Should I auto play video on sales page?

Hi,

My 2 cents worth is... do NOT auto-play your video. When I reach sites that do this, I can't hit the BACK button fast enough. Seriously. [Same with auto-play audio.]

But - here's the real clincher: it depends a great deal on who your target audience is. I personally qualify in the old-fogy group (over 60), so my instinctive gut reactions may be far different than in the up-and-coming group (say 20s and 30s).

And it likely matters also the topic of your video... what your product is... what action you are asking your readers to take... and so on. :confused:

Hope this helps,
Dot

I agree with Dot, I hate autoplays on sales pages. When I write sales copy for a client, I always advise them to attach any videos with a service that allows the visitor to play it on their own time.

Keep in mind that some of these people may be on public computers, such as at work. The last thing they want is a loud voice suddenly telling him how they can make money fast, or get rid of their chronic hemorrhoids.

lol c'mon.... do you guys REALLY know whats going to work best?

No.

Opinions don't mean jack.

The only answer is to test it yourself and see.

Really? I have had GREAT success with my auto playing video!

This advice:

Video only = Autoplay
Long Copy + video = Click to play with strong CTA on graphic
Short Copy + video = leaning towards autoplay

main issue with autoplay is you instantly lose the "at work" crowd as they will quickly click away so as not to get caught. An exit pop to a long copy or opt in off an autoplay works nicely

A lot of interesting comments... I'm trying the autoplay first and I will post the bounce rate, then will split test with another site with autoplay off and post the results as well.

Personally I wouldn't auto play any videos, I have visited a number of websites today that use autoplay videos and they just drive me insane. If I surfing a website I dont want some random voice coming on in the background blurting words out at me.

Personally I'd leave it up to the customer as to whether they want to watch/listen to the video

For me its better not to auto play your video! I aggre with Carl its annoying to the user. All you need is to have a catchy words so that the user will think whats on that video shall I say makes the user more interesting to open and play your video!

oo87, hate to tell you this, but that type of thinking is the exact OPPOSITE of that which makes you money online.

a fair measure of what works is to test.

We are direct response marketers.

We test and make decisions based on data - not based on opinions.

if opinions worked, trust me everyone in here would be rolling in money.... and last time i checked... a LOT of ppl here aren't.

just sayin'

It's hard to find a nice way to say it, but Dave's right.

A personal opinion isn't the right answer in this situation.

We're talking about an entire marketplace, right? A marketplace is made up of the actions of thousands and thousands of people. And the actual actions are much more valuable to know than the opinions of the very same people.

What's one person's opinion compared to the actual actions of thousands of people? Depends on your ego, I suppose JK

Plus people don't always know how they'll react to a situation. Their guess as to how they'll act is often wrong. (For example, how would you react during a bank robbery? You don't know until you know.)

That said...

The original poster asked for people's experience. I recently started a popular thread stating this was a type of question that deserves more than just the answer, "You've gotta test."

In my experience testing this with the Internet Marketing/Work At Home niche, auto-play won by a large margin.

Michel Fortin shared his test results with me and they also favored auto-play.

Those are my experiences, and those are a great starting point. But like I say, testing is the final answer.

Markets can differ a bit, especially if your market is likely at work like Greg pointed out.

So this seems like an obvious first split test to me.

Cheers,
Stephen Dean

Thanks Stephen,

trust me, i'm a designer by trade... I'd love to make things look pretty and keep designing stuff, but it doesn't work like that.

in ALL my tests, auto-play crushed click to play.

just sayin'

One other idea here might be to use a slight delay before autoplaying, maybe even one of 5 seconds. Autoplaying is annoying, but if A/B testing says it works, then go for it.

In my opinion, auto-playing videos are a sure way to shoot yourself in the foot. But then again, as someone here used to say opinion isn't worth crap. I'm siding with the zeitgeist here: Test it and see for yourself

Statistics are a fairly well understood discipline. Obviously, each test comes with a degree of uncertainty (usually measurable), but as engineers say it's better to have a set of data than none at all.

In a sense I understand what you're implying. One of the most profound revelations I had while studying engineering (that was a long time ago) is that statistical physics are the most accurate tool to predict real world phenomena. God may not throw the dices, but we must.

Best regards,
George

This is a great thread! I've studied usability and interface design for years. Leaders in those disciplines abhor and therefore strongly advise against auto-playing videos, but marketing's a totally different animal.

We're in the process of designing new homepages for our sites and will definitely be A/B testing auto-play for the videos now. I'll be sharing our results, for sure.

For those of us who don't have enough residual web real estate up yet or time available to test, test, test.. here's a way.. someone started with this,

"One other idea here might be to use a slight delay before autoplaying,..."

Some of the most engaging sales page videos are the one's that start very quiet with the audio and feature more text than talking. That lets somebody at a work desk realize what's happening - but they can continue to get your message.

Full in your face sales videos may convert better. But if you get really creative you might get better conversion by appealing to people with a refreshing presentation.

I'll test this for the next coupla years and get back to you.

Davemiz makes me smile.

- HR

Question: "Should I autoplay video on sales page?"

Answer: "Only if you want people to watch it."

Reply: "Go crap in yer hat, smart-ass"

Reaction: Smile.

Ken asked what a statistically valid sample group looks like. 100, 300, 500, 1000?

While I know that there's a rhetorical trap involved, I'm still compelled to answer.

My answer is: "However many ya got..."

I mean, ultimately you test what ya got. You can't test wishful thinking.

Brian

How anyone can disagree with DaveMiz baffles me. Every market is different. You gotta test.
At best, what you should be suggesting is "This worked for me, so TEST this combination" and not "This worked for me, so it will work for you."
...and another thing...
What you LIKE has nothing to do with what WORKS. People act irrationally all the time...especially when satisfying their own desires.
Book Recommendation: Predictably Irrational, by Ariely. GREAT BOOK.
--Mark

Let the visitor click the play button, it's really annoying when a video auto plays.

I personally hate autoplays, cause sometimes it makes a sudden noise from my PC.... similarly many people will hate that ......... so no autoplays , let the visitor click to play ....

I think most people loathe autoplays. Not only at work, but at home as well. It is irritating and invasive. I wouldn't do it. They can see the video just fine, let them decide if they want to see it.

I tend to agree that autoplay is not the best way to go about it ... letting the visitors decide for themselves may be better ... but it's really up to you

I agree with dorothydot...

When I get an autoplay, I hammer the back button as well. The same with audio.

But that's just me; if you are not testing, you'll never know.

Using Optimizer in Google Webmaster Tools is a simple and effective way to let your visitors tell you what they prefer...


Set

I don't think auto-play is user friendly in that case...

Greetings Dot,

Personally, I do not like autoplay videos.

Practically, split test and send 50% to autoplay, and 50% activate by clicking.

When you let your prospective clients do the voting, you will have the answers that will help you build up your bank account.

All the best ... Ron

Not sure about other but I found it to be very intrusive.

Split test it.