Raquel H
Demand-Generation & Conversion Optimization Strategist at WiderFunnel.com
Does Video Work on Your Landing Pages?
Does Video Work on Landing Pages?
Video online is a sexy topic (see www.widerfunnel.com/blog/ - where Chris Goward reports on the increasing online video attention span, which a separate Cisco-funded survey supports.)
BUT, while video on the web is good news for YouTube and the video-publishing media, but what about us, web marketers? Does video help with conversions?
In our experience at WiderFunnel, the jury is out... way out. So far, our testing of embedded video content on landing pages shows... that it should be thoroughly tested before implementing!
What have you found? Have you tested embedded video on your website or landing pages? If so, how did it work for you?
Clarification added 8 months ago:
Thank you for all the answers. From what I gather (from this post as well as others on other LinkedIn groups), many marketers are in fact using video and seem satisfied with the results.
However, I am doing research for a blog post (www.widerfunnel.com/blog) to determine:
1. Whether or not video is being tested in a statistically significant way, using a tool such as Google Website Optimizer or Omniture’s Test & Target, and
2. What the test results are showing.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Answers (30)
I have used on demand webinars and whiteboard videos as fulfillment items and they converted quite well. I haven't conducted enough tests to know if they perform significantly higher than items like whitepapers.
Gary W also suggests this expert on this topic:
Wallace J
Multimedia Producer, Mind Taffy Design; Graphics Design, VR and i3D programming for Acrobat 3D PDF
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We have found that DV is extremely data heavy and more costly to serve relative to it's actual impact. i3D, which is very similar, but interactive rather than linear (broadcast), is 1000X smaller in data used (it uses text rather than data-heavy pixels and frames), and it is just as well-received, as it leverages the technology that the most popular video games and virtual worlds (MMORPG) environments utilize today (the GPU hardware graphics rendering engine in every PC, Mac and Linux solution for the past decade).
Walls. MindTaffyLLC@Yahoo.com
Links:
Neil S
Territory Manager at Caterpillar Inc
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From a user's standpoint, I don't like video on landing pages - I spend a lot of time travelling and connecting in hotels etc, and the connection speeds are usually not fast enough to render video smoothly. The variety of different file formats can also be annoying. I would offer videos to download for those that wanted it, but make it optional.
Kim B
Executive Producer- creative illusions Productions & VOD South, 25+ yrs in media production twitter.com/KimBrame
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Video works wonderfully on all of our website. O landing pages and also on those that are menu driven. Streaming video and webinars are a different animal from formatting a basic intro to business video (90 sec MAX!!)
Neil-we have never had a client have a problem with viewing video on any of their sites while traveling..even in airports. The secret lies in how it is formatted and who is hosting the video..from a business prospective the QUALITY of the content (visuals, audio and message) are THE KEYS to successful online video as a marketing tool both B2B and B2C.
Walls you are at your deepest core an animator. A TALENTED one at that so you will always lean that direction...video combined with interactive animation always knocks the viewer out of the box..but VOD is still a Valuable and Viable tool. With the availability and quality of BROADBAND delivery..If video works as a marketing tool..it should always be offered on the LANDING page..BUT it must be viewer driven..video that plays automatically is always a WRONG decision..it must be chosen and clicked to start by the viewer and the viewer must be able to stop, pause and resume play at their desire.
Rachel I would welcome any questions that you would like to ask me directly or allow you to talk with my many of my clients.
Links:
Raquel,
Just put it on my page the other day (www.michaelkatz.com). I'm a consultant though, so the concept of "conversions" may not quite apply, since it's a long, slow burn from initial interest to client. That said, I think it adds a lot of personalization and helps put a human face on a medium that is often too stiff. (onsite videos is the vendor.)
Michael Katz
Blue Penguin Development
Links:
Ole C
President, Marcobe Investments, Inc.; Toplinked.com; Blog author of AccreditedInvestorTalk.blogspot.com
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Raquel,
I normally would have told you not to put video on a landing page. However, I like viewing the home page of www.cnnfn.com several times throughout the work day to catch up on the latest financial news and market prices. They recently added a news video on their opening page. This video is Adobe Flash so it does not take much bandwidth to load and play verses other forms of video. Also, they have 2 to 3 minute news videos playing back to back so you can catch one that was playing a few hours ago by letting it play through those videos.
I would say having changing videos on a topic related to your business would be the most effective tool for getting frequent and new visitors to your site. Having the videos play on a single related topic will draw visitors much more effectively than having random videos on unrelated topics. People should want to visit your site to learn something every day (or week, whatever your frequency is). Perhaps you could have demonstrations of your product or service by different clients. You could have educational videos on how to use your product or service. You could have general news video feeds onto your site that cover the same industry. Draw your viewer in. Give them something that helps them do their job better or shows uses of your product/service in a way that helps them work better.
Ole
--
Ole Cram
Author of The Accredited Investor Talk blog at http://accreditedinvestortalk.blogspot.com/
President of Marcobe Investments, Inc.
www.MarcobeInvestmentsInc.com
"Discerning Opportunities For The Accredited Investor"
View my LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/olecram
Andrew W M
Founder, Digital Tsunami "Communications Evolution"
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Video has dramatic impact, but this needs to be balanced in dimensions and duration on a welcome page, where it is not prompted by visitor choice.
Digital Tsunami has delivered powerful videos online for 12 years (and offline for many more). However, preference for high resolution and sensitive to bandwidth limitations, (such as Neil [above] experiences when travelling), an intelligent solution is required.
We inserted randomised short segments of multiple videos on the welcome page of a client's site. These stream immediately in a small size and the audio and video capture the visitor's attention. The visitor then can click to visit a video archive page and view the videos full length and in larger dimensions.
We have not conducted extensive testing on conversions, but visitor statistics reflect a high percentage of visitors to the video page.
Links:
I sincerely hope that it will work. That's why our website HAS a video on the frontlines. It is yet to be tested on how many people will respond to it, but just like commercial ads on TV, it works better than a line texts. Most people learn faster by a combination of audio visual presentation, not just visual text.
Good question,
Video certainly has its merits. With broadband now commonplace, video has become an integral part of the online experience, and certainly an ideal tool for delivering certain forms of content and messaging.
I think the question however should be not whether video is effective on a landing page (or online for that matter), but rather, what is video an effective vehicle for? This is going to depend largely on what the product, promotion, message, and demographic is.
Video needs to be a supplement to the overall experience. Don't make the visitor wait, and use Flash for delivery. Pushing the visitor to install an uncommon plug-in is always a road block.
Last point, video needs to be seamlessly displayed. There will always be a need for the framed display, however, talking heads and the all too common 'host on a white background' have quickly become an overused format. Be creative, and look to meshing video with the overall creative direction of the campaign. Also, statistics show, repurposing broadcast spots online is much less effective than producing video specifically for the medium.
Use video to pique interest, but make sure it delivers value for the visitor.
Links:
Hi Raquel,
My company. SureSpeak, is a video based training and coaching platform, so we've obviously tried video on landing pages. Here is what we've found:
Consumers: Consumers love video, so if you're targeting them, then go for it. Keep the videos short though, and use a player that shows how long the video is. Also, keep some text on the page, and don't set up the player to begin playing as soon as the page is clicked through. Generally, our pages with video converted more subscribers...but did not necessarily reflect on paying users.
Business: Not as into video on the landing pages. We have a b-to-b marketing strategy, and our business related landing pages don't have video. Businesses are much more open to video solutions, but want the facts first.
So, I think it comes down to what you're looking for. If you're going after consumers, and not necessarily selling something but more looking to increase time spent on your site, I would say video is a great addition. If you're looking to convert individuals or businesses to a paid service, maybe save the video for a few clicks in.
Jeff P
Owner, Executive Producer at Basetwo Media Inc.
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I'd like to echo the above note to not have the video start playing automatically. Leave that type of control with the viewer.
Chris C
Experienced Marketing, Sales and Business Dev. Pro in the CD/DVD Manufacturing, Print and Internet Services Industries
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Video can work but video that buffers is the kiss of death! You are better off not having video at all if you cannot implement it properly.
If you are using video on your website, consider streaming it over a CDN. If you are thinking about a CDN then consider contacting me!
Chris Coates - chris@psidiscs.com
PSI : : Digital Media Experts
Gerald H
Owner Hunsucker-Courtney Enterprises LLC
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There is nothing more powerful than video on a landing page. Just keep it real so people can relate to you.
Mitch F
Director of Marketing, AGORACOM - Online IR & Digital Marketing Services For Publicly Traded Companies
Video is one of the largest and fastest growing segments online in terms of user activity. Having an online video is a great way to communicate your message and engage them with your brand. However, keep the following tips when producing and promoting your online video:
Call to Action: Be sure your video has instructions on what you want to achieve (i.e. have the right creative in place to motivate a specific target audience).
File Types/Broadband Issues: It is crucial to keep the file types in mind while exporting the final cut of your online video. It's recommended to export the video as flash “.swf” file. If the video is exported in the wrong format, it will effect the video download time, video buffer time, video quality, and the ability for people to easily watch the video. The goal is to make a video that will play quickly and smoothly for varies levels of broadband and will require only one click of a button from the end user.
Length of Video: If a video is too long it might not convert as well as short 30 second video. A good way to determine whether your video is too long is to check the length of pageviews on your landing page. If you have a two minute video, but the average length of pageviews is only 30 seconds, it is probably a good idea to either cut the length of your video , or bring the call to action into first 30 seconds of the video.
Viral: Another great way to use video is to make it viral. If the video is plain and boring with nothing to hook the audience, it is quite likely that this video will not perform. A good way to test this is to get a few outside opinions on the video. Be sure the content are compelling enough to keep an 8 year old child entertained!!
Search Engine Optimization: Lastly, to make sure someone finds your video you can optimize the video itself by using ID3 tags which are now crawlable by search engines and act as a digital footprint stating what your video is about. You can optimize the video landing page with relevant Meta Tags and relevant keyword rich content. You can submit a Title, Description, and Keyword tag to most of the video sharing sites.
Cheers,
Mitch Fanning
agoracom.com
Links:
Jake A
President of Ovation Sales Group and BuzzBuilder Pro
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Typical video players have gotten us average results, but we are looking at a new video technology that is better at capturing leads (which is what you're REALLY trying to accomplish). The service is called Sapha and it looks interesting.
Links:
Let me be proud to say that in some experience of web 3.0 (because we are talking about video interactivity on the internet) I had, video was and are real X-factor for accesses growth. Streaming full screeen emotional videos, with a great post production transform good marketing ideas in gorgeus internet experience. Please visit http://www.abarth.it/gpaesseesse or www.8inpunto.it (choosing intro video for the upper letft side sliding menu). Enjoy the show.
Links:
Jacques J.J. S
web write marketing organise
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Not tested it myself yet, but being active in online marketing, I obviously have experience with landing pages.
I don't remember seeing video on them - I'm referring to pages that are geared towards opt-in (as technically, any page can be a landing page) - I figure video would distract too much, so they put in some text and the name & email box.
On mile-long ad pages, you see it a lot - together with testimonials (often in video format as well) - however, most of the times they do not auto-start - which I prefer - although being on ADSL, my line is not the fastest, so it takes minutes before it is loaded - often not worth the wait...
Make your video 'interesting': just telling me how good you are doesn't do it for me - if it tells me what you offer me and I don't have to read your lifestory, it is a good alternative - probably getting me into action faster. Make it look professional - good quality, good colors, good presentation - 'home-made' just doesn't cut it, these days.
The welcome video on our homepage (which we update frequently) generates considerable buzz and analytics suggest that visitors interested in our business stay to watch it. We also have banner videos on some of the subsequent pages in the site, and they go a long way toward communicating the culture of our organization. As many have said, it is the way the video is formatted and served that determines whether it is a literal drag -- or a true attention getter.
Links:
Marc-Alexandre V
► Producer at Artifex Animation Studios ► Designer ► MyLink500.com
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We recently did a product animation for the landing page of Prodrive Systems, a dental equipment distributor (see link). They've been quite happy with it, because it allows them to showcase their cutting edge products rapidly and sharply.
Links:
Mark H
Marketing Executive with Strong Corporate Communications Background
Best Answers in: Advertising (2), Internet Marketing (1), Public Relations (1), Search Marketing (1), Branding (1), Career Management (1)
I can offer some anecdotal evidence... one of my clients (site below - see just under the fold) used a news video that I produced to increase conversion rates on his website by 20%. Dr. Phillips would be happy to talk with you about the video's impact on sales of his products.
Links:
Edwin H
Internet Business Developer
Best Answers in: Search Marketing (2), Direct Marketing (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Plain and simply put... folks LOVE video. With that said... I am not sure it's the best thing to put on your landing page however. Keep in mind that your landing page has to sell your visitor 'quickly' and adding video to the page might dramatically slow down your page. You also have to keep in mind that not all users have the right plugins or codecs to view every video so if you're paying for views (e.g. PPC, banners etc.) then your dollars are much better spent on a page that has good selling copy.
I've experimented with this some and found that on the site itself as part of the content it did very well and I got conversion, but when I tried it on landing pages the results were not as good and I found myself spending more in PPC budget than with the text version.
Creating good copy is key. I personally prefer landing pages with mostly text. Good copy writing skills (in my opinion) comes first and foremost. People love video, but people coming to your landing pages are not always the same people that frequent your site for its content. We have several well-known copywriters so I am very lucky. They write copy that really sells without all of the gimmicks.
Links:
Hi Raquel,
I just did a quick sample across a dozen CLIVE Internet video campaigns looking at CTR's (total sample over 100,000 video plays).
On our CLIVEvideo homepage http://www.clivevideo.com.au we are getting 14.4% CTR Note: This is arguably a highly creative/ engaging targeted campaign/ audience.
Across all our CLIVE in-house clips we currently average 9.4%
Average across sampled client websites CTR is 5%. This rate is obviously higher on targeted B-B sites.
One consumer example http://www.cluboatley.com.au is currently running at 6%.
One current B-B site is currently running at 19.2% (cookie controlled) with strong call to action script.
In a nutshell - internet video is very effective BUT it needs to be contextual.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Scott
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Peter R
President Flash / Web Developer PR-Interactive
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it works well for us, every site we add it on it get's hit like crzy.
Links:
Peter W
Video production, advertising, marketing and media consulting at Cavalier Pictures
From a marketing perspective, a video that displays a product or service can be a very cost effective way to gain positive attention and help drive up sales numbers.
Best of all, it's an investment that can be tracked by keeping and eye on how many people view your particular video.
Links:
Clarification added 7 months ago:
A video that displays a downtown or local attraction can do wonders for for increasing tourism interest and foot traffic.
Yes, Have tested and found that for many products we sell, video can increase conversions 25-40%. We have seem strong growth in both conversions and traffic generation using video to better show and inform about products.
Mike W suggests this expert on this topic:
We have not tested videos on our landing pages...and we depend on our web guy, Vincent Hoss for questions like this. He just seems to have answers for all our questions. Best of all, he knows how to coordinate our site features with our optimization. He's gotten us from 4th page or worse to top listing on many searches, against heavy competition.
I hope this helps!
Steve H
User Experience / Creative Director / Digital Strategist
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1)
The most important metric to any marketer is engagement. Specifically, to what extent does a user engage with your brand and where are they in the business cycle. Video can be an excellent engagement tool if it is used in proper context. All video projects I am engaged with track video usage down to the second. Metrics of this nature are critical in order to optimize your video. The metrics are clear; users engage longer with brands that lverage video in a contextually appropriate manner.
Hi Raquel,
I recently scripted, shot, produced and deployed a video for the landing page of the careers section of the Online Sales Accelerator for Marketlinc with the intent of better articulating the career opportunity and converting more site visitors. Since implementing, the results have been as follows:
1. The quality of the applicant has gone up, as validated by the HR recruiting team.
2. The cost of each applicant (converts being measure on the page following the "apply now" button with Google Analytics Code against CPC) has gone down - we are measuring this with Google Adwords, since we're running a campaign for recruiting, driving people with paid search to that page:
http://www.online-sales-accelerator.com/careers.html
In short, we are satisfied with the results and plan to deploy more videos - people like them.
My advice in doing so would be as follows:
1. Script it out and be sure you know what action you want the visitor to take after watching the video.
2. Deliver it in Flash whenever you can - it's the most widely accepted, native browser format.
3. Keep it short (less than 40 seconds seems to the best length)
4. Don't mess around with bandwidth - I use an Amazon S3 account for all my video delivery. It's the cheapest, fastest, most reliable delivery option online today - and I'm sure very few people know about it.
If you're trying to articulate your brand - it can be very well done with video.
Raquel,
You might want to read this article, Online Video: Redefining How Businesses Connect With Their Customers. It discusses the change in user-expectations, provides a couple of case studies and talks about different types of online video, like original webisodes and educational videos. You can also find a presentation on online video for marketing professionals on my profile.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=94942
Links:
Hi Raquel,
Although our analysts have done some recent tests with online video, there's even more research in the new 2009 Video Marketing Benchmark Guide from our partner, MarketingSherpa. They've just published a round-up of six case studies on the topic covering a variety of usages (leads, branding, recruiting, viral, etc.).
On the anecdotal side, we blogged about some questions that marketers should consider when setting expectations for conversions from online video.
Links to all those sources are below. Hope you find the info useful. I enjoy your blog and look forward to reading your post.
Cheers -- Hunter Boyle
