Everyone must have noticed: there has been something of a video revolution online over the past few years. Video is the darling of digital marketers. This isn’t a fashion statement! The reason everyone is doing video is because it works.
Studies (many!) have shown that using video on your landing pages can increase conversions by around 80% – and you can’t expect much more than that as a decent return on investment.
It’s not difficult to understand why video is such successful content – after all everyone loves the movies! It’s a fact that users are lazy, and will always prefer to watch a video rather than read a lump of text – no matter how well or attractively it is written and presented.
Also, watching a video keeps people engaged on your page for longer, allowing more time for your message to hit home.
Throw in yourself (or staff member) as star of the video, explaining your product or service with a friendly smile and genuine tone of voice that just oozes trustworthiness and reliability, and you’ve got a winner.
Yes, videos do raise conversion rates, but you can optimise their effectiveness by making sure your footage looks and sounds professional, has a good script and a clear call to action, and is SEO friendly (this you can achieve by adding it to YouTube).
Bear in mind that Google loves video – you’re 53 times more likely to show up first on Google if you have video embedded on your website.
Of course, if you’re going to the trouble of producing a marketing video for your website, you may as well make the most of it and put it on social media too. On Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for example it can be enjoyed – and hopefully shared – by hundreds or thousands of viewers, tempting them in to convert to customers.
On social platforms you are more likely to capture the mobile market – those who like to watch videos on the go on their smartphones and tablets. According to Google smartphone users are 1.4 times more likely than desktop viewers to feel connected to brands showing video content on their devices.
Tips for making a winning video
So how do you create a winning, engaging, inspiring and actionable online video? Here are some tips we’ve put together after delving in to a variety of expert advice:
- Keep it short and sweet. You don’t have to make a feature-length movie. Your video needs to grab the attention within the first 10 seconds, get right to the point, and not ramble on too long before ending with a clear call to action. A minute should be enough.
- The content, of course, is up to you, but best practice would be to tell a story and be emotive, rather than giving out pure sales talk. The story needs to be relevant and appropriate for what you are offering.
- Make your video entertaining and not boringly formal. Don’t be afraid to use humour or animation.
- Choose a speaker who is clear and professional – there’s nothing worse than someone um-ing and ah-ing or mumbling in front of the camera.
- Show viewers something different – behind the scenes. Or go for educational, tutorial or informative content.
- Add captions or sub-titles. Many viewers don’t have sound available.
- Add music that fits the mood to make your video more exciting and appealing.
- Opinions differ on whether you should have autoplay on your videos or implement a play button. You should remember that, beyond some people finding it annoying, autoplay can slow down the loading of your page. Having a video on an autoplay loop can also distract the site visitor from other links and information on the page. Some marketers regard autoplay as an aggressive move, forcing the user to watch, while a play button, providing the option, can be regarded as a call to action causing the user to respond. It may be wise to experiment with both options and see which works best.
- If you don’t trust your own ability to record a decent quality video and use video editing software to perfect it, then it’s worth hiring a professional production company.
Useful link: The Best Video Editing Software of 2017
What are you waiting for? Get those lights and cameras into action and get your video on your website and social media.
