Think about the last time this happened to you: you’re scrolling mindlessly through your favorite social platform, and you come across an ad for something that you’ve either been wanting, recently talked about with a friend, or just find yourself wanting. Chances are, you’ve had this surreal experience within the last day or so. Social media marketing is undoubtedly effective because it’s feeding us stuff we actually want – based on algorithms ripe with statistical information that may be a little creepy, but do know us pretty darn well.

Video is one of the strongest ways to capitalize on this moment of captive attention because it brings those consumer wants or needs to life in a very real way. Beyond just static ads with products, social video marketing tends to drive e-commerce sales to even more impressive heights. When a shopper can see the product in use, or see it move, that makes it that much more tangible, and desirable. In fact, 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching a branded video.

Armed with that knowledge, and your own experience of being captivated by an in-feed video ad, here are a few ways that you can leverage the power of social media marketing to drive your e-commerce sales.

Diversify. Diversify. Diversify.

This one may feel obvious, but it’s worth repeating. Your shopper is getting inundated with in-feed ads. And, while they may already like your brand, and they may have also already engaged with one of your shoppable ads already. Showing them the same products in a slightly different way could be the thing that gets them to complete the purchase. The leading makeup retailer, Birchbox, has put video at the forefront of their social media marketing strategy – and now that they’re working with Wibbitz, they’re able to quickly spin up video content in different ways to keep their feeds interesting and fresh.

As Birchbox’s Head of Brand Content and Social Media, Julianne Clamens can certainly speak to the power of variety in social media ads:

“Mobile devices and social media are such an essential part of the young generation’s daily life, so our goal is always to turn our audience’s social time to purchase, and video shows us its power to break the silos between social and ecommerce.”

Make it Shoppable

Most social video marketing platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram, used to be considered “walled gardens” because of how challenging they made it for brands to drive users out of the platforms, and onto their sites to make a purchase. But that’s shifting in your favor. Now, you can make Facebook video ads link directly to the product being shown. And on Instagram, you can take that a step further and turn your video into a Shoppable Post – so your audiences can become customers without leaving the platform. Be sure to keep the Instagram video length short and sweet; no one wants to spend 5 minutes trying to figure out what your product does!

Keep it In-Feed

Posting your video ads to places like YouTube is great considering the amount of eyeballs there. But, when it comes to e-commerce, your video ads are going to get a lot more clicks and add to carts when placed in-feed. That way, you’re capturing the shopper where they already are, and they’re more likely in the state of mind to explore your product.

“As a personal user when I’m scrolling through Instagram, I actually find that I’m getting things I actually like. I’m seeing a bag I wanted, or a camera I was actually in the market for – like I know my phone is listening to me, this is weird, but I’m into it.”

– Jackie Gabel, founder of the lifestyle site No Leftovers.

Want to get even more Instagram insights like Jackie’s? Watch the recap videos from our last Storyteller Circle in NYC!