Turning Website Videos into Sales Opportunities with Eitan Koter

Eitan Koter is co-founder and co-CEO of Vimmi, a leading video commerce SaaS company providing multi-channel shoppable video and live shopping solutions to brands and retailers, including automotive retailers. Eitan is a thought leader in video commerce, digital marketing, social commerce, and startup bootstrapping. He also hosts his own podcast called eCom Pulse.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• The evolution of video, from traditional TV to commerce and marketing.
• The different types of video content that can be made shoppable.
• What shoppers experience on an automotive dealer website that’s using Vimmi. 
• How a quick authentic video can get you further than one that’s been planned for weeks.
• Why employee generated content is picking up speed and influence, especially regular video features. 
• How community marketing is moving towards more individual marketing.

In this episode…

Video has always been popular, but with TikTok’s explosive growth and YouTube’s enduring dominance, car dealerships must not only produce more video content, but also make it more creative to stand out in a sea of noise.

Shoppable videos are popping up everywhere in retail, including the automotive world. While anyone might watch a video, only those who are ready to buy will actively engage with its interactive feature, like live chat or direct purchase options. This gives dealers valuable insights into their most interested customers.

In this episode of InsideAuto, Eitan Koter, co-CEO and co-founder of Vimmi, chats with host, Ilana Shabtay, about the diverse landscape of shoppable video content, how shoppable videos are revolutionizing online purchasing and automotive sales, and how individual marketing and AI is the future of digital marketing. 

Resources Mentioned: 

• Ilana Shabtay on LinkedIn 
• Fullpath
• Eitan Koter on LinkedIn
• Vimmi 
• eCom Pulse Podcast
• Carvana

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Fullpath.

Fullpath is the automotive industry’s leading customer data and experience platform (CDXP).

Fullpath enables dealers to turn their first-party data into lifelong customers by unifying siloed data sources and leveraging that data to create exceptional, hyper-personalized customer experiences.

To learn more, visit www.fullpath.com

Episode Transcript:

Ilana Shabtay 

Ilana Shabtay here, host of Inside Auto podcast, where we interview top dealers, GMs, marketers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders in and out of the automotive industry. And before we introduce today’s guest, this episode is sponsored by Fullpath.com Fullpath is the automotive industry’s leading customer data and experience platform, CDXP. Fullpath enables dealers to turn their first party data into lifelong customers by unifying siloed data sources and leveraging that data to create exceptional hyper -personalized customer

experiences. To learn more, visit Fullpath.com Today we have a very special guest. His name is Eitan Koter. Eitan, how are you?

Eitan Koter 

Doing well Ilana, this was a great intro. It’s a pleasure to be here

Ilana Shabtay 

Yeah.

Thank you, thank you so much. Live from Tel Aviv, which is exciting for me, this is like the first time I can record a podcast that’s not like before 10 pm. So, appreciate it and I love having fellow Tel Aviv podcast guests on the show. Eitan is co-founder and co-CEO of Vimmi excuse me, a leading video commerce SaaS company providing multi-channel shoppable video and live shopping solutions to brands and retailers, including automotive retailers.

So we’ll obviously touch on both here. Eitan is a thought leader in video commerce, digital marketing, social commerce, and startup bootstrapping. And he also has his own podcast and he hosts his podcast called eCom Pulse. So thanks again for joining us as a guest this time and I look forward to actually tuning into your podcast as well.

Eitan Koter 

Nice.

Ilana Shabtay 

So first let’s start with your background. How did you get into this? I’d love to understand a little bit more about what problem you’re solving when it comes to video marketing and e-commerce. So let’s just start high level. Give us an overview of what you’re doing these days.

Eitan Koter 

Okay, great. So I started in video more than two decades already. And video back then was primarily used in the media and entertainment sectors, like by traditional TV stations. And it was the beginning of pay TV companies, right? Satellite companies delivering video. Obviously there were cable companies and through other years, obviously the Internet was heavily used for streaming video. And now video is everywhere. And we have Netflix and we have Disney and we have video that has been obviously used over the internet of the public internet for media and entertainment use cases. But about four years ago, started from China with live shopping, video started to do this big leap into commerce and into businesses. And this is where we started to see the migration of media and commerce. That’s something that we thought about and talked about for many, many years. And we know that video marketing is such an important aspect of any marketeer these days.

Video is so helpful in both in marketing activities, but also in customer support and training and obviously in other categories and other industries. So at Vimmi we have developed a SaaS platform, we it a video commerce SaaS platform that helps businesses, online businesses to create shoppable experiences across their own website and across social media channels. The idea is to connect videos to product pages and online product pages and

create shoppable opportunities for shoppers to click to check out both on the company’s website, but also on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and YouTube and Pinterest. And our list of integration is very, very long. And the idea is to create videos in various stages of the funnel to create more engagement, to increase conversions, and even to create actual checkout experiences from this video.

Ilana Shabtay 

I haven’t experienced yet, but it sounds super easy and fun even as a consumer to just interact with the video and be able to check out. Obviously businesses will use this platform. Do you feel like you have a lot of influencers on social media that are also using this platform?

Eitan Koter 

Yeah.

Yes, that’s a very good question. The challenge is not the technology. The challenge is to create those videos, right? So mostly when we work with businesses, they are creating content by engaging with influencers, content creators, UGC. There is a big trend around EGC, which is employee generated content. And we know it’s very, very powerful way for companies to go out and just do a quick short form videos posted in a very good consistent way and even on daily basis. This creates a lot of differentiation and opportunity for sale. Other aspect of the business is of course, working with influencers and influencers like in the US, leading influencer these days are going to be like the biggest brands out there. So there is a trend for influencers to create a lot of content, to start merchandising products and build their own e-commerce businesses and use video to launch businesses, primarily on TikTok and other platforms with the idea to become like a brand that they can, you know, they can create products and operate as a brand out there.

Ilana Shabtay 

Yeah, I see that a lot. Can you walk me through what the experience would be like? Let’s say I’m on a website specifically just because I can’t, I can picture it on social media, but I can’t necessarily picture as a consumer what the interaction would be like on a website. I’m on a website. Let’s say it’s like a shoe store, a shoe website. And what’s the interaction between like clickable versus and scrollable versus video? Do you understand my question? Like what would be the experience for me as a consumer?

Eitan Koter 

Mm -hmm.

Yes.

Yes, yes, yes, sure, sure, sure. Let’s take the car dealer use case as well to make it more focused, right? So like we have all these web pages, right, where the car dealer is posting, you know, all the cars and vehicles out there. And it’s usually a regular product page with maybe so few pictures and maybe there’s a video here and there, right? And just description and a checkout and probably opportunity to purchase. So first think about this main

Ilana Shabtay 

Yes please! Okay, let’s shift to automotive. Let’s go!

Eitan Koter 

car dealer website. That whole website can be enriched with interactive videos. Those videos are pre -produced. Okay, they are created, they’re uploaded to the platform. The video player is interactive video player. There’s an area in the video player where shoppers can ask questions, right? And someone can reply in the video player itself, like a chat. Yes. On the other side, yeah.

Ilana Shabtay 

Chat? Like chatting? Okay. Is that like ChatGPT or is it, it’s actual people? cool. So a managed chat.

Eitan Koter 

No, no, people are asking questions and the dealers, can put a response team or someone from the sales just to answer online questions. By the way, if it’s a live event, that live event, I said, okay, new cars just came in. Love to show it. If you buy now, you get another amazing price or some incentives around doing, going live. That life goes to the, to the car dealer website, but also to all these social channels, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, right? All the social channels. And there is a chat system that just chat system, we pull all the questions to the back end or to the console of our platform. And there is a sales team who can reply to those questions and can execute those checkout events. So this is one aspect of this interactive ongoing communication. The other aspect is on the video player itself. And doesn’t matter if you watch it on a vertical video on TikTok or on the company website. There is a buy now button on the video, which is interactive. Okay. So you can click buy now.

Ilana Shabtay 

That’s cool, yeah.

Eitan Koter 

And you redirected to in-video checkout, right? And while the video continue to stream, right? And the seller gives you more information and more incentives to purchase. This enriched environment creates a much higher emotional connection and loyalty between sellers to buyer, potential buyers and the conversion rate, we see conversion rates like sometimes going up to 30, 40% of people who are joining this event are actually making a purchase because this event needs to be

Ilana Shabtay 

Mm -hmm.

Eitan Koter 

prepared in advance, marketed in advance, and also marketing during the event itself. So it’s a very, very powerful tool. On a non-live scenario, let’s say that live event has finished, we can record the event, chop it to small short form videos, or influencers or all the sellers themselves, which is the most powerful way, the car dealer sellers, they create short form videos or long form videos, upload it to the platform. Those videos will be available automatically within all the different product car pages where you can buy that specific car. They will be enriched with video. Those videos again have the ability to ask questions and check out from within the video and those videos will be posted also on social commerce. So the whole look and feel is like a future proof kind of an e-commerce platform, which is more enriched, interactive, increasing dramatically the conversion rates, reducing shop abandonment. And it’s probably the really differentiated and amazing way to sell cars and to sell this type of products.

Ilana Shabtay 

Yeah, I really like what you said about increasing the emotional connection. In the car industry in general, we talk a lot about how it’s an emotional car buying process. There’s a lot of emotion involved in getting like what the second biggest purchase, right, of anyone’s life beyond like a house. Having that kind of bringing that to life on the website or digital, I think is really important and what car dealerships are really looking for because they can create that emotional experience in the showroom in the actual car dealership but they can’t necessarily create that experience online to the extent that you’re explaining it now. I do see a lot of car dealerships would probably use this to book appointments because although digital retail is a hot topic in automotive and there’s Carvana and there’s Vroom and there’s all sorts of checkout processes now for people to buy cars online, people are still wanting to come into the dealership, old school, meet the salesperson, test drive the car, but the conversion rate to appointments when you’re interacting with the car dealer at that level with video would probably skyrocket.

Eitan Koter 

It’s very powerful. And you know that anyone who comes to join the meeting, if you schedule this through, through the live event or through the video, that’s a high intent buyer, right? It is there is already totally engaged and it came over. look, I mean, I’m also, I’m interviewing in my podcast, a lot of online businesses. And we talk about five figure transactions that are happening online. Okay. Things are changing. There is a category, obviously that people who wants to come to the, to meet the seller face to face, they want to touch and feel. But there’s a category out there that they don’t mind getting all the good information and they can provide a lot of valuable information through video and they can execute the transaction online. This is definitely possible.

Ilana Shabtay 

Yeah, Yes, it is possible and I think Gen Z for sure will be more in that direction than any other. Yes, yes, definitely. Can you, since we brought it to automotive, can you talk about just your experience of working with automotive marketers, what are some of the best practices when it comes to implementing something like Vimmi?

Eitan Koter 

Exactly. Exactly. And Gen Z, this is the way they purchase, right? Through online, through video, through search.

Yes. So you need to have a, like a content planning, right? You need to be committed because today consistency is probably winning any innovation or any creativity of marketing. Just be consistent, just be there. Right? So today, short form videos is very powerful. You need to do it in the obviously between 30 to 60 seconds, upload it to all the vertical video social channels like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. And the idea is to use the right hook, right?

And it depends where are you in the market of marketing funnel. So just, it’s not only just pushing products, right? You need to create videos. Like if you are in the awareness stage of probably a new, a new listing and you need to just explain that. But if you’re launching a new business, you want to create a lot of content around the industry, about trends in the industry, just building this confidence that you’re providing real value, right? And when potential shoppers are in consideration stage and provide them all these how tos and versus don’t be afraid to mention also like other probably cars that are competing on that specific category because the buyers are very smart. They’re doing like 80% plus of the buying journey by themselves without talking to anyone, right? So don’t be afraid to just show up, provide alternative options. That will create a lot of credibility and value that you provide to your shoppers. And when they are ready to decision mode, just bring them to the car dealers, invite them, provide the details of the products like functionalities, features, functionalities or pricing, make it very, very like, you know, towards closing towards conversion. So we always recommend and to create these if possible, just spend maybe one day, which is half a day in creating few of those. Don’t spend too much time on thinking, be authentic, authenticity wins everything.

If you are a seller and do it very, very well, there’s no problem for you to do it over, over your, just capture yourself on an iPhone, create those videos, small editing, upload them, and just be consistent at least two, three months. The results are going to be overwhelming for you as a personal seller, as a thought leader and as someone who’s truly differentiating and for the card jubilationship as a company itself.

So this is on the long, long and on the short form videos that you need to be very, very consistent. And it’s okay to create this longer form from time to time. Probably it goes to YouTube or the company website. And EGC is very powerful, like employee generated content. I’m like the owner, the sellers, encourage them, even give them incentive to create videos, put those videos online on their own social channels, on the company’s social channels and on the website, both on short form, which is more consistent on a daily basis and the longer form that you can do probably once a week and once in two weeks. And then you have the live component, right? So maybe do like a daily show or weekly show that people are really excited about creating this FOMO effect. Do the right marketing in your newsletters and social media about that event that showcase what you’re going to describe, to share, prices, some incentives and people will share it with their network and you know that whoever is joining that live event, these are high intent potential buyers, right? So it’s up to you not to, to try to craft that live event in a very interesting way. It’s not easy to captivate audience for 20 minutes or 30 minutes, just totally different from a 20, 30 seconds short form video. But you’ll find those who are very, very good at it and doing those live events by the employees and the top sellers, even the business owner is just so much better than hiring an influencer or some someone outside of the company as in creator. Gen Z’s, you mentioned Gen Z’s, they can figure out within a few seconds if it’s authentic, if this guy is for real and if he knows to answer all my questions. So employee generated content, both live and online is amazing. Totally fits, you know, the car dealerships model because it’s primarily sales oriented. 

So just taking these sales from keeping it offline, but adding online aspect to it, doing this omni-channel type of ideas, like probably sometimes is an opportunity for checkout and sale, but sometimes opportunity just to reschedule a meeting. So that by now can be scheduled now, right? And it can redirect to a scheduling page, bring them over, helping them close more deals, but you’re not starting the sales process from zero, right? It’s already an established customer with intent that comes over and is really advanced in his mindset to take a decision because he saw those videos previously.

Ilana Shabtay

Yeah, and you said two things here that are really important that I want to reiterate. First thing is that you basically built the content plan for any business. So thank you. Meaning it’s really important you have the short term, have the short form, long form, live events. Once you have that good mix, and I’ll also add something to that, which is that once you have the long form, you can recycle. Cut it up, use it in different forms, recycle that content. So it does take a little bit of creativity and time to get that

started, but once you have that baseline calendar that you basically put together for us in past two minutes, it is easy to just kind of like reuse your content and stay on schedule. And the second thing that you said here that I think really sums up this conversation, so I just want to reiterate it and emphasize it, is that when you have video and you have that emotional connection to a product or to a company and you lose the opportunity for conversion because there’s no place to convert, that’s, think, like you really hit on something special for like the next iteration of like.

Commerce right? It’s like let them do both at the same time have this emotional connection and they can convert while they’re still interacting with the video. So that’s innovative and I think like really hits home today’s consumers and how we shop. So, super important and thanks for highlighting that.

Eitan Koter

Yeah. Love it. Love it. I hope I can I grab those this last minute for for our marketing collateral as well. Okay. Great. Yeah. Nice.

Ilana Shabtay 

Yeah, sure, feel free. Copyright, Ilana Shabtay they know, just gonna use it for whatever you want. But it’s true, I mean, it really, it’s a very powerful way of thinking. So before we sign off here, and thank you, Eitan, so much for sharing with us today, just throw out there what you think will be like any predictions that you have for digital marketing or video marketing specifically in 2025. Anything we should be prepared for.

Eitan Koter

Yes. I think we are moving obviously from community building, which is something that is obviously been discussed in the last few years to one on one relationships really. Right. But using all this technology and interactive tools, AI, trying to figure out on a personal level, attribution, customer journeys, and that testing the next level of marketing. And I think video is fundamental because video is so enriched in terms of data. And you know, as a company also working a lot on data and insights and video just provides so much knowledge about what’s happening with consumers than regular text or picture. So that’s it’s going.

Ilana Shabtay 

Yeah, and like being able to really process that information and understand the customer journey, 100%. Yes. Awesome. Well, Eitan thank you so much for joining. And for those who enjoyed this episode, please tune in. Inside Auto Podcast, we’re on all your favorite streaming channels. So again, thank you so much and hope to have you again in like a year where we can talk about if your predictions were accurate.

Eitan Koter 

Yes, a lot scale. Yeah.

Thank you.

Yes, sure, sure. And again, anyone who from listeners are interested in the Vimmi platform, just go to Vimmi.net That’s V-I-M-M-I .net And there is a free package. You can start rolling and we’re here to help at any stage.

Ilana Shabtay 

Yes.

Awesome, okay, thank you so much. That’s where they can find you. Thank you.

Eitan Koter 

Thank you.

Clips

03:56-04:42

The challenge is not the technology. The challenge is to create those videos, right? So mostly when we work with businesses, they are creating content by engaging with influencers, content creators, UGC. There is a big trend around EGC, which is employee generated content. And we know it’s very, very powerful way for companies to go out and just do a quick short form videos posted in a very good consistent way and even on daily basis. This creates a lot of differentiation and opportunity for sale.

17:59-18:26

I think we are moving obviously from community building, which is something that is obviously been discussed in the last few years to one on one relationships really.  But using all this technology and interactive tools, AI, trying to figure out on a personal level, attribution, customer journeys, and that testing the next level of marketing. And I think video is fundamental because video is so enriched in terms of data.