Excited! Conquered Invisible Buy Button

[WontBeDenied]

I just wanted to share with others
who can understand my joy.

It took me a minute... Well a few
hours, but I figured out how to do
the invisible buy button!

On may page I have a video and once
the video ends, then the "Order Now"
buttons appear. It's objective is to force
visitors to watch the video.

It's something I heard about a few weeks
ago on a live streaming video. I decided
to implement it with my up coming product
launch.

Woo Hoo!

Later,
CF-

[stma]

While that's neat and all - what about all the folks who don't have sound, or don't like video, or are at work, or .... you get the point.

(my point... make an alternative like "click here to get the scoop with out video".)

[Josh Anderson]

I believe that forcing anyone to watch an entire video is a dumb idea.

The key to getting a response is giving someone the opportunity to respond at the moment they are most interested and feel the strongest desire to respond.

Hiding the buy button until someone reaches the end of a video will never do that effectively.

I have been developing solutions for and consulting people on direct response media for the web for a number of years.

Direct response video is about delivering the message as fast as humanly possible. It is also smart to provide the visitor a way to navigate your message and to make it as digestible as possible.

Almost no one will hang on every word of a video and very few want to watch the whole thing.

If you want to decrease your response rate hide that button.

If you want to increase your response rate leave it visible so that they can take action at the top of their bell curve when interest and desire is peaked at its highest.

Btw...

This is coming from a guy who developed and markets technology that can be used to do exactly what you are describing.

[WontBeDenied]

Originally Posted by stma

While that's neat and all - what about all the folks who don't have sound, or don't like video, or are at work, or .... you get the point.

(my point... make an alternative like "click here to get the scoop with out video".)

I will be split testing to have a text
sales page as well. It's something
I'm testing that I'm learning.

May I ask you this: How many video
sales have you seen with this option
you've suggested?

Thanks,
CF-

[WontBeDenied]

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

I believe that forcing anyone to watch an entire video is a dumb idea.

It's about testing. You assume the video
long and drawn out. It's about 3:30 mins
and as I shared with another, it's something
I'm split testing.

I do thank you for your opinion and feedback.
Again, I'm still excited about learning how to
implement this strategy. Sounds as if you
may not be familiar with video skinning.

Everyone isn't aware of all the current online
strategies and techniques and to tell someone
it's dumb, yes it's your opinion, yet word choice
can be a lot better.

Hey, that's my insight.

By the way, nice to meet you, Josh!

Won't Be Denied,
CF-

[netben]

Originally Posted by WontBeDenied

It's about testing. You assume the video
long and drawn out. It's about 3:30 mins
and as I shared with another, it's something
I'm split testing.

I do thank you for your opinion and feedback.
Again, I'm still excited about learning how to
implement this strategy. Sounds as if you
may not be familiar with video skinning.

Everyone isn't aware of all the current online
strategies and techniques and to tell someone
it's dumb, yes it's your opinion, yet word choice
can be a lot better.

Hey, that's my insight.

By the way, nice to meet you, Josh!

Won't Be Denied,
CF-

Josh definitely knows what he is talking about. Yes, by all means, split test and see what the results are. Who knows, you might surprise us, but if I were you, I would also listen to other's people feedback, especially Josh's.

[High Impact]

Im pretty sure this will have a detrimental rather than enhancing effect to conversions. Good on site seo is not only about keyword density proximity and prominence, but also about clear and simple navigation, by hiding this button you are lowering the functionality of the site, im not sure who's marketing video you watched but I cant imagine a situation where you could benefit from this.

[jmerc]

Hello CF,
Congratulations on figuring out something new!

I think both of the experienced gentlemen were trying to give you some friendly guidance. They have most likely been down any road you might explore in your marketing adventures.

Check out their posting statistics! They are both extremely experienced and successful and they are known to be very helpful to new and seasoned forum members. I've been learning from generous forum members for nearly a year, and feel very fortunate to have access to such a knowledgeable group of marketers.

Personally, I won't watch a video unless it displays the length so I know how long it will tie me up. And it also has to have a pause button so I can stop it and pick it back up in case the dog gets restless. I also like the message to be available to read in case I only have time to scan the page.

The amount of time a visitor will stay on the site is directly related to the perceived quality of the product, the need or desire of the reader, and the manner and convenience in which it is presented. And of course, the price is a always a factor also. But, nothing is more frustrating than having an interest in a product and having to work to get it. Most people just won't do it. There is too much good competition out there.

Testing, and using common sense, is the best way to figure out what works and what doesn't.
Good luck with your project!
Judy

[Josh Anderson]

Our primary focus for the last couple years has been helping companies in a wide range of niches deploy direct response marketing campaigns involving video and helping them to optimize their publishing and boost their response rates.

We develop both the technology and the optimization strategies which have been tested and proven during campaigns that range from small volume to generating 7 figures.

Just because I said the idea is dumb does not mean I think the person who is excited about it is dumb so don't take it personally.

I can understand and relate to the excitement of experimenting with video technology.... but that is just what you are doing... experimenting.

Unfortunately 3 minutes is a long time in the lifetime of a website visitor and hiding from them the opportunity to take action is a huge mistake.

The most important thing you can do in sales or response situation is give the person the opportunity to take action at the moment that they are more desiring to take that action. You need to use the bell curve to your advantage.

By hiding what you want them to do from them and forcing them to watch your video you may confuse or even discourage certain prospects.

In one of the latest campaigns I am working on we are helping a company put together a CPA campaign to bring in 1000 buyer leads a day using video on their landing page... there is a reason that they leave the door open the entire time and don't make it hard for people to find the way in to their funnel ;-)

Originally Posted by WontBeDenied

It's about testing. You assume the video
long and drawn out. It's about 3:30 mins
and as I shared with another, it's something
I'm split testing.

I do thank you for your opinion and feedback.
Again, I'm still excited about learning how to
implement this strategy. Sounds as if you
may not be familiar with video skinning.

Everyone isn't aware of all the current online
strategies and techniques and to tell someone
it's dumb, yes it's your opinion, yet word choice
can be a lot better.

Hey, that's my insight.

By the way, nice to meet you, Josh!

Won't Be Denied,
CF-

[MikeLantz]

Originally Posted by WontBeDenied

Sounds as if you
may not be familiar with video skinning...

Hehe, thats funny. You should look at the links in Josh's signature!

Seriously, though, listen to what others are telling you here. Sure, testing is great, but you could also test flushing money down the toilet to see what kind of return you get, but I am pretty sure you wouldn't, right?

In any case, if you wanted to pursue this strategy, it would be easiest to place the buy button in the video whenever you wanted it there. Put it at the end if you want, or redirect the visitor to the "Buy" page when the video ends (which I do recommend, BTW).

Anyway, I do wish you the best. Perhaps in your testing you will even run into something that really does work well and then you can share it with everyone!

Mike

[Todd Sampson]

I agree, hiding the buy button is a bad idea. Why would you not want
your prospects to buy? It is like a salesman giving a pitch and
the prospect going "ok I want to buy it" and the salesman saying
"sorry you can't buy it until the end of my pitch". People just aren't
going to hang around to see the end. I know my attention span is about
5 seconds. If you don't catch my attention and direct it, I will be clicking
off to somewhere else.

just my 2 cent.

-Todd Sampson

[Paul Reid]

Why not test it?

The idea behind making someone watch the whole video makes sense, and it's because you want someone to watch the entire sales message before ending up on the order form and then deciding to bail out. They should be as "sold" as possible.

That said, I agree that you will probably see better results if you give them the option to buy right away, all of the mass appeal higher volume offers I've been involved in have been that way, but you need to test it for yourself. Don't listed to people telling you to base your marketing decisions off the experience of others. Learning to test your own offers is just about the most important thing you can do, so congratulations on heading in the right direction.

[Kay King]

As someone who leaves a site if a video can't be fast forwarded, I'd be out of there. Good luck with the testing as you are putting a hoop on your site and requiring customers to jump through it for the privilege of paying you money.

As for expert advice, you might want to check Josh out before making a judgment.

kay

[WontBeDenied]

Originally Posted by MikeLantz

Hehe, thats funny. You should look at the links in Josh's signature!

Why would I look at someone's signature
when they fail to communicate with me in
a tactful manner.

Everyone has the right to have an idea and
to call it dumb is tacky and arrogant. There
are better ways to share insight when offering
feedback.

So to wonder why I wouldn't sound the trumpet
and zoom in what Josh has to say maybe many
are missing it. It's the delivery.

No matter what the idea maybe... Your idea isn't
better than the next, however you just may have
a stronger insight on it and that's when knowing
how to deliver it without arrogance will do wonders.

Continue to make it happen!

Won't Be Denied,
CF-

[Josh Anderson]

The answer is simple...

There are things more valuable to learn in this forum than just being thrown virtual high fives and pats on the back.

Your idea was not stupid... bad would have been a better descriptive term.

You will get more out of this forum if you look past the limitations of mere text communication and develop a thicker skin. My apologies for the offense. It was not intended.

Years ago I used to work door to door sales and train sales forces in several offline advertising franchises.

I learned back then that some people will pay you just to get the item and not have to listen to the entire presentation and many of those same type of people would rather walk away without purchasing than being subjected to the entire pitch. Not everyone is that way but what made me a top performer back then was knowing when to close the sale.

Many people do not purchase on the initial visit to your website and the last thing they want to be subjected to is the same pitch all the way to the end.

How many people do you know that when they are ready to check out try and find the longest line in the grocery store?

Originally Posted by WontBeDenied

Why would I look at someone's signature
when they fail to communicate with me in
a tactful manner.

Everyone has the right to have an idea and
to call it dumb is tacky and arrogant. There
are better ways to share insight when offering
feedback.

So to wonder why I wouldn't sound the trumpet
and zoom in what Josh has to say maybe many
are missing it. It's the delivery.

No matter what the idea maybe... Your idea isn't
better than the next, however you just may have
a stronger insight on it and that's when knowing
how to deliver it without arrogance will do wonders.

Continue to make it happen!

Won't Be Denied,
CF-

[John Taylor]

Originally Posted by WontBeDenied

I just wanted to share with others
who can understand my joy.

It took me a minute... Well a few
hours, but I figured out how to do
the invisible buy button!

On may page I have a video and once
the video ends, then the "Order Now"
buttons appear. It's objective is to force
visitors to watch the video.

It's something I heard about a few weeks
ago on a live streaming video. I decided
to implement it with my up coming product
launch.

Woo Hoo!

Later,
CF-

Thanks for sharing your excitement.

Now tell us how this post adds value to
the forum..

Did you explain how you did it?

Or are you just forcing us to pay attention
to you without showing us the payoff?

John

[Tsnyder]

Originally Posted by WontBeDenied

It's about testing. You assume the video
long and drawn out. It's about 3:30 mins
and as I shared with another, it's something
I'm split testing.

I do thank you for your opinion and feedback.
Again, I'm still excited about learning how to
implement this strategy. Sounds as if you
may not be familiar with video skinning.

Everyone isn't aware of all the current online
strategies and techniques and to tell someone
it's dumb, yes it's your opinion, yet word choice
can be a lot better.

Hey, that's my insight.

By the way, nice to meet you, Josh!

Won't Be Denied,
CF-

I'd be willing to bet that Josh Anderson knows more about
online video than anyone on the planet. I'm pretty sure he's
familiar with video skinning... lol

You should pay more attention to Josh's advice and spend
less time taking offense at perceived slights. It's only words...
grow a thicker skin... it's getting in the way of your learning
curve.

Tsnyder

[John Chen]

Your idea is not dumb. Ignore people who say with 100% certainty that
it will decrease your response rate.

Personal opinions don't matter in this business.

You said you were going to split test it. That's the only way to go.

Good luck.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by WontBeDenied

I just wanted to share with others
who can understand my joy.

I say... fantastic! I'm not going to dampen your joy and enthusiasm. This is your business, and one thing I've learned over my years is that it is often a big mistake to dismiss the efforts of others completely out of hand. While my experience may tell me that it may not be as effective as other methods, I have absolutely no real insight into your product or your site or your target customers, therefore I can't say that this is a bad idea at all.

In the end, you test, test, test and then proceed with what works and discard what does not. And then you seek out another method to test against your most successful methods. And then you start over again. THAT'S the way to fine tune your model until it produces at the absolute peak.

You can't know that an idea is bad until you give it a try. Let us know what you find out, your real-life results will make us all a little smarter.