I wish people would include sample size when talking about conversion rate lift. Otherwise for all we know the measured lift is noise and isn't repeatable. Doubling conversions from 4 to 8 out of 100 visitors means much less than 400 to 800 from 10000 visitors.<p>That said, it makes a lot of sense that a marketing video helps people learn more about your product, get more excited, and feel more comfortable taking the desired action.
First: the link to Vidyard.com is broken in the opening paragraph of the article.<p>Second: know your audience. It's not surprising that a landing page for a video startup would benefit greatly from having an actual video present. It would be awesome to see a result set from a wide range of start-ups.<p>Third: The real-time video analytics are awesome. When looking at realtime can you rewind or scroll the realtime chart backwards in time?<p>Fourth: When visiting a new web site I tend to be brutal - if I don't "get" the site within the first 5-10 seconds I move on. If my interest is piqued in the first few seconds but I'm still not convinced I will jump to a video. I rarely go straight to the video (though I imagine if I looked at a dozen startup landing pages a day I would probably hit the video first). If my behavior is typical it seems that a video is the tipping point for users already primed by the rest of the page.
Not on topic: Ironically, a website dedicated to conversion optimization has a newsletter subscription process that forces validation via captcha?<p>Could they not just double opt-in?
Really nice article, thx for sharing. Did you do any testing on the length of the video? I would be interested if you found an ideal length that effected conversions.
>Without any conceivable metrics, the value of your content is completely qualitative and in this rap game, subjective analysis is never enough. (...) attention span metrics, unique views, location of viewership, real-time recurring data AND metrics around how video triggers call to action.<p>I was sold right here. Qualitative analysis has its place, but when subjective opinions clash with one another, you need some sort of hard numbers to back your claims. And information such as attention span metrics, unique views, location of viewership, real-time recurring data etc will definitely help in constructing a more complete picture of your customer base and customer behavior. How we should interpret the data is another matter altogether, but it is satisfying that such tools are available for use.<p>The real time analytics in videos are also really sexy.
This is one of the most useful articles I've read in a while. It's no secret that people like to watch videos. After all, we all like being entertained. Google occasionally places videos on their homepage (today's an example with their Halloween video) and I know I usually find it more attractive when they do have video on there.<p>As someone who is currently creating my own website, this advice will definitely come in handy when coming up with the final design for the home page. It seems so simple, but the simplicity makes it easy to overlook. Details matter, as Mullenweg said.