Tuning Website Video for Higher Conversion – Part 3

This is Part 3 of a series of posts on Tuning Video aimed at helping companies get more mileage from the videos on their website (Part 1 on Getting People to Launch Your Video is available here and Part 2 which starts to focus on Keeping Them In Your Video is here).  Typically, sites can expect to achieve 20–200% increase in conversion through the application of the techniques across this series of posts.

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.