10 Comments

Using Video to Increase Conversions

Oct 1, 2008
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A recent survey from MarketingSherpa shows that adding certain things to an ad increases user responsiveness. One of the things that the survey covered was video, and it showed that featuring a video in an ad can increase responsiveness by 49.5%. This, I think, underscores the potential there is for video to increase conversions on affiliate landing/product pages.

This doesn’t, of course, mean that affiliate marketers have to become part-time video producers. Consider that 10 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Chances are there’s some kind of content on the video sharing site that can be used to promote product. After all, seeing another everyday person interact with a product is something that can really influence a user’s mindset. Not only does this give the user a chance to see the product in action, but it bolsters a site’s credibility because it provides a richer user-experience.

Simply search YouTube for a video that’s appropriate for your landing pages, and embed them below the product or in the sidebar (hint: you can fit a YouTube video into a side bar by editing the width and height parameters in the embed code). Even if you can’t find a video of that specific product, embedding video that is related can put the consumer in a purchasing mood. For example, if you can’t find a video about ringtones, specifically, then see what there is in the way of music videos for whatever ringtones are most popular at that moment.

In fact, many affiliates already use YouTube as a resource for landing page content. Take Mark from 45n5: he uses mashup scripts that pull relevant content from YouTube and displays it on his product pages. All he does is input a couple of keywords into the script, and it finds and embeds relevantly tagged video content.

Alternatively, you can also just get a handy cam and shoot a quick video of yourself using the product. That way, you not only get complete control over the video’s content, but you never have to worry about that video getting deleted. As John Kerr, Director – Southeast Asia for Edelman, once pointed out, “the shaky cam is now seen as the most trusted form of media.”

Overall, videos are great way to increase conversions. They (1) let the consumers see the products (or lifestyles) in action, and (2) create a richer user-experience on your product pages, which increases the perceived credibility of your site. So whether you get some professional grade videos made, use other people’s uploaded content, or simply make your own pro-amateur clips, sourcing video content for your landing pages is so easy that you shouldn’t overlook it as a way to increase conversions.

Filed under: Affiliate Marketing + Internet Marketing + Online Marketing
  • http://www.redfoxrebates.com Spencer

    I agree that video can increase conversion rates. However, I think conversion rates will be even greater if you can take the time to produce a high quality video that is tailor made to your site. Using YouTube can be a quick an easy way to get the job done; but I think to make your conversions the best they can be…take the time to make a highly relevelant video.

  • http://www.gypsybandito.com CT Moore

    You’re probably right, Spencer, that proprietary video is better than UGC stuff from YT. However, if your affiliate portal looks like a content portal — such as a mag or blog — you can definitely get away with YT content. I guess I should have been more clear about that in the post, though.

  • http://www.tomchuong.com Tom Chuong

    I have experienced the benefit of video creation and submission to popular video sharing sites and the results are amazing. I'm surprised not more businesses are using videos to brand their product/service.

  • http://www.shareresults.com CT Moore

    @Tom Chuong, it's kind of crazy that more businesses are using video for their branding initiative. A few forward thinking companies, however, have done it very well. Just consider emitations.com Shop NBC (http://blog.shareresults.com/?p=691).

  • http://www.lostgolfballs.com Eric

    Now, it would be interesting to see if more and more retailers provide a trackable video as another source to extend their coverage. I know that there are some poeple doing that at the moment. In Sept 08 internet retailer, there is a big majority of retailers who are not ready and does not have any plans to go woth the 'video' avenue.

  • http://www.learn2promote.com Devin Mills

    Your right spencer video's do increase conversion and client interaction. I believe videos with higher quality than YouTube and even videos done in a unique and different manner help differentiate a website. We started doing instructional videos using a production level software and streaming it in quicktime rather than a flash player to maintain quality. We have had more positive feedback from just our videos than any other feature on our site.

  • http://www.shareresults.com CT Moore

    @Devin Mills,

    There's no doubt that higher quality/unique video can help differentiate your website and add to your branding initiative. For those that don't have the budget or resources, however, I think there are still gains to be made from placing a YouTube video on a product pages under a header like "What Others Think."

    Obviously, if you're going to shoot your own stuff, it's better to avoid using YouTube to host it. You'd want to, of course, upload it to YouTube so that it attracts extra notice, but if you're bothering to produce it yourself, the player on the product page should be branded to your brand.

  • http://www.learn2promote.com Devin Mills

    Absolutely, we have our videos on youtube, and then have them on our website. We use the videos as a free way to get business to drive traffic to our website. The companies send their customers to our website to watch the free training, and we use the training to act as an hour long commercial.

  • http://purewebdev.com PuReWebDev

    video is great for keeping visitors on your site longer. I've been integrating youtube videos into my shopping sites since they initially made their api available.

    Over time, the videos have gotten even more focused as people upload reviews of products all the time. So, a visitor to one of my retail sites might come across someone un-boxing the very item they are considering purchasing. Clearly, this is a great experience for the visitor who can make an even more informed decision about the product of interest.

  • http://www.gypsybandito.com CT Moore

    @PuReWebDev, the amount of user generated product reviews on YouTube is staggering. You're right, drawing on these to help move SKUs has a lot of potential. After all, we all trust user generated reviews a lot more than ad copy or promo vids.