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What percentage of you do this on a website?

by goalswithinreach
24 replies
I was visiting a website today that had auto-play audio that caught my attention. I had my speakers turned fairly low, but the message was awesome, so I ended up staying on the site for nearly 30 minutes.

My questions is: How many of you visit websites with your audio turned off, vs. how many have audio turned on?

Secondary question: Do you enjoy hearing audio (not music) messages from websites, and find them helpful, or do you find it annoying?

I'm asking because I noticed most the guru sites autoplay video, and they do so for a reason. So I'm wondering if it's the audio that plays even if you're on a different tab (I usually have at least 8 - 10 tabs open at any time) that draws you back to the video/site, or if there's something else at work?

Anyhow, interested in hearing your thoughts about audio messages playing on websites. Thanks!
#percentage #website
  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
    If most websites grace my ears with autoplaying audio it usual results in a swift exit.

    I don't mind it on some squeeze pages though which mark the only exeption since I'm usualy there for one thing.
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    • Profile picture of the author goalswithinreach
      Thanks for sharing Daniel. So if the audio is targeted to or relevant to your reason for being at the site, you're fine with it. Excellent.

      If it's interruption based, then it is annoying? Just making sure I understand the feedback fully.



      Originally Posted by Daniel Evans View Post

      If most websites grace my ears with autoplaying audio it usual results in a swift exit.

      I don't mind it on some squeeze pages though which mark the only exeption since I'm usualy there for one thing.
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      • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
        Originally Posted by goalswithinreach View Post

        Thanks for sharing Daniel. So if the audio is targeted to or relevant to your reason for being at the site, you're fine with it. Excellent.

        If it's interruption based, then it is annoying? Just making sure I understand the feedback fully.
        There's a local newspaper website which I stopped visiting since they introduced autoplay audio adverts which would be anything from the latest Ford car to eye surgery offers so I quite visiting.

        I found it an easier solution to hunting around for a mute button.

        It was a blessing in disguise though. I stopped browsing a little less news media junk.
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  • Profile picture of the author Avish
    This Is Really Admirable Technique.. I Enjoy It Very Much When I Come Across Such Sites.. I Also Wanna Do It Sometime In My Blogs And Sites..
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  • Profile picture of the author salegurus
    Volume muted, even when on i don't listen to auto-play messages...
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by goalswithinreach View Post

    How many of you visit websites with your audio turned off, vs. how many have audio turned on?
    Always off.

    Originally Posted by goalswithinreach View Post

    Secondary question: Do you enjoy hearing audio (not music) messages from websites, and find them helpful, or do you find it annoying?
    Annoying.

    There are many threads here in which Warriors discuss sites with "autoplay video/audio".

    I always imagine that many marketers like them (though I know many customers hate them), and I get a surprise every time they're discussed here, because almost all the posts turn out to be from people saying "I hate them, I'd never use them".

    For myself, I'm not willing to send any of my traffic, in any niche, to pages with autoplay video/audio, because I have a sense, in a wide variety of niches, of how many people they lose.

    I strongly suspect that the overwhelming majority of sites using autoplay video/audio are doing so without having split-tested it themselves, on the mistaken assumption that "it must work, otherwise everyone wouldn't be doing it". I'm admittedly a notorious skepchick, but to me, those people - collectively - are schmeckels, not gurus. (I do see that in "IM niches", autoplay video/audio perhaps isn't quite so inappropriate and misguided, but I'm talking about "ordinary internet users"/"customers", not "other marketers").
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
    Originally Posted by napoleonfirst View Post

    That is a great way of getting attention from a visitor.
    You can get the attention of someone by jumping out from behind a bush at 4am.

    I can't guarantee they are going to want it though....
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  • Profile picture of the author evilsaigon
    It does draw my uninvited attention, especially from all those autoplay videos, where I'd be frantically searching which tab is causing all that ruckus and closing it without really looking.

    Unless you're doing this for a music related site, it's definitely not advisable.
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    • Profile picture of the author goalswithinreach
      Excellent feedback folks. Thank you so much.

      My original thought was that audio would receive more of a negative than a positive response, but this confirms it for me that the overall perception is not a positive one.


      Originally Posted by evilsaigon View Post

      It does draw my uninvited attention, especially from all those autoplay videos, where I'd be frantically searching which tab is causing all that ruckus and closing it without really looking.

      Unless you're doing this for a music related site, it's definitely not advisable.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jean Morgan
      I immediately close any site that autoplays anything to me. I hate it.

      I will not put it on my sites either since my sites are aimed at an older demographic and those I have spoken to say they don't like it. Having said that I can see it working with a younger visitor profile possibly but for middle aged and upwards Brits it is a definite no.
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      • Profile picture of the author Techmaverick85
        Originally Posted by Jean Morgan View Post

        I immediately close any site that autoplays anything to me. I hate it.

        I will not put it on my sites either since my sites are aimed at an older demographic and those I have spoken to say they don't like it. Having said that I can see it working with a younger visitor profile possibly but for middle aged and upwards Brits it is a definite no.
        Ah...that's what it must be, I'm a Brit...are we all impatient then?
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        • Profile picture of the author Jean Morgan
          Originally Posted by Techmaverick85 View Post

          Ah...that's what it must be, I'm a Brit...are we all impatient then?
          I don't see it as impatience. I see it as an unwanted intrusion.
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            Originally Posted by Jean Morgan View Post

            I see it as an unwanted intrusion.
            That's how potential customer traffic tends to see it, as well. And not only middle-aged ones. And not only Brits. But only people who ask them find out. As with so many other aspects of internet marketing, people who just copy it from "gurus", "because it 'must' be working", don't learn anything.
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            • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
              Audio always muted. As Daniel pointed out in his first post in the thread, more and more sites are replacing static image ads with autoplay audio/video. Extremely annoying, especially when coded to make scrolling impossible until the video finishes.

              Originally Posted by Daniel Evans View Post

              You can get the attention of someone by jumping out from behind a bush at 4am.

              I can't guarantee they are going to want it though....
              Here in Florida, I can't even guarantee you would survive it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Techmaverick85
    I was going to post a thread asking opinions on a related topic.

    A number of IM products that I've seen recently (I'm pretty new to IM, so it might be a tried and tested technique) in various niches have a video on autoplay, which you can't fast forward/skip etc and there is NO call to action until the VERY end of the video.

    I've left one playing for about 15 minutes, and the CTA has only just appeared

    Any opinions on this? Success stories when promoting products with this technique?

    I for one wouldn't have the patience to sit through it all...but I am pretty impatient, to be fair...
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  • Profile picture of the author fatih bulut
    when i land on such kinda site, i immediately leave because i think it is meant to keep me stay on the site but i am not interested even if it is something useful.

    And because it is usually a marketing strategy, and i hate it when someone sets up strategy on me
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    • Profile picture of the author Techmaverick85
      Originally Posted by fatih bulut View Post

      when i land on such kinda site, i immediately leave because i think it is meant to keep me stay on the site but i am not interested even if it is something useful.

      And because it is usually a marketing strategy, and i hate it when someone sets up strategy on me
      Oh yeah, it's ALWAYS a marketing strategy...but I guess that's because you KNOW the technique they are using. As a consumer it might have a different effect
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  • Profile picture of the author DonnyBoy
    Its a successful trend going on now a days (Playing audio once you open a website).... Well to me it looks like a nice idea if that is according to visitor need and he would see that video to see how this website stuff can help him/her.... Its all keywords game.... So if your video related to your keyword and related to your website stuff also if it covers a genuine profitable stuff, that's awesome...
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I hit the bye bye key instantly. I hate autoplay. If I want to listen to something, I can figure it out myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author VinnieVegas
    My speakers are almost always on.

    If an audio starts when I visit a site, it annoys me and I leave.
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    • Profile picture of the author agmccall
      If an autoplay video or audio starts when I enter a website and I do not see an on/off button immediately, I leave. If the switch is there I might stay and read what is offered. If it is only a video or audio that I have to watch/listen to I leave. If video does not have controls so I can fast forward I leave.

      al
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      "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

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  • Profile picture of the author wendallb
    Auto play, audiio or video or popups then I leave
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Originally Posted by goalswithinreach View Post

    I'm asking because I noticed most the guru sites autoplay video, and they do so for a reason.
    Which gurus are you referring to? The authority sites that I visit rarely have any audio or video set on autoplay. They know better.

    Certainly audio and video are important media tools, but I believe you should always let your customer decide if and when they want to play them.

    How would you like to walk into a restaurant and have a meal shoved in your face before you even looked at the menu?

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author MareeZAR
    I hate it when you open a site and a video starts to play, I just know somebody wants to sell me something and I am normally not in the mood to buy!
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