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Does Anyone Else Hate Long Sales Videos

by freemen14
21 replies
Last night I checked out a video offer that was sent to me via one of the lists I am on. I was interested in this software but I had to sit through 20 min's of the normal fluff in order to get to the meat of things the last three min's because there was no video control bar.

I'm guessing the method works because marketers are using it but I prefer to read a well written and more to the point sales page. I'm wondering if others feel the same way?

Those of you with experience marketing both ways it would be interesting to know which method converts better. A well written sales page or a longer sales video?
#converts #hate #long #sales #sales page #sales videos #software #videos
  • Profile picture of the author Matt Morgan
    Originally Posted by freemen14 View Post

    Last night I checked out a video offer that was sent to me via one of the lists I am on. I was interested in this software but I had to sit through 20 min's of the normal fluff in order to get to the meat of things the last three min's because there was no video control bar.

    I'm guessing the method works because marketers are using it but I prefer to read a well written and more to the point sales page. I'm wondering if others feel the same way?

    Those of you with experience marketing both ways it would be interesting to know which method converts better. A well written sales page or a longer sales video?
    Yes, long sales videos can be a turn off as people don't have the patience to wait 20 minutes to see what is to be offered. It can hurt sales.

    Unless it is from some body known by the visitor. (that they have built some trust with)

    Ryan Deiss used long ones, but i knew about him.
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    • Profile picture of the author freemen14
      Originally Posted by Matt Morgan View Post

      Yes, long sales videos can be a turn off as people don't have the patience to wait 20 minutes to see what is to be offered. It can hurt sales.

      Unless it is from some body known by the visitor. (that they have built some trust with)

      Ryan Deiss used long ones, but i knew about him.

      I think this is an important point. The reputation of the marketer could have a big impact on peoples willingness to sit through the video.
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  • Profile picture of the author TurnKey Internet
    We use sales videos, but keep them short and sweet, and allow people to fast forward to the end.
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  • Profile picture of the author signity2
    I hate them most they are almost boring so I never watch them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      It doesn't matter what we think: it matters what customers think.

      It's easy to assume that people are using these because they've split-tested and found that they work well. Like so many other things in IM, many haven't, and are using them because they think everyone else has split-tested them and that they "must" work.

      They're going to work much better in some niches than in others, clearly.
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      • Profile picture of the author freemen14
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        It doesn't matter what we think: it matters what customers think.

        It's easy to assume that people are using these because they've split-tested and found that they work well. Like so many other things in IM, many haven't, and are using them because they think everyone else has split-tested them and that they "must" work.

        They're going to work much better in some niches than in others, clearly.
        I assume that most of the more advanced marketers have split-tested their methods. I also assume that many marketers are using the SV's because it's a trendy thing to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    What if it was 20 minutes of highlights of your favorite sports teams with juicy insider news thrown in here and there about upcoming trades, locker room gossip, etc.? Then at the end of the 20 minutes you were offered an opportunity to get the latest news direct from the locker room and coaches office every week for only $20/month?

    The point you need watch for in any sales video is WHO is the target market. How excited are THEY to hear the 20 minutes from their favorite marketer/gossiper?

    Where 20 minutes may seem unbearable to many of us, to others they are on the edge of their seats wanting 20 more minutes from their favorite IM hero.

    Which one of those people is most likely to spend the big dollars?
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
      When you think about them from a customer point of view but with inside knowledge as a marketer, you might not want to sit through them, but like Barry says, other people might.

      Like Alexa is saying, many people hear that things are tested and assumed that this is the truth because somebody said it. I would venture to say in addition to that thought, because the web is primarily a social medium and it is virtually impossible to conduct any kind of reliable scientific test in any social medium (because you cannot control all the variables), that even if there were test results, they might not be relevant for your situation.

      All you can really do is try different things and see if they work. And for some people long sales videos might work out great.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        As Barry hinted at, the problem isn't "long" sales videos, any more than it's "long" sales letters.

        The problem is boring sales videos and sales letters.

        I've heard (read) Paul Myers say that he actually uses a longer, text-heavy sales letter for his newsletter as a sorting device, since his newsletters tend to be both long and text-heavy.

        So that long sales video you don't like may be intended more to sort out the people who don't like that kind of thing, and for whom the message doesn't resonate, than it is about conversions...
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Gregory
    Haha this is somewhat fitting that a friend of mine showed me yesterday:

    Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

    As far as long sales video goes I, personally, don't mind as long as there is a way to pause, ff, and rewind in case I want to skip around or go back to something I missed.
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  • Profile picture of the author spearce000
    It all depends on how compelling the video is. If it really draws you in, keeps your interest, tells you lots of interesting information you can't get anywhere else, builds things up and then closes the sale, 20 minutes would be acceptable. If it's boring, doesn't tell you anything new and just trots out the same-old same-old then 20 minutes will be excruciating.

    Like the old saying goes: "When you're with the one you love, an hour passes like a minute. When you're at the dentist, a minute passes like an hour."

    FWIW I've seen a combination of short video on a squeeze page and a longer video on the thank-you page used quite effectively.
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  • Profile picture of the author Charlotte Jay
    I once sat through a sales video that was over an HOUR long. Most of it was building the backstory of the person and then very slooooowly building the hook for the product. The product was priced at an affordable $497 (bwhahahaha) And the product was everything that you can find on WF for free. But, anyway, no I don't usually sit through anything longer than 20 mins because my attention span will drift. I don't need a long spiel about a product. Cut to the chase please.
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    • Profile picture of the author noangel
      From a customer's point of view, I am not a lover of long sales letters,
      nor long sales videos. I particularly hate it when I can't tell how long
      it will be, or have any control over the video, such as ff, rewind, etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
      Personally, I NEED those long sales video when I'm being pitched to.

      I need to have my monkey brain chewed up, swallowed, regurgitated, and spit back out. With vengeance.

      I want to be sucked into that black hole so hard I can floss with my shoe laces as I fall ever deeper into your big fat juicy sales pitch.

      And PLEASE, no sissy controls that will allow my weak spine to fast forward and miss all the hypodrama where you were born in the basement of an outhouse and had to eat leftover's until you were three.

      I crave those parts. It makes me feel 'good' about myself.

      When I'm watching those long sales videos I don't want to be short changed. If it isn't long enough for me to finish a few bags of popcorn, and a big 'ol box of Good & Plenty's, you just weren't trying. If you can't fiqure out how to lengthen your video so it makes "Gone With The Wind" seem like a short story how do you expect me to believe I'm going to be rich if I fall for your pitch.

      So keep 'em comin'...

      ~Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author BrandonLee
    It can't be too long. A buyer wants all the information he can get. It can be, however, too boring.
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  • Profile picture of the author ebusinesstutor
    I am the same way. I can read the sales letter quicker than watching the video. If the sales letter intrigues me, then I might watch the video.

    So pages with no writing and just a video are wasted on me.
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  • Profile picture of the author internetsweetie
    I hate long videos and long sales copy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Site87
    Yeah, when I know what that I am interested in the price of something but don't have the patience to sit through the fluff I just let the video play and check back on it from time to time.
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    We all like a story that is well told. We sit through long movies because we care about the characters and the plot. If people are engaging in sales presentations, length is not all that important.

    The bad thing is that there are so many bad sales videos out there that we tend to expect the worst when we start viewing one. The first thing many of us do is to look at the run time. Once we view for a few minutes, we make a decision about how much we want to see.
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  • Profile picture of the author King Shiloh
    Banned
    I hate long sales videos as much as I hate long sales letter especially if they are full of unnecessary details and repetitions.

    But does it really matter to a vendor since I'm not his target market neither am I part of his buying crowd? No, It doesn't.
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