What Are Unboxing Videos and How Can You Benefit From Them?

If you’ve never heard of unboxing videos, you probably don’t have a teenage girl, toy collector or tech-head in your life. Just like the name implies, unboxing videos are videos of people opening boxes or packages of items they’ve just purchased and showing off the products. They often feature close-ups of the items, the owner using or wearing them, and excited commentary from the proud owner

Unboxing videos have been around for several years, but now they are taking off in a huge way. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, a YouTube search for “unboxing” uncovers over 20 million results. Google stats show that:

• One-fifth of consumers have watched an unboxing video at some point
• Overall views of unboxing videos increased by 57 percent in 2013
• The number of unboxing videos posted on YouTube grew by 50 percent in 2013
• 62 percent of people who watch unboxing videos are researching a product they’re considering buying

Unboxing videos are particularly hot in certain industries, including consumer electronics and technology, fashion, beauty products and toys. (According to recent statistics, three of the five most popular YouTube channels are toy unboxers: DisneyCollectorBR, blucollection and DisneyCarToys.)

Online video is a powerful marketing tool, and many businesses are now buying pre-roll video ads before unboxing videos on YouTube. If this cost is prohibitive for your small business, there are other ways you can benefit from unboxing videos. Here are a few:

• Encourage customers to upload their own unboxing videos on social media or to your website. Have the videos using a hashtag you select that’s related to your business.
• Video yourself or employees unboxing products that you sell and showing them off. Include plenty of close-ups and description.
• Find unboxing videos that have been uploaded for products you sell. Share them on social media, in your marketing emails or on your website. You can even create a “playlist” of links to several unboxing videos of interest to your customers. (Note: Of course, you need to make sure they don’t mention competitors.)
• Tap into existing influencers who are creating unboxing videos and have large followings. Send products for review to popular unboxing video stars in your industry.