When and where to use video in your landing page templates
Mequoda has been testing video landing pages for the past few years with great success. In fact, our Mequoda Events attendees have told us repeatedly that our videos are what convince them to sign up. A few years ago I read a study by EyeView that said businesses that tested video on homepages and landing pages saw a conversion rate increase up to 86%. These results were based on multiple iterations of video and placement, but 86% is no small feat.
“For most sites, online video is the last holdout against accountability. Online video is not a fashion accessory, it’s a ‘must-have,’ ‘can’t-wait,’ ‘want-it-now’ object of desire for every commercial website. And yet while sites fall over themselves scrambling to put video on their homepages and landing pages, very few are placing the same demands on video that they do on pictures, forms and text.”
Video isn’t new, we’ve been watching it on television for decades. It’s not something anybody needs to get used to, or adapt to, because they’ve always used it for entertainment or learning. Videos are meant to add another dimension to your company and to your products. They are able to explain complex topics and processes easier than we can with words and photos. A step-by-step tutorial is handy in text form, but more easily understandable in video form. And there are at least three great options for business-focused video hosting platforms that allow you to track the metrics of your efforts.
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Where videos can improve a landing page
Homepage: Your homepage is your first impression to someone who is typing in your domain name. On Mequoda.com we are testing a long-form video sales letter with video testimonials from our clients at the end. Previously the video was just our clients. Depending on what you do, there are surely different tests you can run when it comes to video on your homepage.
Direct mail landing pages: When you slap a URL on the bottom of your postcard or other direct mail piece, try also slapping a video on the page it directs to. Videos with people can build trust when done right (and lose it, if done wrong), and tutorials would work great for subscription websites or software as a service (SaaS).
Sales landing pages: Similarly, why not create a video for each of your products? For Mequoda, we have a video on our Intensive page that shows testimonials from our attendees as well as b-roll giving potential attendees a look at all the fun we have while we’re there.
Blog pages: Every page on your site is a landing page, and your blog is no different. We’re still testing this hypothesis, but we think that blog posts with video in them actually rank better in search too. Don’t forget to build a video sitemap!
Unsubscribe page: One of the most famous unsubscribe pages on the web, or at least one of the first in video landing page templates, is from Groupon. If you unsubscribe, Groupon says they’re going to punish their email guy by hitting him in the face with a pie. Which they do on video. Then they say you can make it up to him by resubscribing. Pretty brilliant.
Publishers have gotten completely on board with video. Some of them, like Hearst and Meredith, have started their own TV shows and networks. Others are happy just getting triple the ad revenue from video ads versus print ads (looking at you, Bloomberg).
Not to mention, we’ve already tested video in email and saw a 26% increase in clicks when it was added. Additionally, we saw an increase when there were people in the thumbnail. On-page time increases too, depending on how long the video is. And readers don’t just go away, they often watch a video and scroll to re-digest what they just watched.
Where do you use videos? How has video increased your conversion rates?
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2014 and has been updated.
