What I’m about to say will probably shock you because it’s almost inconceivable.
I recently checked the website of many big companies and to my amazement, most of them didn’t have “video” on their website!
And I’m talking about websites of companies across multiple industries, including pharmaceutical, hospitality, travel, cosmetics, services and manufacturing.
All of these businesses are leaving money on the table because they are not taking advantage of one of the most powerful “conversion tools” available to all of us today…..video!
No matter what the size of your business, you need to consider using video as a compelling “wow factor persuasion tool” on your website.
Let me give you some statistical reason why you need to do this:
- Videos increase people’s understanding of your product or service by 74%.
- A third of all online activity is spend watching videos– so why try to buck the system?
- 75% of executives watch work related videos on business websites at least once a week.
- An average internet user spends just under 17 minutes watching online video ads every month.
- 80% of internet users remember the video ads they watch online
- 26% of internet users look for more information after viewing a video ad.
- After watching a video ad, 12% of viewers purchase the specific product or service featured in the ad.
- Website visitors are 64% more likely to buy a product online after watching a video.
- 80% of your website visitors will watch a video compare to only 20% actually reading your content in its entirety.
- Your website is 50x more likely to appear on the first page of the search engine result page if it includes a video.
- 90% of users say that seeing a video about a product is helpful in a decision making process.
*Source: 2014 Digital Sherpa Research
It just makes sense.
You really should be convinced that video is going to always be the written word on your website.
After all we’re all “time poor” these days and “it just makes sense” that a video is going to be easier to consume than reading a bag shop text.
I don’t want to get “too techie,” but a leading “human emotions expert,” Susan Weinschenk, is a leading consultant to brands like Amazon, Disney and Walmart in the US and she brings a deep understanding to the psychology of website video.
She believes there are four core human reasons why they are drawn to video:
- We all pay attention to faces – In other words, our brain is hard-wired to use human face as a gathering point of information and believability.
- Voice conveys rich information (versus words) – The sound of the human voice speaking to us has an amazing way of “cutting through” compared to written word.
- Emotions are contagious – When we see someone speaking, their body language or emotions (waving hands, nodding their head, smiling, making gestures) is an appealing feature and we are naturally drawn to such sentiments.
In other words, we are attracted to things in motion.
Make sure you have a Welcome Video on your site.
When I advise my clients to have a Welcome Video on their website, I stress that it shouldn’t be a lame, boring peace to camera where they ramble on about how glad they are that you visited website and the business was started in 1943 by their grandfather, etc.
I strongly recommend you launch straight into the “problem/solution scenario” and whether it’s you or a presenter (or a Doodle animation video), cut straight to the chase – something like:
“I know why you’re here – you’re not feeling 100%, you’re always tired, restless and irritable and life isn’t as much fun as it used to be.
You wake up without any energy and you’ll flop into bed in the evening completely exhausted.
You’re at your wits end and don’t know what to do.
Well you’ve come to the right place – at Energy Plus, we can have your energy levels and enthusiasm for life back to where they should be within a matter of weeks!
Our scientifically proven dietary program has been highly recommended by leading medical practitioners around the world and our products are amongst the top ten bestselling weight-loss programs in the world today! Bla, bla, bla…..”
You get the drift – your Welcome Video needs to be devoid of the typical “business owner” or presenter “waffle” – it needs to cut to the chase and give the viewer his or her problem, aggravated and quickly provide the solution.
And then nailed them with an incredible “wow factor offer” of course!
So who is going to present your video?
I realise that most business owners are not comfortable in front of the camera and therefore presenting your own website videos might be rather daunting for you.
If this is the case, I suggest you consider using a professional presenter or “partly-professional.”
In other words, perhaps a local radio DJ is looking for some extra income – or when I say “partly-professional,” perhaps someone at drama school or similar, who would charge lower rates.
Alternatively, there are numerous online facilities which provide “presenters” who will act on your behalf.
Such company also helps with script writing and producing the entire video.
Remember, it’s one thing to feature video on the website, it’s entirely different thing to feature “video that’s professional and is cleverly scripted so that it convert to sales!”
So the “script/content” of your video is vital, as it’s no use having a wonderful presenter if the content is poor.
If you’d like help in this regard with video content for your website, just let us know.
