Videos for Landing Pages 101

What’s all the buzz about videos? Quite a lot actually.
A  research report by Invodo said that 52% of consumers say that watching a product video makes them more confident in online purchase decisions, and another 52% said they are less likely to return a product they have purchased after watching a video. Treepodia says that video increases conversion rates, from 14% increase for electronics to 113% for gifts.

There are statistics galore about how video increases conversions and purchases, increases consumer confidence and retention, decreases friction, is the best medium for mobile and tablet devices, and ends world hunger (well, maybe scratch the latter) I’m not sure we need to convince you how effective video is in helping your marketing efforts.

Video has arrived – and is here to stay. But what do you need to get into the game and use video to improve conversions on your landing pages?
Introducing Video for Landing Pages 101, an introductory overview to help you navigate and plan your video landing pages.

1. Which kind of video: Animated, slides or talking head?

Your first decision when thinking about video for your landing page or your website is to decide which kind of video to create: do you want a talking head video, an animated video or a screen sharing video?

Let’s start with a screen sharing video. This is probably the easiest video for most people to make. Using tools such as Camtasia, which is the most popular screen capture software but costs about $300, or CamStudio, a good open source version, you can record whatever you’re doing on your desktop. Software companies use screen capture videos extensively by recording software demonstrations. If you don’t sell software you can create a PowerPoint presentation and record that. It’s best to have a pre-written script so that the words flow well with the movement of the slides or the progress of the demonstration.

Animated video is on the opposite of the complexity spectrum. It’s hard to get these right, and many firms mistakenly believe you can make an effective video with some of the free animation services available on the Internet. The problem is, with everybody making these videos you have little chance of standing out. There are great services that produce stunning videos for your landing pages and websites. Video maker Simplifilm has built a thriving business creating professionally made animated videos that drive measurable conversion results for their customers. Our video is a very good example of an animated video, check it out and see how something really simple could be really effective.

Finally, there’s the talking head video. This can be a video of you or a spokesperson talking directly to the camera about a topic of interest to your viewers. You may be scared of this kind of video marketing as it requires you to maintain a cool, calm and collected demeanor on film. You probably feel a little uneasy being the subject of your own video.
How do you know which video format is best for you? Brian Massey, the Conversion Scientist, has the answer. In a study conducted to measure the conversion results of different video formats, Massey found that talking head videos drove conversion rates of 3.2% vs. screen capture of slides at a measly 1.6% conversion.

2. Audio Quality and Scripting

As I alluded to earlier, writing a video script is important for video, primarily because sound is one of the most important aspects of video. If your video sounds unprofessional, your video will appear unprofessional to your audience. Steve Washer says that when you sound good you look good. But before thinking about your script, you’ve got to get your audio recording right. For good audio Washer recommends using a Sennheiser EW series microphone as opposed to your video camera’s on board microphone.

For a small investment in a microphone you elevate your audio from a tinny amateur sounding video into a professional sounding video that gives the impression you’ve been making videos your whole life! For a good primer on low-cost microphones for your video, check out this microphone test by Steve Garfield.

Next, it’s time to focus on your video script. What are you actually going to say on your video? To create videos that will prompt your prospects to take action and convert, Brian Clark says it’s important to stick with a script. If you feel very confident about your script you can record yourself all the way through. Clark also recommends recording pieces of your script, and then use a free audio editing program such as Audacity to turn your fragments into an integrated whole.

3. Creating The Right Video Content

According to Adria Saracino writing for the Content Marketing Institute, the problem many people get into when creating videos for marketing purposes is that they treat video like blog content or podcast content. Video is a completely different medium, and should be treated as such.
Saracino said that the types of content goals that make for good video are:

• Promoting a physical product or service
• Creative or funny content
• Giving life to a news story
• Providing instructions
• Relaying information and
• Covering live events

If your topic does not fall within these categories, it’s probably easier to write a blog post or record a podcast. It’s important to think about the topics for which video is appropriate.

4. How to use Video for Product Landing Pages

Video works great for merchandising physical products. Services such as Invodo and Treepodia have become hit paydirt by helping ecommerce and product companies create videos for their product lines. But how do you create effective videos for your product landing pages? How can you make sure your product video can convince your website visitors to add your product to the shopping cart, and actually check out and purchase?

First, your visitors need to view the video. Peep Laja says having a good thumbnail can mean the difference between an anemic click rate and clicks that go through the roof. Laja also cited a study conducted by EyeBuyDirect.com that found that online shoppers preferred a male narrated voice to a female voice. For more on how to use videos to successfully merchandise your products, check out this video tutorial by Craig Wax.

5. How to use Video for B2B Landing Pages

Can video be used effectively if you’re selling a B2B product or service? Yes it can, but with a few differences.
The Content Marketing Institute surveyed readers on the types of videos that make them “sit up and take notice.”
Some of their findings:

• Video can be extremely effective when communicating complex topics, such as marketing concepts or software architectures, especially if they make these concepts simple to understand in a fun and entertaining way
• Customer testimonial videos are especially effective, as they allow your B2B clients to video third parties discuss your product, providing an added sense of confidence. As one reader said: “There’s a big difference between a marketer or sales guy telling someone your product is great and a customer of that product saying that same thing.”
• Videos that inform, educate or entertain, not videos that sell.
• Videos that tell a unique and compelling story instead of videos about the company or product.

I personally think humor is the killer video format for B2B, as in this video about Medieval Junk Mail.

Your Next Steps

As you can see, video for landing pages and websites is a huge topic, too much to cover in one blog post. What I suggest you do is read some of the articles we reference here, and consider the following that might help you decide whether to incorporate video in your landing pages or not:

• Video converts better. According to Lewis Broadnax of Lenovo (as quoted in this Infographic): “Five percent of consumers who get to the configuration stage and view one of these videos makes a purchase, tripling the conversion rate from before we implemented.”
• We’re becoming a mobile world. Video is especially suited to mobile because it’s easier to consume video content on a Smartphone or tablet than written content.
• Video allows you to leverage three dimensions instead of one: visual, motion and sound. What made television the most explosive advertising medium (far surpassing radio and print) can also work for you.
• Your competition may not be using video – yet. This is starting to change, and you don’t want to be left behind being the only provider of your type of product or service not using video while your competition is engaging all your visitors’ senses.

Now you know how to make a good video but you don’t know how to add it to your Landing Page. Well Lander can help you! You can include any video that you want by just adding the embed of the video, then you just has to drop it in the place that you want of your landing page. We have some good cases of people who use Lander and has built great Landing.

For example check this Landing Page http://drumloops.tomdrumtracks.com/ of @TomDrumTracks, he made a video to show his product.  If you wanna create a Landing Page like this one enter here and give Lander a try and you'll see how easy it is!

Will 2013 be the year you use video to triple your conversion rate? We hope so!