out that website and we'll put the links in the show notes below. Remember, if you like this episode, please leave us an honest review. And again, the information for connecting with Ayton and Vimmi will be in the links below. In addition, if you need you're looking for more information on growing your business, check out our Podcast Resource center available at podcast.make each click count.com we have compiled all of our different past guests by show topic and include each of their contact information in case you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in previous episodes. Well, that's it for today. Remember to stay safe, keep healthy and happy marketing and I'll talk to you in the next episode.