April 2, 2010

BIG Mistake in Using Video to Sell



video to sellHave you noticed the new trend lately in guru pitches of running a video only to sell?

No text…no bullets…and often no headline…just a video.

Sure sounds enticing not to have to write anything to go along with it. And if it works for them, it must be the best course…right?

I’ve done some testing lately on this issue. And what my tests have shown time after time is that video almost always increases my conversion rates, BUT I have yet to have any tests where video ONLY produced the best results.

All the tests which have done well included a video PLUS written information along with it.

The bare minimum being a headline, key bullet points, and a product description along with the video to produce a good conversion rate. In many cases the full sales letter approach plus the additional video at the top has worked best.

So why are many people using a video ONLY on their sales page? I’m not sure. It may be that they haven’t tested it (video versus video + sales text) or that they have done so much other lead up to the sale that the text isn’t as needed in the final ordering process.

If I send you 15 emails, 8 audio files, and 6 videos that ALL talk about my new product, and then I launch my new product…you don’t need a sales presentation at all at that point. All you need there is an order form because the full presentation has already been given.

What I’ve been doing my tests based off of are more normal sales situations (visitors who have just opted into your list for example).

So what’s the big mistake in using video to sell?

It’s using video only without other materials.

Here’s another test you can apply on yourself. Let’s say you land on a page with a 20 to 40 minute sales video.

When was the last time you actually watched the entire video WITHOUT doing something else?

You know what I do when it’s a video only presentation? I open another browser tab and start visiting other sites. Sure the video keeps playing and I can hear the audio, but I simply don’t have the attention span to sit there and WATCH the whole video.

But what happens when they include sales text ALONG WITH the video? Now I get to read through their site, looking at bullets, checking out photos, etc. I may not be paying any more attention directly to the video, but I am still soaking in their message as I go through their site.

What about you? How do you respond to the long sales videos? Do you watch them all without doing something else at the same time?

As an information producer, I know people have different modalities of learning. Some prefer written info. Others love consuming audios. And still others prefer video. Then there is a group which likes the live interaction.

The best conversion models often include some elements from ALL those approaches.

You could have a video plus your written sales presentation on the sales page. You could also include mp3 audio interviews in your email follow-up series in addition to PDF reports and other videos. Then you could use a live support feature, webinar, or live event to also make immediate sales.

The correct answer to the highest conversion is ALL of the above.

But that isn’t always practical for what you’re offering. So a text only sales page may be used. Or a video only sales page could be used.

But all of those approaches used alone are limited compared to multimedia formats.

This isn’t direct mail, so we’re not limited to just written text. And it’s also not TV where we’re stuck with just video. It’s the internet and it’s designed for multimedia. Plus you can implement a two way conversation through live type of events (or even comments and social media).

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  • http://sitefling.com/blog Justin Brooke

    Hey Dude,

    I’m one of those guys using only video on my pages and in my split tests it out converts anything else. Seems to depend on the offer though or actually more like on the copy inside the video or text.

    My offer at sitefling.com/bully converts at 6.43% and is getting me $3.23 per visitor and is a video with bullets kinda page. However, my offer at websiteflippingmasters.com/coaching.php is a video only page and gets almost 9.76% conversion for me and $5.32 per visitor.

    But at the same time I have text only salespages that have converted as high as 37% when I really nailed their hot button, had multiple JV’s mailing, and built up the buzz for a few weeks prior.

    I don’t think we should tell anyone to use any one certain method, but to build them all instead. Use them all and test them against each other. Doesn’t have to be all at once but over time just keep trying to beat your page.

    Killer blog post man! P.S. Have you seen “Info Graphics”?

  • http://www.BusinessActionSteps.com Tom Brownsword

    Terry,

    As a busy professional, I’d like to point out to those who slap up a sales video and expect me to invest 10-20-40 minutes to watch it are only fooling themselves. I (and probably at least 2-3 other people!) won’t devote that much time out of their schedule to watch the thing.

    Get me interested with traditional sales copy. You really do have about 7 seconds to get my attention, and as any decent copywriter knows, your headline and sub-heads better tell a pretty convincing story on their own (to start me down the “slippery slope”). Get my interest up with that and I’ll watch your video.

    And this might stir up a bit of “trouble”, but perhaps if video alone is out-selling anything else, then perhaps you are attracting people who have the time to watch your video because they are watching videos instead of creating a sustainable business? Only time will tell, but I have to wonder about the lifetime value of those customers (no slight intended to any other commenter; I’m just thinking out loud and in print…). Will they still be buying from you a few years from now, or will they have given up on building a business and simply gotten a second job delivering pizzas? :)

    Best regards,
    Tom

  • http://www.IdeaAgeConsulting.com Gogo Erekosima | Business Growth Consulting

    Terry,

    The most important service you did by writing this post is to point out that people really ought to be careful what goes in their “swipe file”. It’s definitely a different thing for a newbie without a lot of prior sales support (including affiliate promotions) and another when it’s an established person using a video sales letter at the end of a campaign that includes all the other elements (email, etc).

    I think it’s funny that you don’t really hear many people dealing with this issue in detail like you have here.

  • http://www.dcpracticetools.com Dr. Michael Beck | Chiropractic Marketing

    Everyone assumes video works best because everyone else is doing it. For those who test, and test with “good copy”, you will be rewarded.

    I think Tom said it best above, “As a busy professional, I’d like to point out to those who slap up a sales video and expect me to invest 10-20-40 minutes to watch it are only fooling themselves.”

  • http://www.terrancecharles.com/blog Terrance Charles

    It’s good that you brought that up. I have been seeing that type of promotion too, and I was thinking to myself, that can’t be converting. Just a video and a order button? Whenever I go to these sites, I simply close it, but as you mentioned if it has text and bullets etc, it keeps my attention span more because it’s explaining more in what it do and the methods behind the product, not just people taking for the sake of a video. Nice post ;)

  • http://josephratliff.com Joseph Ratliff

    Terry, you bring up a good point in not just assuming because “everyone else is doing it” that it “must work better.”

    It always comes back to testing. Offer, audience, message, and media used in a FULL marketing process must all be tested EVERY time with EVERY product being sold. Easier said than done, or more marketers would be doing it that way. Successful marketers DO test all the time though.

  • http://www.adwordsguidereview.org AllyW

    My personal preference is always something I can read, no videos. Or at least if there’s a video, I need to be able to turn it off. No sales copy, I’m gone. A video I can’t turn off, I’m gone. This doesn’t mean I won’t watch your video, I might, but only if the copy is good and gets me interested. One other note here, there’s a well known British marketer who does everything by video, and because of his video-only sales pitches, I’ll never buy any of his stuff — he has a very heavy accent and also talks really fast and I can only understand about every third word he says. No way am I going to buy anything from him.

  • http://www.myhomebiznet.com stargaterich

    I am in the midst of considering investing in some sorts of video marketing tools/software to compliment other list building methods that I used. My personal thought is that video marketing is great if you are promoting software whereby you can demonstrate the application and being able to communicate more effetively. It is easier for a customer to visualize the software through video demonstration.

  • http://www.InnovationExplained.com Steve Sponseller

    If a web page has video but no text describing the product or service, I don’t generally stay on the site very long. I at least want the basic information without having to waste 5-10 minutes (or longer) watching a video for a product or service I’m not interested in. At least provide a brief text summary so the viewer knows the details.

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  • http://www.kennycannon.com Kenny Cannon

    Terry…once again you are DEAD on. People need to understand that on the internet we loose the ‘personal’ touch of selling. When you are selling in person you can adapt to the client. You can feel them out and match their personality. If they are loud and crazy, you be loud and crazy with them. If they are soft and shy, be soft and shy right back.

    Online we loose that. Fact is that some people like reading…some like listen…some like watching and some don’t care. By providing a video with audio, and some text like you suggest you are hitting all the mediums and that is key!

    Great post and I look forward to more quality content as usual.

    -Kenny Cannon

  • http://www.buildingalistfast.com ellis wainwright

    Hi Terry. I’ve been doing a bit of experimenting with video to put on my own site, and your comments about using sales copy along with the video certainly make a lot of sense, good info and advice and taken on board. thanks buddy

  • http://www.100k-small-business-coach.com Alan – $100K Small Business Coach

    Terry

    What do you think of a “video” that also has a powerpoint with the written message within it?

    I can still see a need for some supporting text around the video to capture the eyeballs when it isn’t running, but will the text on the screen along with the video do what you want?

  • http://rockyonlinemarketing.com/ Rockhampton Online Marketing

    I use video to sell a business and information products. If you’re a beginner, often you make mistakes at every step. But as you go on, you learnt a few tricks from reading. Great videos will significantly increase sales on your site, sales pages, squeeze pages – call them what you will but Lousy videos will drive potential customers away. BTW, great blog!

  • http://www.coinoperatedlaundrybusiness.com/ Laundromat Business

    Hey Terry, when I noticed the trend towards video only, it seemed interesting to me. I realize now it works best for marketers who get their traffic from JVs. I single page opt-in with just a few bullet points and a video won’t work for SEO, but would work really well for trusted traffic sent to it.

    I think the first landing page I saw with this technique was last year for an AdWords product from a well known super affiliate.

    Have you tested this technique yourself?

    • Terry Dean

      In my tests video only has not produced well at all. What has done well is a combination of a sales page plus a video (and in some cases this means you can cut down the overall text on the page). So it’s the combo approach I’m pushing more toward (and this has been true for the majority of the clients I work with as well). It’s not either-or. It’s a combo of both.

  • http://www.salesletters.com Marlon – Sales Letter Software

    Hey Terry,

    How are you?

    Just wanted to let you know that I love the articles on y our web site.

    I agree on using multi-media. In general, text and video outpull
    text alone or video alone. But the video has to be really good or it
    can decrease sales.

    Marlon

    • Terry Dean

      Thank you so much Marlon!

      I’m a subscriber to your newsletter as well and the content is excellent.

      Are we feeling old yet from being online since the beginning? :)