• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, April 10, 2014

If a brand isn’t offering product videos on its website, it’s missing a potential marketing and engagement opportunity.

About 90% of consumers watch online videos, and online shoppers are nearly twice as likely to make a purchase than consumers who do not view video, according to new research from video marketing firm Invodo.

Video is also a key opportunity because of its engagement rate. About 65% of video viewers watch videos through to 80% completion. Most videos end on a product tag or logo, so not watching the final seconds isn’t a huge loss. Consumers are responding well to videos on ecommerce sites, where most videos overall generate a 4.3 rating on a 5-star scale, a promising figure that suggests consumers do value the content in them. On average 12% of visitors to an ecommerce web page view a video when one is available. Many of those visitors often spend more money.

As an example, L’Oreal’s Kerastase hair care line runs videos about the products and then links from the videos to a shopping page. The average value of an order for consumers who viewed the hair care videos was 18% higher than for those who did not, Invodo found.

Invodo recommends integrating videos widely across a brand’s site from search results, to category pages, to landing pages, so that the video can meet the consumers wherever they are. Video can also be syndicated to partner sites, mobile apps, in stores, on reseller sites and in email.

Emails with the word  “video” in the  subject line generate 18.5% higher open rates, Invodo adds.