9 YouTube Video Ideas for Ecommerce Businesses + Tips (2025)
Social media platforms have opened new doors for brands to reach audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing channels. In a study of more than 100 senior brand marketers, 70% said that organic social media content can cut marketing costs by about half.
YouTube remains one of the strongest platforms for such efforts, with nearly half of its users engaging with brands on a weekly basis and 32% daily. This level of engagement offers rich opportunities to capture attention and build relationships.
Here are nine YouTube video ideas to get you moving toward your marketing goals, plus seven tips for creating entertaining content to reach your target audience.
9 ideas for YouTube videos Product launch videos
Behind-the-scenes videos
Introduction videos
Videos compilations Reaction videos
Challenge videos
Review videos
Educational content
Videos about the box Here are nine creative video ideas to spark your brainstorming and inspire your YouTube channel:
1. Product launch videos
Product launch videos highlight new or upcoming products or features, the inspiration behind the product, or the problem it solves. Trixie Cosmetics—founded by drag icon Trixie Mattel—regularly posts entertaining videos for things like holiday collection launches and product spotlights. All of these videos reveal what’s new while also blending humor into the brand storytelling.
2. Behind-the-scenes videos
Your workspace, creative process, or production challenges give people a real look at what it takes to run your business. Lexi Larson shares the realities of building her clothing brand, Sunday Cherries, on her YouTube channel, from logistics nightmares to design iterations, and even her profit margins. This kind of information about what goes on behind the scenes demonstrates your sincerity and builds audience trust. 3. Introduction videos
If you’re new to YouTube or just launching your brand, create an introduction video that serves as your channel trailer. Give a brief explanation of who you are, what subscribers can anticipate, and what distinguishes your content from others. Keep it short—just enough to get the point across. Welcome new subscribers, like how Sundays for Dogs introduces who it is as a brand and how it was formed in one of its first YouTube videos.
Introduction videos can also take other forms, like team intros that turn the spotlight on the people behind your brand. Small businesses can feature short videos of each staff member to help viewers feel more connected and familiar with your team.
4. Compilation videos
This format can be a good option if you’re short on time and can reach back into your video footage archives. It could be a year in review compiling all the best moments of running your business from the past year. Collect, for example, positive customer reactions, funny moments, or behind-the-scenes highlights. Camera and accessories brand GoPro frequently edits together epic shots filmed with its cameras for compilation videos.
5. Videos of reactions Reaction videos from a business perspective can show your take on industry trends or customer feedback. Beverage brand Liquid Death took a bold approach in dealing with criticism by creating a reaction music video that turned negative reviews into a country song.
6. Challenge videos
Set a goal for yourself to fulfill a large order within a short period of time. Or, test if your product can withstand extreme conditions—like Mous dropping a phone in one of its protective cases from unbelievable heights—to prove your product works. These kinds of business challenges can create entertaining content that boosts engagement.
7. Review videos
If your customers love your products, put them front and center with either user-generated content (UGC) or by creating content that tells their stories. Peloton does an excellent job of showcasing actual members whose lives have been transformed by exercise. Stories like these help build trust and influence purchase decisions. To create your own review videos, include a mix of quick sound bites and in-depth reviews that answer questions new viewers might have. Film natural conversations instead of scripted statements for authenticity.
8. Educational content
How-to videos, video tutorials, or explainer videos can build authority and drive traffic. Teaching your audience something useful not only helps them solve problems but also positions your brand as an expert source. Outdoor gear retailer REI offers a great example of educational content. The brand frequently deliver more value to customers beyond simply selling equipment by creating educational content about the outdoors, like how to set up your camping equipment.
9. Unboxing videos
Unboxing videos are some of the most popular on YouTube and, conveniently, also some of the simplest to set up and film. From a business standpoint, you unbox the materials you need to make your product or fulfill orders, or even your unreleased product so customers can see a preview. For BarkBox, user-generated unboxing videos came naturally given their subscription boxes bring dog treats to eager customers.
Tips for creating YouTube content
Learn by watching popular videos
Use AI tools to streamline your process
Plan your hooks
Don’t overthink
Be strategic with your budget
Use YouTube Studio
Be sincere. The magic of social media is that it doesn’t need to be perfect, and YouTube is no exception. More is better, especially when starting a new account: the more content you share, the more data you get back. From there, you can experiment and dial in on what works. Here are a few tips to get started:
Learn by watching popular videos
Explore what other brands in your industry or category are doing—not to copy their content, but to draw inspiration from their content marketing strategies. By researching what your audience connects with before creating your first YouTube video, you can determine what gaps and opportunities might exist. Look for themes across viral videos or how-to videos relevant to your industry, and consider what unique perspective you can bring to the format.
Free competitor research template
Find a strategic angle to achieve sales success, uncover your product-market fit, and stand out from the competition with our free template.
Learn More
YouTube offers a wealth of resources for learning everything from creating your own videos to optimizing your own YouTube channel. You can use YouTube search just as you use a search engine like Google to find whatever you’re looking for, whether it’s tutorials on editing software like Premiere Pro, social media strategy tips, or beginner-friendly video ideas.
Use AI tools to streamline your process
Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude can help with brainstorming, content planning, and organizing ideas. These AI tools can help you build content calendars, create shotlists, and cluster your ideas into themes. You can use them to find topics that overlap, repurpose content, or come up with concepts for illustrative infographics. The key is getting specific with your AI prompts. A generic prompt for a fitness brand, such as “generate five ideas for workout videos,” might produce overly broad results. However, combining what you know about your audience with clear instructions can yield more targeted results. In this example, your prompt may look something like:
Act as a positive, relatable fitness influencer who focuses on [specific outcomes, e.g., functional strength or sustainable habits]. Using the audience research and product roadmap I’ve provided, generate five easy-to-produce video ideas that:
Align with audience objectives and issues Feel authentic and conversational
Show the product naturally without feeling like an ad
Provide education, motivation, or inspiration
Create must-share videos
Plan TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube video ads with this free video briefing template to get the most clicks. Download template
Plan your hooks
The first few seconds of your video are crucial for capturing attention. A good YouTube video idea starts with a strong hook that establishes what your video will cover and sets expectations for what’s to come. Some strategies for hooks include:
Opening with a surprising fact
Starting with a big problem you have to solve
Making a bold statement about your industry
Using a consistent, recognizable intro for a series
Don’t overthink
On the Shopify Masters podcast, YouTuber Amanda Rach Lee states, "A lot of times people think they have to be perfect—they have to have the perfect camera setup or make the best videos right away." “But the beauty is you learn along the way, and your videos improve.”
Amanda, who has more than two million subscribers on YouTube following her bullet journaling content, says that just getting to the uploading stage is one of the most important steps. “Done is better than perfect because nothing’s ever going to be perfect, and if you keep telling yourself and waiting for something to be completely perfectly packaged, then you’ll just hold yourself back and you’ll never do it,” she says.
Be strategic with your budget
When you’re just starting out, you don’t need to drop thousands of dollars on production equipment to make a video. At first, the priority should be creating quality content that resonates with your audience, not mastering advanced camera settings or high-end gear.
Many tools you already have, like your smartphone, are great for filming. While most shoot in 4k resolution, you often don’t even need that high a resolution. For example, when uploading YouTube videos, a 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second works well for talking-head videos or tutorials. Natural light is the simplest way to get great visuals, whether filming outdoors or by a window. For audio, something as simple as a lapel mic can improve your audio without a big investment.
From there, experiment with your initial setup to find out what works best for your content. You may find that a DSLR camera is worth the upgrade for capturing more detail, or that a microphone is the more valuable investment to make the most of your talking head videos. Your production budget can be optimized in this way to keep up with your progress. presentation
Free Reading List: Video Marketing Tips and Tricks
Video marketing is a powerful tool you can’t afford to ignore. Our curated, free list of high-impact articles serves as a primer. Use YouTube Studio
YouTube Studio is a free all-in-one hub you can use to manage your content. In the hub, you can edit and upload videos, respond to comments, and track video performance.
One of its most valuable features is analytics. You can see how well all of your content, including YouTube shorts and 30-minute videos, is doing. Insights like engagement rates, viewer drop-off points, and watch time help you understand what content resonates most. Understanding whether explainer videos or user-generated product reviews drive the most engagement, for example, makes decision-making for your next video easier and more strategic.
Be authentic
Sharing your honest opinion is one of the most important aspects of creating YouTube content because it helps build trust with your audience. It can also help you maintain an audience over the long haul because it’s easier to be consistent when you’re being authentic.
“When you’re yourself, you give other people the permission to be themselves as well,” says YouTuber-turned-entrepreneur Lyn Allure on the Shopify Masters podcast. Lyn turned her success into several businesses, all thanks to her authenticity. “You cultivate a community that is truly there for you and what you have to speak about,” she says. "If you put up a facade, it's hard to keep that up, and you make a community that wants to know about a version of you that doesn't really exist," YouTube video ideas FAQ
How do you come up with good YouTube video ideas?
Get creative, study successful channels in your niche, and check trending topics. You can also use AI tools like ChatGPT to rapidly generate ideas and pick what resonates.
Is YouTube free for businesses?
Yes, creating a YouTube channel to make organic social content for your business is free.
What kind of content on YouTube works best for businesses? When you come up with original video concepts that pique the interest of your target audience, you produce the content that performs the best. This could take trial and error to truly find what works for your audience, and it depends on what you want to achieve for your business.