What video lengths and structures work well?

In the early web days, companies would fund websites that were simply well produced creatively and now they demand that the website looks good and it generates leads.  In order to achieve the second part, a huge optimization process was employed around site navigation and the introduction of calls to action that were seen by some as squeezing the creative process.  The ultimate result was that we all learned what the right balance was and where creativity could really have an impact.

Percentage of Audience that Drops Off with Video Length

Similarly, video is just starting this process.  Here are some initial techniques that we evolved while working with customers on over 200 videos in the last 12 months:

• Keep video segments short and snackable.  As you can see in the chart above, the audience starts to drop off significantly between 1 and 2 minutes.  I would focus on 60 seconds as a good target and if you go a bit long than that’s fine.  If you are doing a longer format (like a webinar), then offer the user a short teaser and then allow them to Opt-In to a longer video.
• Use the sandwich technique for opening and closing scenes around a core video which is the “sandwich meat”.  For example, a 10 second on-camera welcome followed by a 1 minute screen demo that closes with a 10 second on-camera summary with a suggested next step works very well.  If your video is longer, then you can alternate being on-camera and showing a demo to keep it interesting.
• Focus on making the video conversational and avoid heavy marketing language.  Another way to think about this writing for the ear rather than writing for the eye.  To test a script, try reading it out loud and timing it before you even get near the camera.  Anything that feels weird or is hard to say should be simplified until it feels like something you might say to someone across the table.
• Be very careful with transitions (fades to black, music interludes) and summarization language.  These are very dangerous points for user drop-off as they signal “it may be time to change the channel.”  Instead use teasers and calls to action to carry users through those juncture points.

What special things should you do if you are using interactive video?

Simply put, interactive video is video that employs interactive elements such as overlays, calls to action, or branching.  When working with these capabilities, think about the video as a video microsite when you are tuning.  Some key considerations:

• Don’t offer competing calls to action.  Any good video experience should direct the user to take a single next step whether that is to download a whitepaper, sign-up for a webinar, or choose from a set of additional materials.
• It is good to offer similar calls to action in multiple places.  For example, a call to action in the middle of the video offering a link to useful content could be followed a differently worded call to action at the end of the video that fulfills the same goal.  The other benefit of doing this is that first call to action tells the user they are in an interactive video and the second one is more likely to get clicked.
• If you are doing branching video, don’t exceed 1-2 levels of navigation.  Deeper is too confusing and not likely to be navigated.
• Don’t be afraid to offer multiple choices that lead to the same video.  You can learn a lot about how topics should be described to get the most clicks.

Summary

Keep these things in mind as you create and tune your videos and you can get higher engagement time which further educates your audience and prepares them for taking the next step with you.  In the final part of this blog series, I will talk about approaches for Driving Follow-Up Actions in your videos.

As discussed last time, there are 3 stages to tuning:

1. Getting People to Launch Your Video
2. Keeping Them In Your Video
3. Driving Follow-Up Actions

This post focuses on Keeping Them In Your Video.  The key questions that I am going to answer are:

• What is the mindset of the viewer that you need to connect with?
• How should videos start to avoid the dreaded bounce?
• What video lengths and structures work well?
• What special things should you do if you are doing an interactive video?

Given the depth of the information, I will cover the first 2 questions in this installment…

What is the mindset of the viewer that you need to connect with?

I believe that most online video viewing behaviors today are strongly biased by a visitor’s prior experience with watching YouTube videos, watching short video segments in the TV news, and using a traditional remote control to channel surf.  This leads to a few important tenets:

• Engage your audience quickly or you lose them
• Keep the material easily digestible, ideally in clear segments and sound bites
• Realize that visitors will naturally “lean back” when watching your video and if you are using interactivity, you will need to make it clear that they can “lean forward” and take control

How should videos start to avoid the dreaded bounce?

When you look at engagement profiles for video, you almost always see a chunk of the audience abandon within the first 15 seconds (see example done below).  This is just like a bounce rate that you might measure on a web page in Google Analytics and represents how well you did at engaging the visitor.  To reduce this impact to an acceptable level (5% bounce in 20 secs is a good target), here are some techniques:

• Do not open with a long musical fade in.  Unless you have chosen the perfect song for your target audience, they are not likely to hang in there.
• Use branding and promotional elements very sparingly at this point in the video.  The last thing you want is for the visitor to leave because they believe that the whole video is full of sales or marketing material that will waste their time.
• Get to the main point of the video as quickly as possible and make sure it is consistent with the promise you made in the call to action that launched the video.
• Use a real person looking into the camera to start an authentic conversation with the visitor (ideally they are an authority on the subject being discussed).  They don’t need to stay on camera long, but humans react to humans so get in there and connect with your visitor.
• Focus on educating your audience, not selling to them

Let’s look at an example:

• Here is a BAD experience for the visitor:
  • You offer a call to action for the video of “Learn more about how to do Fly Fishing”
  • The video opens with a logo from a fishing rod company and a 15 sec sequence showing the product in action on a river
  • A mysterious voice-over starts at 15 secs talking about the long history of fishing and the importance of having the right equipment…
  • The bounce for this video would be enormous and conversion would be limited
• Here is a GOOD experience for the visitor:
  • You offer a call to action for the video of “Learn more about how to do Fly Fishing”
  • The video opens with an expert fly fisherman looking into the camera and immediately saying “Hello, I’m so-and-so and I’ve been fly fishing for 20 years.  We are going to talk today about how to land your first fish.  Let’s jump into it…”
  • Later in the video, the product can be featured and the “host” can plug the product but not until after the viewer has got some value

Ok, my WordPress is beating my up about length so I will stop it there.  The next installment, Part 3 covers the remaining questions and is available here.

As always, I appreciate your thoughts and feedback.  This is a rapidly evolving space and there is so much to learn and share…

BACKGROUND

Over the last 18 months we have worked closely with a number of customers to tune their videos for traffic volumes ranging from 1000′s to 1,000,000′s of visitors per month. Although audience behaviors varied, we have found that staying focused on a few simple areas is key…

The three different focus areas above are not rocket science and are quite similar to how web pages are tuned, but I have found that people think of video differently until it is translated for them.  So here are some high-level thoughts on the first area of focus that may help…

GETTING PEOPLE TO LAUNCH YOUR VIDEO

The goal here (user clicks on video) is similar to optimizing for links in email, web pages, and ads but with some twists.  I think the two key questions are Where and How should video be offered…

Where should I offer video?
Videos can be offered anywhere in the user journey, but the key is to offer the right type of video at the right stage of building a relationship with your visitor.  Here are some guidelines:

• On Landing Pages
  • Users are there for a quick and focused visit so short videos that are conversion focused work best.  You may not get much engagement with a long video demo, but a teaser that shows off a cool feature might move them to the next step in getting to know you.
• In Blogs
  • Very short educational videos that encourage comments or sharing are ideal.  Not many visitors want to “sold to” in your blog so avoid highly promotional content.
• On Home Pages
  • Users want to quickly understand what you do so overview videos are better here.  Related to this, having a customer testimonial on a home page may NOT get much action because visitors want to learn more on lower level pages before they want to hear what another customer thinks about you.
• In a Resource Section
  • I think it is a complete waste of good content unless you are doing a good job of linking to those videos from elsewhere on the site.  Basically, you should not assume your visitor will navigate and find items that could be buried here.
• Elsewhere on the site
  • You should offer links to videos that address the mindset of the current visitor on a given page.  For example, if you are talking about the benefits of your product or service, then that is a good place to offer a product demo or customer testimonial.  It may take time to figure this out so employ A/B testing to help.

How should I offer video?
This depends on your site design combined with your audience and their experience in consuming video.  While there are some basic best practices, you start with something simple and then optimize text and imagery over time to see what works best for your audience on your site.  Here are some plato start:

• For Text in Video Calls to Action
  • Using educational language rather than promotional language will often get more clicks.
  • Also, video-oriented verbs like “Watch” are important.
  • Examples include “Watch this overview to learn more” or “Click here to hear from a customer”
• For Imagery in Video Calls to Action
  • Consider thumbnails that indicate the type of video to the user with a play button superimposed.
  • Examples include showing a Customer headshot for a customer testimonial, while a screenshot would work better for a demo.
  • Avoid generic video icons as they don’t always perform well

SUMMARY

Apply some of these simple approaches to your video and see how it enhances your metrics.

In part 2 of this blog series, available here, I cover ways of Keeping Visitors in Your Video so that they can fulfill the actions that you want them to achieve.

Joe Chernov from Eloqua discussed his experience with PR and video at a social media breakfast with VisibleGains, BusinessWire, and MediaMobz, where he served as a panelist:

The statistic speaks for itself; Chernov’s video press releases attracted 500% more views than exclusively text-based releases. This is no surprise when one considers that video is rapidly gaining momentum in nearly every field, and PR is no exception.

Marketers need to constantly innovate, and online video may just be the solution. Tell us what you think: is it time to do away with text-only press releases?

We recently had an event with BusinessWire and MediaMobz focusing on online video and branding. Judy Gern, Director of Conversion Marketing at Constant Contact and one of the panelists for the event, spoke about the importance of finding an appropriate level of branding in video.

Marketers are often tempted to intensively brand their videos to ensure that it is portrayed in the best possible way. They use video to reach their audience in an authentic way.

Unfortunately, branding accomplishes just the opposite. The transparency of video allows viewers to see the push for control, and the video’s “authenticity” seems forced. On the other hand, the accessibility of video provides consumers with the power to share their own opinions of your brand.

No matter how meticulously you script your video, there will be other conversations taking place externally that the public will be watching. As Gern explains, “Conversations about our brands are happening outside of our walls. We have to play, but we can’t control it.” It’s important for a company to have a strong presence by promoting and spreading its own content, but it must recognize that its influence may not necessarily be quite as dominating.

If you’re concerned about branding, you want to communicate a message that is as transparent as possible. Video does just that; it’s a lot harder to be vague or wordy when you’re speaking on-camera. So embrace it–and use online to your brand’s advantage to promote authenticity.

When online video was initially gaining popularity among businesses, companies spent a lot of time, money, and effort in hopes of making their video(s) viral. Although this success is great for spreading the company’s name, it doesn’t leave much of a measurable, long-term impact when you look past the thousands or millions of views. An earlier survey of the audience at the event indicated that companies today are using online video as a tool for many additional purposes, including sales, PR, and even support. This switch from a viral focus to more practical applications in the business world is refreshing to see. Online video can be adapted and manipulated for purposes far beyond a YouTube trend; the faster companies realize this and take advantage of its versatility, the better.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newsbiepix/ / CC BY 2.0

If you were not among the standing-room-only crowd in Waltham yesterday, you missed a great panel discussion with Tim Bradbury, American City Business Journals; Joe Chernov, Eloqua; Judy Gern, Constant Contact; David Meerman Scott, best-selling author; and Dave Toole of MEDIAmobz.  Our own Cliff Pollan moderated the session.

The event, sponsored by VisibleGains, Business Wire and MEDIAmobz, and graciously hosted by Constant Contact, generated many insights about the use of video. In fact, there was so much valuable content that we’ll likely explore topics in more detail in upcoming blog posts.  For now, however, we wanted to recap some of the important observations from the event in the hopes that it will spark ongoing dialogue.

Here are seven things you’ll want to know right away:

Video is no longer a novelty; it’s a necessity. 100% of those in attendance have watched a business-related video. If you’re trying to sell to any of the more than 100 attendees who were in the room (or companies like them), video would be a great tool.

Video is the new literacy.  According to Dave Toole from MEDIAmobz, “we’re just seeing the beginning” of video storytelling. Brands are using it for new product introductions, customer testimonials and to capture real people using their products.

Video has proven power down the marketing funnel. David Meerman Scott underscored the ability for video to drive higher conversion numbers. It’s not just an awareness-builder, it’s a lead generator and sales closer.

Prospects who consume video convert at higher rates. Judy Gern from Constant Contact shared her company’s experience with video, revealing that prospects who consume video become customers at a much higher rate.

A company of authors is a boon for SEO. Joe Chernov from Eloqua said companies should encourage more content contribution, especially optimized video. More authors, including video subjects, within your company means stronger search performance.

Soon everyone will be video “talent.” Cliff Pollan predicts that someday soon “we’ll all be talent.” At one point we all learned Powerpoint to communicate.  Soon we’ll all learn to communicate better through video.

Video is key to the future of news distribution. Tim Bradbury and his team at American City Business Journals encourage businesses to add video to news they distribute. Joe Chernov agreed, providing the staggering metric that companies that embed video into their press releases get a whopping 500% more views.

There you have it, seven nuggets to ponder right away. We knew this panel would be interesting, but we had no idea how eager marketers are to incorporate video into the mix and how successfully many are already doing so.

To see more of the commentary during and after the event, please check out this hashtag on Twitter: #bwvidevent.

As of today, our clients in the U.S., Europe and Asia can outsource the production of their video-enabled marketing apps, including event promotion, customer testimonials and product/service demos, to MEDIAmobz, a marketplace for creative services, particularly video production. Once you contact us (or them) you’ll immediately be matched with a team from their global network of video producers and you’ll be off and running. Video in less than 24 hours has never been easier.

To learn more about our partnership with MEDIAmobz and discover why they are such a strong global partner, please see the press release we jointly issued yesterday

Also, please don’t’ forget our upcoming Business Wire event on April 27 in Boston where MEDIAmobz will provide examples of how video-enabled marketing apps can be beneficial to your business. You can learn more about that event here.

If you want your video to convert, it must first engage, at least long enough for the prospect to receive your call to action or offer. And the more personal a video feels to the prospect, the greater the likelihood of engagement. So, does this mean your messages and brand/product mentions aren’t important.  Certainly not, but it does mean that if you fail to create a personal connection and engagement, those messages and mentions will likely go in one ear and out the other.

So how do you make a video more personal and engaging? After all, you’re only shooting one video, right?  Wrong, you should think about shooting multiple videos (very short segments) that, when stitched together, create a branching experience that will appeal to (feel personal to) multiple personas.  This doesn’t have to be highly complex or technical and can often be accomplished with some thoughtful up-front scripting and shot planning.

To get you started, here are three tips for creating more personal and engaging video:

Speak directly to your buyers – all of them. When you’re on a sales call, you don’t talk about IT infrastructure to the non-technical end user. Instead, you appeal to them by discussing their problem and how, in simple terms, your solution can solve it. When you shoot your video, create an inventory of short video segments that appeal to as many of the key constituents in an organization you’re hoping to convert.

Let the user control the experience. Once you’ve built an inventory of segments that will appeal to various viewer types, make it easy for them to control the experience. Non-linear branching, enabled by simple on-screen interactivity, accepts user input and gives the viewer a much more personal experience.

Create a social experience. Today, buyers are learning the ways of social media, which means they are accustomed to engaging with your brand and your employees in multiple ways. It’s how they validate their potential decision. So give them clickable elements on and around the video that allow them to fully engage. This could include links to supporting content online and links to social media profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. The more they connect with you and the person in the video the more personal the experience will feel to them.

In the end, messages are important, but meaning (to each potential online prospect) is even more important. By creating a more personal, interactive experience – one that mirrors a conversation instead of a mass market commercial – you’ll turn you video into a powerful conversion engine that pulls prospects all the way through to your offer and, ultimately, the sale.

To read about other tips for using video to convert online visitors to leads, please download our eBook, Best Practices for Using Video to Convert Visitors to Leads, here.

And be sure to come back to our blog for more tips and tricks.

Click here for a video intro to the event

Can online video turn press releases into SEO gold? We don’t have an answer to that question. At least not yet. But with your help – and an esteemed group of experts – we’re hoping to get closer to understanding the role that video will play in the press release of the future.

On April 27, we’re hosting an event with Business Wire and MediaMobz entitled Combining SEO and Video to Drive Awareness and Lead Generation Online. You can watch a video intro for the event or learn more here and, if you’re in Boston, we encourage you to attend. At its core, the event is designed for marketing and communications professionals who are looking for innovative ways to generate new business leads. If that sounds like you, please come.

If you can’t attend, we’d still like to represent you at the event. Cliff Pollan, our CEO, is moderating the panel, and he’d welcome your questions, concerns and opinions in advance. What would you ask Tim Bradbury about his print media enterprise or David Meerman Scott about his recent book? How about asking Judy Gern from Constant Contact about ways video plays into their strategy or Joe Chernov from Eloqua about ways to link all this to marketing automation?

If you’d like Cliff to pose a question or broach a particular topic, please add it as a comment to this post.

As the event invite explains, unique content such as video has tremendous power to attract and convert new leads online. Because video is SEO-friendly and dynamic, many companies are using it to help generate and convert leads. But many companies still have questions that range from concerns about cost to the real conversion value. The event will address some of these questions and provide best practices for effectively using video and SEO in the press releases you distribute, whether it’s via a wire or in some other way.

We hope you’ll join us on April 27 or that you’ll send along some questions and insights for Cliff.