Video Sales Letter Vs Traditional Sales Letter

[maksym]

Hi to all,
I mentioned that for the last couple months
more and more IM 'gurus' are using Video Sales Letters
instead of Traditional LOOOOOOOONG Sales Letters.
What do you think about Video Sales Letters?
Do you think that they really converts better?

P.S. I am going mad, when I see Video Sales Letter, with
Play and Pause button.

[Tsnyder]

Either will convert equally well if the person offering it
has the knowledge, talent and skill to do it effectively.

Those who complain about long sales copy are reading
poorly written copy. Likewise, those who complain about
videos are watching boring videos.

If you are interesting people will read your long copy
and watch your videos... even if they don't have a pause
button or scrubber.

Tsnyder

[kenj]

Hi maksym

I think that the niche is an important factor here.

I have one non IM niche that has a video at the top of a long sales page. I admit that I am hedging my bets here but it does work.

The problem is where there is ONLY a video sales page. I hate them and I'm sure I am not alone.

I had one the other day that was 30 minutes long. 30 minutes!!!!

Having wasted the 30 minutes I resolved to ignore video sales pages. I haven't got that much spare time.

At least with a written page I can scan through and see whats going on on the page.

[Peter Nguyen]

Both can work equally as effective when done well. For a site with only a video sales letter it's crucial to have an exit pop-up script IMHO.

[Jacer]

It makes more sense when you are using the video sales letter as one of the last pieces of an event product launch. Otherwise, it would be hard to jam all the relevant info about your product in a video short enough to hold a visitors attention.

[rdpayne]

Gauher Chaudhry did a survey on this topic. Here's the blog post about the results:

Do Video Sales Letters Really Convert Better? @ Gauher Chaudhry’s Blog

[newbim]

I like video's if done properly, but as a buyer, I respond a lot better to reading and graphics more than anything else.

[miked]

I like text, and can quickly scroll down to the meat.

I really dislike videos that drone on and on... with no pause or forward button...

Ultimately, I think that you have to test and track the results. Only the customers in your niche know for sure...and they will only tell you by their responses.

-Mike D.

[iYingHang]

Originally Posted by probafix

i like both text as well as video

whatever the medium be but the actual thing is the presentation of matter

how you are presenting the matter

what are your highlight point that one can read/see and then respond to it.

Yup you're right. With a pro copywriter, anything will converts well. It doesn't matter but the important thing is how you present it out.

[igorhelpsyousucceed]

If written by a professional copywriter-either one converts
great.

I see Ryan Deiss switch all of his offers to a video
squeeze, but that's just because he tested it and
it converts better.

However, the sales letter success depends on how enticing
it is and not what format it is delivered by.

Igor

[barryleed]

Hi Maksym:

I use both. A compelling headline followed by a 2 min. video with an opt-in section, followed by a paragraph with compelling copy. On the next page I have the same and the same on the 3rd page as I lead prospects down my marketing funnel.

The video for myself serves the important function of building a personal relationship with my propects, personal branding and instituting attraction marketing. For the people who opt-in and don't purchase, they are directed to AWeber where they are autoresponded every few days with video E-mail. After 1-2 weeks, the prospects actaully feel that they know me since they have seen me speak to them personally so many times and feel very comfortable either ordering from me or calling me up.

That's what works for me. Best of luck to you!

Barry

[maksym]

Thanks to all for your comments.
I think the best way will be - combination video with sales letter.
:-)

[Riz]

Depending on the niche a combination of Video and sales page works best in my opinion. Of course this varies and only testing will give you the true answer for your particular niche.

I also find just Video Sales Letters frustrating and to time consuming. What is even more frustrating is when Video without any buttons and scroll is used.

I suppose the benefit there is that the listener must listen to the whole presentation if he wants to listen to the end (ie the price)

Riz

Originally Posted by kenj

Hi maksym

I think that the niche is an important factor here.

I have one non IM niche that has a video at the top of a long sales page. I admit that I am hedging my bets here but it does work.

The problem is where there is ONLY a video sales page. I hate them and I'm sure I am not alone.

I had one the other day that was 30 minutes long. 30 minutes!!!!

Having wasted the 30 minutes I resolved to ignore video sales pages. I haven't got that much spare time.

At least with a written page I can scan through and see whats going on on the page.

[Scott Lundergan]

Thomas's comment pretty much nailed it.

As a side note, a video sales letter converts if it has good pacing and the "pre-framing" is done properly before they get to the video.

The key is in the pacing (or if it's a talking head, at least sprinkled in with some cuts and good choice of words...i.e.-not sounding canned).

Just some tips from what we've done with several clients (I get paid to do this on the web full-time by adding video to client offers and funnels).

I'm with many of you though if I can't scroll forward and skim the offer, my browser gets closed.

To play it safe, a combination of both tends to work well that combines a video with * *somewhat* short form sales letter. That's how a recent offer I worked on did 6 figures. Talking head video using jump cuts explaining the offer along with the copy below it.

Best of luck

Scott

[Jeremiah]

Here's another idea...

Eben Pagan uses both on the same page. He's one of the few I've found that presents his information in a low-hype, authentic, intelligent manner that's very refreshing in the space.

As I'm a newbie here, I can't post the link, but if you want to PM me, I'll shoot it to you.

He used to market this package with just the video, and it was about 30-40 min long. Now I see he's using both text and video. As he's a serious tester, I'd take a clue from Eben.

[Scott Ames]

I've gotten used to them and in fact prefer them at times. I can launch the page, kick back and listen while I drink a brewski. It is nice however to have the entire thing in text somewhere in case I want to read it when my family is sleeping or when I missed a concept and want to see it in print.

I ran across one the other day that bugged me a bit. Not because of the video but because I couldn't just skip ahead and buy. I had to listen to x minutes of video before I could continue.

[Nigel Howell]

When I was thinking about this I initially thought that the videos would interupt the flow of the copy but then I thought about my own actions. I often read the headlines, sub headers and most of the copy before watching the video so I have probable already made up my mind and then watch the video to confirm it.

I agree that it appears the video is the way to go this year. I may try and stand out by relying on plain text

[Greg Jacobs]

We have done quite a bit of testing and for our products, a combo seems to work best.

As some people don't do video and others dont like to read. We also found that unless it is a video-only page, auto-start is no good (as it scares off the people at work) .

(see my sig for an example of the combo video/long sales letter)

[barryleed]

Maksym:

I am new to the forum and cannot send PMs as of yet. However, to answer your question posed in your PM, the master of the technique I wrote of is at: http://OnlineMLMSecrets.com?aff_id=1034556 where you can view the concomitant sales letter/video technique.

Please don't be concerned about opting in to view the subsequent pages as, although you will be placed on autoresponder, you can opt out anytime you like and the whole purpose is to view and learn.

An alternative to the marketing technique above can be seen at: www.lifextensionow.com.

Thanks for the PM. Glad I can help.

Barry

[Matt Jutras]

Both are valuable tools. I'd say a combo of the two is best, but unless you test you'll never know.

[Floyd Fisher]

Video, and it's not even close.

For that that care to know, it follows 'The Law of Intensity'.

A vivid experience is best remembered.

Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it doesn't work. It just means it doesn't work on you.

[maksym]

wow... pretty a lot of good comments! Thanks to all!

2Floy Fisher... I agree with you... May be somebody does like video sales letter ONLY

[JeffLam]

Like Scott,

I tend to open video sales pages and listen to them.

However when things get interesting..I will watch them.

I for one believes that video marketing is the new way to market. In fact, I have a little something coming up for video marketers..

Take it this way: When you watch video, especially one that has someone talking directly to you, it's kinda rude to close a window on them. If your video is interesting (usually interesting speaking/content), then you can easily capture the attention of a user.

There's a reason why Gurus start using them right? I'm thinking Jeff Walker's PLF videos, Tony Robbin's, Amish Shah's MGS and many many more.

[MikeHumphreys]

Originally Posted by maksym

Hi to all,
I mentioned that for the last couple months
more and more IM 'gurus' are using Video Sales Letters
instead of Traditional LOOOOOOOONG Sales Letters.
What do you think about Video Sales Letters?
Do you think that they really converts better?

P.S. I am going mad, when I see Video Sales Letter, with
Play and Pause button.

The only way to know for sure is to test.

Some products it's a natural extension. Others, it's not.

As a potential customer, I personally prefer traditional sales letters or a hybrid. I rarely like video only sales letters because I lose the ability to skim and read the key points that I want to know... oh, about 1.5 seconds after I hit the page.

I think one of the reasons why they've become more popular in the IM niche is most marketers can create a short video themselves faster than writing a sales letter. The marketers who aren't real good at writing copy will also favor doing a video to "work around" their sub-par copywriting skills.

The videos that annoy me are the ones that are super long and want you to wait until the video is done before you can move onto the next page or even order. Those ones cause me to leave 100% of the time.

My 3 cents,

Mike

[miami]

I like both too.

We tend to use a very short video optin page that leads to a sales page that we also embed video.

What is the last major launch you watched that did not use video?

Plus the software I use makes it super simple to create these things...

Miami

[francoza]

In my point of view, both work fine. If the sales letter is written professionally then it will definitely convert. Personally i don't want to read loooonnngg sales letter, i prefer to the point and well written.

Some people are converting well from traditional sales letter.

[Craig Zimbrowski]

Both are effective if you know how to use them, but some people found annoying when they see a video autoplaying.
But when you post a sales letter on your website, people read and evaluate the offer to make a purchase.

[Skylr]

I own VideoSalesLetter.com - anyone know any good sales letter sites I could become an affiliate of?

I have thought about selling the domain name, I even have a 4 week course on creating video sales letters - but I am changing directions and want to either sell it or use it to do some affiliate marketing...

any suggestions?

Thanks!

Sky

[Jay F]

In the next couple of weeks, I hope to launch my first site. I like the advice here and will try a short video to go with my sales page.

Here is what I'll try: roughly 2 minutes of video starting with a talking head; I'll cut in periodically with shots of the eBook as well as a few of the pictures from the book. Since there are over 50 pics, I will try to slide in a picture every 15 seconds.

Since I'm new, I'll go low budget and host it on YouTube. YouTube is also important because I'll shoot with my Canon PowerShot (low resolution).

[Peter Bestel]

I was having a conversation with John Taylor the other morning on Twitter.

Seems while I like to put sugar on my porridge in the morning John is a traditionalist and prefers to add salt.

We have different tastes - go figure.


Peter

[JorgeDiaz]

There are marketers like Lee McIntyre and Ryan Deiss that are using a lot of video salesletters.

I think they are easier to make and to implement. And you need to have some kind of script that shows an Order Now or Add To Cart Button when the presentation ends.

Some big dog's on the weight loss niche like Rob Poulos and Mike Geary are using video salesletters and those sites are high traffic and make millions per year.

Truth About Abs

Fat Burning Furnace

So look out on how to make a video salesletter and practice the pitch, and test your results and see for yourself.

Thanks

[EdmundLoh]

I use a combination of direct response and video sales copy. Although video sales letters are growing highly popular, I believe the traditional sales copy approach will be here to stay.

Tsnyder said it best:

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

Either will convert equally well if the person offering it
has the knowledge, talent and skill to do it effectively.

Those who complain about long sales copy are reading
poorly written copy. Likewise, those who complain about
videos are watching boring videos.

Even when doing sales videos, the same principles for doing copy still apply overall. I've had good success using "video only" sales letter for my PLR Mentoring program late last year, and also a combination of both elements for my new product releases.

I will continue to use both approaches so I can capture audience who prefer watching and prefer reading.

[George Tee]

do you guys think that whether Asians can do video sales letter well too? The thing is I realized that the westerners would find it difficult to understand the accent of Asians unless they have the English accent.

I just created one for one of my niche products and trying to figure out how's the conversion like...

[RentItNow]

Yeh, the no-controls videos are DRIVING ME NUTS! I can understand the theory (just like exit scripts) but wow is it a pain in the but. It took me watching a 30 minute video 3 times before I realized I could pause it by clicking the screen.

[DamianLeon]

Testing and Results is all that can tell - here's how to do it

Create two pages, one autoplay video with no controls, one a traditional sales letter-
Use Hypertracker (Google it) - to create a single tracking link, (or Google Website Optimizer)- send out to your list, then let it rotate and tell you the results about the percentage that clicks through from the page to the next page - buy now page- If you don't have a list get one first
Damian

[JTor]

I simply hate pages where you find a video and nothing else. I am sure that it doesn't work with other people too.

The narrative skills may be awful, the speaker may have an odd accent or even stutters and nobody told him of that (believe me, I found a "guru" stuttering on video). All of these simply turn me down and make me laugh.

And aside from liking or disliking it, there are many people who visit sites from work, library or college and can not keep speakers turned on, so, using just video is useless to convert them.

If you are willing to use a video anyway, hire a studio and a professional speaker to develop it. Do it even if you are just showing proofs, have someone to introduce you and/or your proofs. Also, keep a transcription of the video on the screen.

Remember, professionalism is the key and the devil is in the details.

[amin-lelieveld]

Hi, hmm very interesting discussion. To tell you the truth..I hate reading salesletters with hundreds of pages.

I have been using video sales letters for 1 year and I have much better conversions with video than with written sales letters. Better conversions and more sales

Try Ryan Deiss his training product about Video Sales Letters

Greetzs,
Amin

[WebArtistuk]

Well it's targeting different types of audiences, the best option will be to use both forms. As i myself prefere watching video's but there are those who prefere reading. So you'll get best results by using both.