Tolstoy Answers
Find answers to common questions about interactive videos, from the basics to the technicalities. We discuss the types of video content, how to create and use it, and the benefits it has to offer your online store.
Recent Answers
How to Find Quality Product Videos for Your Dropshipping Store
Although running a dropshipping store doesn't require you to have a physical storefront or any upfront inventory budget, you still need to think about product presentation. Dropshipping is a business model where a retailer doesn't keep inventory of the products they sell but purchases items from a third-party supplier who ships the products directly to the customer. One of the key elements of a successful dropshipping store is the ability to effectively showcase the products you're selling. This is where product videos come in—quality product videos can help potential customers get a better understanding of the product and its features, ultimately helping drive conversions. Along with improving customer experience, quality product videos also build trust with your customers. » Why you need quality product videos: discover how product demo videos can increase sales 1. Research Your Products The first step to finding quality product videos for your dropshipping store is thoroughly researching your products. This includes not only knowing your products' features and benefits but also how appealing they'd appear to your target audience. By learning more about your target audience, you can make more informed decisions about what elements your product videos should have. 2. Search for Videos When searching for quality product videos for your online store, head to different search engines like Google and YouTube. You should select the videos that emphasize the products' benefits and features, but make sure they also have clear visuals and cover all angles of the product. In addition, pay attention to the creator’s reputation to ensure the video is reliable. If possible, consider reaching out to the manufacturer directly to see if they have any product videos available that you can use in your store. » Not sure what product video to choose? Get inspired with these product video examples 3. Credit the Creators When using product videos created by others in your store, it's important to credit the creators for transparency. You can do so by including the link to their channel or website or simply by mentioning their name in the video description. This can also lead to a great collaboration if you find a creator that aligns with your brand and audience. Reaching out to them to create more product videos for your store can help build a relationship with the creator and give you regular quality content that resonates with your audience. Easily Find Your Ideal Product Videos Having high-quality product videos can significantly improve the performance of your dropshipping business. They help present your items in the best light possible, build trust with your audience, and ultimately drive sales. While choosing the best product videos to feature in your store can seem challenging, you can simplify the process and make sure you've made the right pick by researching your items and target audience, looking for trustworthy videos, and partnering with artists.
Asked 7 months ago
What Is Connective E-Commerce & How Can It Benefit Your Business?
Connective e-commerce refers to a lower-risk strategy for opening an online store without investing in web developers, inventory storage, and order fulfilment. Instead, this model uses technology to connect different parts of the e-commerce process for a seamless shopping experience that boosts customer engagement. This approach differs from the traditional e-commerce module because it handles sales but outsources order fulfillment, as opposed to the sellers who handle the entire process with traditional e-commerce. While this makes connective e-commerce similar to dropshipping, this process is more developed—rather than merely reselling products, connective e-commerce focuses on creating a more streamlined e-commerce experience. » Looking to boost your online store's sales? Try these e-commerce strategies to drive conversions The Benefits and Tips Businesses can benefit from connective e-commerce in various ways, including: Enhanced customer experience: Connective e-commerce can enhance the customer experience by integrating multiple sales channels and providing a seamless shopping experience. This, in turn, can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.Increased productivity: This approach can streamline business operations and improve efficiency by allowing businesses to manage all sales channels from a single platform, reducing the need for manual data entry and minimizing the risk of errors.Opportunity to compete more successfully: Connective e-commerce reduces some of the risks associated with traditional e-commerce, such as relying on a single platform or payment gateway.Comparatively lower startup cost: Compared to traditional brick-and-mortar retail businesses that require big starting investments, connective e-commerce offers lower startup costs. Additional Tips Aside from the benefits of connective e-commerce, there are a few pointers to help businesses overcome common challenges and prosper in this field: Prepare your suppliers ahead of time: Setting explicit expectations for shipment timeframes, order processing, and product availability will guarantee a seamless and efficient supply chain.Select the appropriate platform for your shop: Choosing a platform that resonates with your business goals and has all the capabilities and integrations your sales channels require is critical to the success of your e-commerce venture.Pay attention to advertising and personalization: Your business may attract new consumers and increase sales by using targeted advertising and personalized product suggestions. Successful connective e-commerce platforms:Some examples of organizations that have flourished in this field include Amazon, eBay, and Shopify. These businesses have all discovered innovative methods of using connective e-commerce to give their consumers a smooth, integrated buying experience. » Find out how shoppable video can transform your e-commerce storefront Reap the Benefits of Connective E-Commerce Connective e-commerce offers various advantages for organizations trying to grow their online sales and reach, including improved customer happiness, streamlined operations, and integrated sales channels for a smooth and coherent purchasing experience. However, for your connective e-commerce business to succeed, you'll need to invest in sturdy technology, effective advertising, and personalized consumer experiences. If you handle it correctly, connective e-commerce can be a highly profitable and worthwhile approach for your online store.
Asked 7 months ago
How Do Shoppable Videos Improve Customer Experience?
Are you looking for unique ways to improve your customer experience? Short answer—video! Keeping shoppers interested and swiping for more products can be challenging for any business owner online. It isn’t easy to keep them exclusively in your store when they have a sea of options at their fingertips. Therefore, you need to make their shopping experience both easy and engaging to reign supreme. The use of video in digital marketing is on the rise, and for a good reason. Videos are a powerful way to convey your message, increase engagement, and reach more people than ever before. So, let’s see the importance of shoppable videos in improving customer experience. » Find out more about how interactive videos can boost customer engagement 1. They Are Familiar and Entertaining Shoppable videos are entertaining, engaging, and familiar to customers. Video content can help you build an emotional connection with your customers, which helps form brand loyalty. Plus, videos are more likely to be shared and watched than any other type of content. Think about TikTok videos, Reels, and FB stories, all of which are digestible. Shoppable videos should be similar, so as to feel more familiar, too. 2. They Are Convenient and Informative Shoppable videos make it easy for customers to get the information they need. Instead of lengthy product descriptions, shoppers can simply watch a short video and get a better understanding of the product. Shoppable videos can also be used to showcase tutorials, demonstrate product features, or answer customers’ questions. 3. They Ease the Shopping Process Shoppable videos make the purchase process easier for shoppers. With just a few clicks, customers can add products to their shopping carts without even leaving the video. In other words, shoppable videos can increase sales, convenience, and engagement. » Learn how shoppable videos can boost your sales on Shopify Boost Your Customers' Experience Today Shoppable videos are a game changer for customers in the digital world. This new technology allows shoppers to quickly preview products and purchase them without ever leaving the video. It’s a simple yet effective way to keep your customers happy. » Need help setting up a good shoppable video for your store? Tolstoy can help you do that and much more
Asked 8 months ago
How to Make an Interactive Branching Video for Your Online Business
Branching videos are a type of interactive video that allow business owners to create personalized, interactive videos geared toward their customer's specific queries and needs. Basically, interactive branching videos allow visitors to personalize their journey on a website. » Learn how to easily make an interactive video for your store Creating an Interactive Branching Video in 4 Easy Steps 1. Prepare Your Script Having a premade script is essential as it helps you navigate the process of creating an interactive branching video. Each interaction follows a different journey, thus, it needs to be carefully considered and planned. 2. Record Videos and/or Segmentations Follow the script and record videos that will guide your customers to their destinations. Ask relevant questions that correspond to the response choices you plan on adding with Tolstoy's interactive video builder. 3. Customize Your Branching Video Use the Tolstoy video builder to add text, questions, as well as response options, and where the options will redirect the customer. Once all your 'branches' are complete, you can download your video, share it, or publish it on your website. 4. Add the Interactive Video to Your Website Add your completed branching video to your website via the ‘Launch to Site’ button, where you can select to add it as a widget or embed it by pasting the link into the appropriate place on your website. Connecting with your online customers on a personal level is essential to gain leads, convert them into paying customers, and engage them properly. And, the most effective way to do so is with branching videos. » Simplify the process of making interactive videos—try Tolstoy for free
Asked 9 months ago
How to Add Videos to Your Shopify Homepage (Without YouTube)
Videos are a real game changer in an online world where 96% of consumers find videos helpful when making purchase decisions online. It's important to grab attention and increase dwell times by embedding videos on your website. YouTube and Vimeo aren't always the best choice for hosting videos because of ads, lack of branding, and lackluster analytics. Below, we'll show you two ways to use Shopify or other hosting platforms to embed videos on your Shopify homepage. 1. Change Your Shopify Settings and Code Embedding a video on Shopify itself involves using some coding, but we'll show you just what you have to do so you won't be needing any previous technical knowledge. If you're hosting your video somewhere other than Shopify, skip to Step 5. Otherwise, follow these simple steps: Log in to your Shopify admin dashboard.Head to Settings and select the Files tab. If you can't find the Settings option, click on Sales channels and then find the App and sales channel settings option on the popup.Click the Upload files button, select the video to upload, and click Open. You're limited to video files of 1GB and 10 minutes maximum.Now that the video is uploaded, you should copy the video's URL in the box in the URL column on the Files page. Save it somewhere for later.Find your Online Store under Sales Channels and click on Themes.Find the theme you're using. Click on its Actions button and then the Edit code button.Under the Sections dropdown, click Add a new section and name it homepage-video.Once created, a text box with some default code appears. Remove all the code and paste the following in there (remember to replace the https://video.link.goes.here between the quotation marks on the third line with the copied video link you found in Files): <div class="section-homepage-video"> <video autoplay muted loop playsinline class="video-homepage"> <source src="https://video.link.goes.here" type="video/mp4"> </video> </div> {% schema %} { "name": "Homepage Video", "class": "index-section index-section--flush", "settings": [], "presets": [{ "name": "Homepage Videos", "category": "Text" }] } {% endschema %} {% stylesheet %} .section-homepage-video{ width:100%; } .video-homepage{ width: 100%; height: auto; } {% endstylesheet %} {% javascript %} {% endjavascript %} 9. Click Save. 10. Head back to themes (under Online Store under Sales Channels) and click on Customize. 11. Click Add section where you want to add the video, then select Homepage Video from the list (you may need to click on Show more first). 12. Save your changes at the top right. » Breaking into interactive marketing? Check out the best interactive marketing tools 2. Use Alternative Software If you're not up to doing all that yourself, you can always opt to use alternative software. While these plugins make it easier to embed videos, they usually cost money and have their own learning curve. Shogun's page builder has a handy guide for adding videos, and Shop Circle's Video Background plugin is purpose-built for embedding videos. Hosting the videos can take up a lot of bandwidth if your video files are too big for Shopify, you can host them elsewhere. We don't have space to list all the options here, but some good ones for video hosting are Wistia and vooPlayer, both of which have great marketing features beyond hosting itself. The Right Option For You These are just two ways you can still embed videos on Shopify if you're not keen to use YouTube or Vimeo. While the first is a little technical, it's free and foolproof once done, while using alternative software is easier and more feature-rich for those who want deeper insights and better hosting.
Asked 9 months ago
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