I just caved in on video salesletters

13 years ago

You need to be careful when comparing what you like
and respond to - as a marketer - with what your market
responds to - as visitors to your site.

That said, my time is valuable and I don't like to sit
through long video presentations either.

I noticed that the current Dan Kennedy GameChanger
DNA program is being launched - almost entirely via
video presentations.

I downloaded those videos (to study those puppies!) and
watched them at 1.5 x speed on QuickTime later at my
convenience.

Before making a change, do a split-test to find out what
your market prefers.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

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helisell 13 years ago

Hi Shaun,

My favourite phrase to marketers

"If you are not split testing everything
you're not even in the game"

We hear about using multiple modes/channels
and I think that is what I'll be testing first.

I think I'll start with a transcript of the spoken word
in the video ...posted beneath the video window.

Prolly will help with S.E.O too and not too difficult
or time consuming to produce.
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- Gail_Curran 13 years ago
  
  Seems like you could put two videos on the page - one that summarizes the offer in 1-2 minutes, and a longer one that goes into more detail. Then let the visitor choose which one he wants to watch.
  .
  
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  kenmichaels 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Gail_Curran
  
  Then let the visitor choose which one he wants to watch.
  .
  
  Its been my experience, if you let your visitors choose ANYTHING,,, you sales drop
  
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onegoodman

13 years ago

I agree with Shaun,

I personally would prefer a video, much more than the long sale page.

The videos will take few minuets, but it would simply tell me what is going on. The description will waste my time.

Amazon just release the new Kindle although I was interested in checking what is so special, first thing I done click on the video, then go to chart. Yes, I prefer videos over description.

Probably, because many of us are just more visual, when you make a page, make sure you taking in consideration different personalities behavior

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Christine2011

13 years ago

Originally Posted by onegoodman

I agree with Shaun,

I personally would prefer a video, much more than the long sale page.

The videos will take few minuets, but it would simply tell me what is going on. The description will waste my time.

Amazon just release the new Kindle although I was interested in checking what is so special, first thing I done click on the video, then go to chart. Yes, I prefer videos over description.

Probably, because many of us are just more visual, when you make a page, make sure you taking in consideration different personalities behavior

I am with you guys

It's more convenient to just watch on the video than read the whole things on the sales page.

Of course, preferably, it should be a specific and more comprehensive vids.

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go4wealth

13 years ago

Testing is critical because our bias can affect our marketing. Personally I like to be able to do a quick scan so I like it when the headlines gives a picture of what is being offered. I like videos but often it takes to long to get to the point.

When there is a video with a quick summary at the bottom that will allow me to scan so I can then determine if I even want to watch the video is my preference.

But I am learning that what I like may not make me money so we have to test, test again, tweak, and test some more and then repeat.

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Michael Shook 13 years ago

It has been my experience that many people do not know how to sell on a video. Or perhaps they think that the more time invested in watching is going to bring them more sales.

Selling on video is a lot more than simply talking on camera. Or listening to some dramatic music loop.

I would also guess that it depends a lot on the market. I make quite a few videos, some sales videos and some as a product and I always script them and practice them. But that's just me, from what I have seen, many folks do not do that even when they are doing their sales pages.

I have found the most success with a video and a short sales letter.
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Trivum

13 years ago

Video is an absolute natural for many things. If I'm thinking of buying something and need more info, for A LOT of things, the first place I'll go to is YouTube.

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EricMN

13 years ago

I am the same way, helisell

I just want the information and to make the decision myself. Ironic, seeing as I am a copywriter and I am more often than not having to write otherwise.

Shaun mentioned Dan Kennedy's game changer series. There's an important lesson there. . .

The fundamental principles never change.

It doesn't matter whether it is video, text, radio or in person. If you can understand how to sell, it will work.

Shaun also mentioned something very important, and it is crucial in understanding the aforementioned principle.

It's not about what we want, it's about what our clients want.

So yeah I like having the facts in front of me quick and easy to make my decision. But it's not for every person and every situation.

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Aaron Doud

13 years ago

I think the key is to have both. Nothing personally pisses me off more than having to watch a video vs. reading about it. And i am sure there are people who are the opposite but if you can use both it can be a powerful way to capture more customers. Remember of course to split test as each situation is different and you may find one or the other or both converts best.

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stunmaster

13 years ago

Bill Glazer is now putting a PDF download of the sales letter below the video sales letter.

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JohnMcCabe

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JMichaelZ

It has been my experience that many people do not know how to sell on a video. Or perhaps they think that the more time invested in watching is going to bring them more sales.

More likely they think that stuff that's important to them is going to be important to the viewer. I really don't need a 20-30 minute biography of the product creator, from birth to pre-launch day, to decide if I should listen. Give me the 30-60 second bio with the biggest reason I should listen.

I don't care how many hours the product took you to create. All I want to know ishow I'm going to be better off with your product and minus my money rather than vice versa.

I also don't want to watch your rough draft, complete with multiple ums, ahs, stutters, lost train of thought, lost place, etc. Either put in the practice time to record smoothly or take the time to clean it up before trying to subject me to it.

I'm not against video. I'm against bad video.

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David Keith

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

I don't care how many hours the product took you to create. All I want to know ishow I'm going to be better off with your product and minus my money rather than vice versa.

the reality is that its easier to sell to emotions than to reality (logic). thus all the over hype and crazy promisses of easy buttons and un-obatainable income claims.

they are selling the non-typical results. thus the disclaimer on most of them "results not typical"

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Paleochora

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

I also don't want to watch your rough draft, complete with multiple ums, ahs, stutters, lost train of thought, lost place, etc. Either put in the practice time to record smoothly or take the time to clean it up before trying to subject me to it.

I'm not against video. I'm against bad video.

I agree with 99% of what you said, John.

There is no need for too lengthy a pre-amble. I, too, have grown tired of the daft and convoluted stories about how a software was 'discovered' or 'found'. Just cut to the chase.

Sometimes a little 'um' or 'ah' shows that there is some humanity at work rather than a paid actor. Although I agree that does not forgive some of the howlingly bad videos I think you are referring to, John.

At the end of the day.....I have always said that I hate scrolling through miles of virtual real estate to find a buy button. Video sales pages, even bad ones, win for me.

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Centurian 13 years ago

Helisell,

I was just debating this issue in my head this morning while I was driving. The problem when you or your prospect doesn't want to be engaged in a long video or sales letter.

We all know the challenges with the mediums.

It just proves nothing is perfect. You can't make people watch, listen or engage with your product. You can only entice them.

This makes it the greater challenge to compel them to engage.

And that is the perennial pursuit of the master marketer. Good thread.

Derrick
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Centurian

13 years ago

Good points Barry.

I think we can compare this challenge with books.

There have been millions of books published over the years. Not all of them are interesting or successful.

You recognize a good book. It engages you with a good hook. Then it follows up with an engaging and powerful story line.

In the end, only the books that deliver on all fronts win the day.

Some are so powerful they still engage after millennia, like the Bible or Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey. Some are printed and never see the light of day.

Just because there is ink, paper and words doesn't mean it's a good book.

This is the challenge of all new media. At first it's interesting because it's new. But after the novelty wears off we get bored.

So too, just because there is video, words and people pitching them doesn't mean they'll all win. Just the great one's.

Derrick

Originally Posted by Paleochora

I agree with 99% of what you said, John.

There is no need for too lengthy a pre-amble. I, too, have grown tired of the daft and convoluted stories about how a software was 'discovered' or 'found'. Just cut to the chase.

Sometimes a little 'um' or 'ah' shows that there is some humanity at work rather than a paid actor. Although I agree that does not forgive some of the howlingly bad I think you are referring to, John.

At the end of the day.....I have always said that I hate scrolling through miles of virtual real estate to find a buy button. Video sales pages, even bad ones, win for me.

Thanks

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ebusinesstutor

13 years ago

I am like you in that if is ONLY a video page with no text content to read, I am out of there. I am a fast reader so I can pick up the gist of a page much quicker than waiting through some cheesy video that wastes the first 10 minutes explaining why the Internet is a good opportunity when I already know that.

I would suggest having both a video and sales text.

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helisell

13 years ago

Some very interesting points being raised here.

Has anyone tried this?

Make a conventional long copy sales page with NO VIDEO...then

make a screen video of you talking through the long copy page.

You can emphasise certain things and add little asides and
generally communicate your offer in a very unique way.

Yes I've tried it.

You put the video at the top of the page then have your long copy
actual sales page below the video. I know it sounds weird...but
after much testing...well go try it yourself.

Don't get me wrong...I love video for selling and communicating online.
But just a video with no copy, no way to purchase without watching the whole thing, no fast track for people who want the info quickly.......

I think we may have to geta bit more sophisticated.

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Espen Samuelsen

13 years ago

Just what I was going to say, why not do both?

Sometimes I'm in the mood for video and sometimes I'm in the mood to just skip and scroll down and see "what is this product about" without having to see a 10 minute long video.

Videon on top, regular sales letter on the bottom, everyone's happy, no?

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JohnMcCabe

13 years ago

Originally Posted by owslaw123

the reality is that its easier to sell to emotions than to reality (logic). thus all the over hype and crazy promisses of easy buttons and un-obatainable income claims.

they are selling the non-typical results. thus the disclaimer on most of them "results not typical"

The ones I'm talking about are not even selling the results. I'm talking about the long 'hero story' that's supposed to impress me. As I said, I don't really care if you 'struggled for years' or 'lived in your car' or spent 10,000 hours and your last dime to develop this miracle you want me to buy. I don't care if you made $1,000,000 using it and you prove it by showing me pictures of your rented mansion, rented sports car and rented hot girlfriend.

I want to know what you believe it will do for me if I use it. I'm making a decision about whether I will be better off for buying it. I don't give a rat's rump about your backstory, so don't bore me with it.

Originally Posted by Paleochora

Sometimes a little 'um' or 'ah' shows that there is some humanity at work rather than a paid actor. Although I agree that does not forgive some of the howlingly bad videos I think you are referring to, John.

You're right. I wasn't referring to an occasional um or ah. Even professional speechifiers (politicos, preachers, motivational speakers, etc.) occasionally stumble over their tongues.

If the ratings are right, just about every human being in reach of a TV set has watched American Idol or one of its clones. Contrast the difference between an otherwise competent performer missing a note and the auditioners suffereing delusions of adequacy, for who hitting the right note is a happy accident.

Originally Posted by helisell

Some very interesting points being raised here.

Has anyone tried this?

Make a conventional long copy sales page with NO VIDEO...then

make a screen video of you talking through the long copy page.

You can emphasise certain things and add little asides and
generally communicate your offer in a very unique way.

Yes I've tried it.

You put the video at the top of the page then have your long copy
actual sales page below the video. I know it sounds weird...but
after much testing...well go try it yourself.

Don't get me wrong...I love video for selling and communicating online.
But just a video with no copy, no way to purchase without watching the whole thing, no fast track for people who want the info quickly.......

I think we may have to geta bit more sophisticated.

I have to confess, my first reaction to this was 'no way this would work', visions of badly dubbed PowerPoint "video articles" dancing in my head.

This bit, however:

You can emphasise certain things and add little asides and
generally communicate your offer in a very unique way.

Got me thinking about HOW I could do it and keep peoples' interest all th way through what could be a long, long video.

Maybe something like a movie trailer, hitting on one or two big benefits and the bullets to support them?

Interesting idea...

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helisell

13 years ago

Exactly right John.

Hit one or two big benefits. You don't 'read' through the site
verbatim. You 'showcase' it.

Glad you saw the potential there....apart from my customers (not IM)
no one has seen this done to my knowledge.

One thing I DO know....it works.

I can PM one of my pages that does it this way.

.

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sal64

13 years ago

Thanks for this thread.

The only reason I don't use video is because... I'm not comfortable with it.

I'd be curious to see one of your pages if possible.

Many thanks,

Sal

Originally Posted by helisell

Exactly right John.

Hit one or two big benefits. You don't 'read' through the site
verbatim. You 'showcase' it.

Glad you saw the potential there....apart from my customers (not IM)
no one has seen this done to my knowledge.

One thing I DO know....it works.

I can PM one of my pages that does it this way.

.

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helisell 13 years ago

PM'd you Sal
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Brandon Bell

13 years ago

Video sales letters are great, if done properly. I think most people on the internet have a short attention span, so videos that are direct and straight to the point work best.

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David Keith

13 years ago

the main reason video converts better is because it allows the marketer more control over how the prospects interact with their site.

sales letters get scanned over. everyone know this. all of us seasoned guys do it. what we are actually doing is skipping over the emotional stuff and looking for the logical stuff.

basically we are scanning over the benefits and looking for the features.

with video, you cant do that. the video sticks mostly to the benefits, and there is no way to scan the video and pick out just the features.

the video also makes you visualize real people having real results. once you see that, its hard for your brain not to rationalize the purchase.

i have been online a while, and i almost never watch the videos. but when i do, i find myself being much more curious than when i land on a sales page and am allowed to scan.

basically by watching the video, i allowed the marketer to control my thought process to some degree for a couple minutes.

great for sellers, not so great for buyers and their wallets.

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Rough Outline

13 years ago

Video sales letter are great because they truly work, in nearly all cases.

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MatthewNeer

13 years ago

I agree totally,

video sales letters bore the heck outta me now. I just wanna know what I'm getting already, and not have to sit through the whole "story".

I suppose those are created for the newbie marketer and carters to them being a bit naive.

I personally like the hybrid video sales letter model with the long from copy below. This way the more experienced dudes, like yourself, who already know the routine, can just get to the point.

Ya digg?

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Alex Kage

13 years ago

Video presentations work. Period. People will always prefer to see a video than to read an article.

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helisell 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Sparda

Video presentations work. Period. People will always prefer to see a video than to read an article.

Not sure that you are right about that.

I like to read well written articles. I watch videos too of course
but I doubt that 'people will always prefer to see a video that read an article'

That was the point in my original post.

.
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sal64 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Sparda

Video presentations work. Period. People will always prefer to see a video than to read an article.

That's just BS and no data to prove it.

People have different ways to process information.

My preference is for sales copy coz I hate sitting thru long-assed videos which I cannot pause etc.

Also, I like to see the price before I decide if the video is worth watching.
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DLH

13 years ago

Those long sales videos tend to make me close my web browser, vs sit through them. Especially the ones that don't even give you the option to move through the video (ie: you HAVE to watch it all the way though). You have no idea how much time you'll be watching it and whatnot. I prefer the mix of a short overview video, with a short sales letter.

David

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sal64

13 years ago

Not sure if video and long copy on the same page is a good idea as it gives too many distractions.

I like your approach Mike and thanks for sharing.

It's funny though that one of the more established marketers in Jimmy D Brown still only uses long copy without video or audio.

Hmmm.

@shaun reilly: Thanks for the heads up on Kennedy's new product. Pure gold!

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helisell 13 years ago

Hi Sal,

The page I sent you converted at about
twice the rate of the original 'copy only'
page.

1389 copies sold so not too shabby eh? ;0)

.
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Sean Johnson

12 years ago

A lot of people consume content on work computers during their breaks etc. One problem with video sales letters is that locked down computers write off that audience "the cubicle nation" who do not have the latest version of flash etc loaded on their work PC so video can not be viewed and when they get home "life takes over". I have bought from Long sales copy and video sales letters.

Sean (The salesmans dream ;-)

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Dylan Lars

12 years ago

Is there a source of compiled data of video sales letters working per niche per area? Or is this just a pipe dream to think it exists?

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JohnMcCabe 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Dylan Lars

Is there a source of compiled data of video sales letters working per niche per area? Or is this just a pipe dream to think it exists?

As far as I know, it's a pipe dream. Most companies guard those kinds of numbers.

You might try someplace like the Direct Marketing Association. If anyone has such a database, they might.

Or, if you have a big enough budget, you could ask the sales reps at Google...
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David Keith

12 years ago

does marketing sherpa have any info on video sales letter. I haven't stopped by there in a while.

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GtGatsby

12 years ago

Personally, I've become quite jaded towards long sales letters. In fact, when I encounter a long sales letter these days, I tend to click off immediately.

Videos are very compelling (and I've bought a couple of products based on the strength of the video/audio pitch). However, multimedia isn't for everyone. Specifically, if your recorded voice sounds like a cat in a vacuum cleaner - like mine - video/audio is going to do more harm than good. If that's the case, you might consider paying for a proper voice artist to record your pitch for you. But, sure, if you have a friendly voice that records well, give it a try. I think it has real mileage.

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myob 12 years ago

More often than not, simple methods still tend to have higher conversions. For example, in some markets such as business/professional prospects, video letters may be considered too patronizing or a waste of time.

When you show due respect for your prospects' time, you will be highly rewarded. I still use bullet points with short copy in all of my sales pages, with an accompanying <3 minute product demo if it is needed to enhance the sales presentation.

Stand-alone video sales letters may have their places, but not in my prospects' faces. Your mileage may vary.
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I just caved in on video salesletters

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