Video vs Text Copy in Squeeze Page?

20 replies
Nowadays more and more people are promoting their free report or IM course by a video squeeze page, and most of the time without text.
They also make it impossible to pause the video or to get the report until you've watched the whole video (and sometimes they're over 10 minutes long!).

Can this really be profitable?
Is this really a better method than just an old-fashioned text-based squeeze page with a great hook and a fast call for action?

I can't image people watching a 10+ minute video which never gets to the point.
#copy #page #squeeze #text #video
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    There's a difference between using a tactic and using it successfully. They say the NFL is a 'me-too' league. Unfortunately IM makes NFL coaches look like a bunch of anarchists.

    They see that Gooroo Joe uses a longish video with no controls, no text, and a fancy animated, time-delayed button on a squeeze page. So they assume it works, since Joe did it. So they copy it blindly, without figuring out how Joe warmed up the audience before the show starts.

    Then they come to forums like this one and start threads with titles like "Why isn't my squeeze page converting?"

    The best marketers are avid testers. Odds are, if you visit one of their squeeze pages, you are looking at one part of a test. The Catch-22 is that you don't know if you are looking at the winner or the loser. Copy the loser, and odds are you lose, too.

    The only way to know for sure is to try it - with your traffic and your offer. You also have to look at what happens after the squeeze. If you generate numbers of opt-ins but no sales, is the tactic really effective?
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian T Burkard
    Hi Stolpioni,

    John gave some great advice! You must test what you are doing and keep testing til you get the result you want or scrap the marketing campaign and start all over.

    If you are using a squeeze page to offer a free report to start building a list and you decide to use a video, you don't need a 10 minute video. Use a short video with a headline, a few benefits and a call to action....tell them to enter their name and email to get your FREE report. If you are selling something then you will probably want a longer video to make the sale.

    I would recommend that you go to Clickbank and look at the top selling products there and look at their sales page. Are they mainly using video or text. This is a quick way to start because these top sellers have tested their videos and their copy and are getting results.

    However, Old fashioned squeeze pages without video still work.

    The main thing is to test and see how your prospects respond. If you are getting your prospects from social media places like Facebook, then you probably want to be a little more casual in your marketing because it is more a friend type of prospect as compared to trying to get a cold prospect, where you will want use more powerful sales copy to get them on your list or to make a sale.
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    • Profile picture of the author iwowwe4you
      I use video a lot, but it comes with some text explanation on what people will see in that video. Also they can stop or pause it at any time. Works good, but I guess it depends on the niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
    As others have said, test it.

    I tried using a video on my health niche. The conversion rate dropped to 7% with video, while the pure text was at a stead 22%.

    A few more changes and now I'm enjoying 32% conversion rate for my squeeze page. Think of all the lost revenue if I had just stayed with the video!

    Test, test, test.
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    • Profile picture of the author phmoisan
      Originally Posted by joaquin112 View Post

      As others have said, test it.

      I tried using a video on my health niche. The conversion rate dropped to 7% with video, while the pure text was at a stead 22%.

      A few more changes and now I'm enjoying 32% conversion rate for my squeeze page. Think of all the lost revenue if I had just stayed with the video!

      Test, test, test.
      In the end, are you saying you tweaked your text page and gave up on using a video, or did you tweak the video page ?
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Different strokes for different folks. I personally am a fan of text squeeze pages. There's no telling how fast a person's internet connection is, plus they have to wait until the video downloads via flash - and that can cause headaches too, even on a so-called "high speed" internet service.
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  • Profile picture of the author John J M
    As was mentioned above, it really comes down to whether or not you have a video that really affects people in some way. Usually these videos are very well done and hit an emotional point through the use of film. This is really an art.

    Now, if you already have some authority and people know your face (and you're marketing only to people who already know you) just putting up a down-to-earth quick video of you in front of the camera can work.

    In almost all cases though, less is more. The simple text based squeeze page is still the best in almost every case.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mabuhay Land
      I personally HATE most video squeeze or sales pages unless they are really well done. And the average person does NOT do them well!

      It is much easier to do text squeeze and sales pages. You can basically swipe copy from sales pages that you like...they all do it.

      But the bottom line is testing! Test test test.

      When I finally figured out how to make money online I realized that the most successful people did three things....they kept things fairly simple, they stayed focused, and they tested.

      So just test and find out.
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  • Profile picture of the author MartinPlatt
    You wouldn't think so, but you'd have to test it.

    I guess it depends upon the information that is being given. If it's all usable content, then it might, but if it's one of these really long videos that tell you nothing, and you're not already well know, then probably not.

    There is the possibility of doing shorter videos though...
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  • Profile picture of the author LiftMyRank
    IMO people spend far too much time on traffic and opt-ins oppose to conversions, having longer sales copy will result in lower opt-in rate but can result in higher conversions..
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    • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
      Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

      Different strokes for different folks. I personally am a fan of text squeeze pages. There's no telling how fast a person's internet connection is, plus they have to wait until the video downloads via flash - and that can cause headaches too, even on a so-called "high speed" internet service.
      Good point, Randall!

      And then, there's another related issue... What with videos requiring ever newer Flash plugins, not everyone has their player installed or turned on. My Firefox usually eats so much memory that I keep my flash plugin turned off 90% of the time - which means that video-only pages, whether optin or sales pages, sometimes won't even load the buy button. Very frustrating, especially if I'm interested in the subject.

      If I'm REALLY interested, I save the URL and then watch it once I switch browsers to Safari, which does play them, but has other quirks which make me prefer Firefox...

      Anyway, I much prefer text, and was glad to see that joaquin found that it works great Of course, testing is always a good idea...
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  • Profile picture of the author trevord92
    For me, as a potential customer I prefer text but on the couple of squeeze pages where I've used video, I don't force people to watch it all the way through before deciding whether or not to opt in and I'm getting a steady number of opt-ins.

    As others have said, so lomg as you're getting sufficient traffic to make a test valid, testing is definitely the way to go.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by stolpioni View Post

    Nowadays more and more people are promoting their free report or IM course by a video squeeze page, and most of the time without text. They also make it impossible to pause the video or to get the report until you've watched the whole video (and sometimes they're over 10 minutes long!).

    Can this really be profitable?
    Hard to imagine, isn't it? :confused:

    But many people feel really strongly that "people wouldn't be doing this unless it worked" and that "everyone else must have split-tested it". And if people are going to base their commercial decisions on "logic" like that, discussions about it with them become a bit futile.

    Someone who split-tested reported above that video cut his conversion-rate by about two-thirds. Other split-testing results I've seen, in various different niches, have also been entirely in accordance with that sort of result. Others' mileages may vary.

    But there are a lot of people making their livings providing video services of various kinds (remember that selling shovels is typically easier than digging for gold, even if many of the shovels are full of holes), and collectively the hype and nonsense you can find online about "the joys of video" does nearly as good a job on gullible marketers as the hype and nonsense you used to find a few years ago about other, now-totally-discredited, often purportedly SEO-based "techniques" (call me a skepchick but I've noticed that some of them are even promoted by the very same people, too!).

    This thread's instructive: http://www.warriorforum.com/off-topi...o-content.html
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  • Profile picture of the author drewfioravanti
    If someone watches a 10 minute video and then decides to opt in, chances are they are a more valuable lead than someone who read a headline and enters an email address to get an ebook.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by drewfioravanti View Post

      If someone watches a 10 minute video and then decides to opt in, chances are they are a more valuable lead than someone who read a headline and enters an email address to get an ebook.
      Maybe. But the question you have to ask yourself, I think, and to try to discover, at least statistically, by testing the quality/responsiveness of the lists built, is whether that same person would also have opted in to a text squeeze page anyway. In which case the video one isn't actually gaining anything, perhaps?
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  • Profile picture of the author drewfioravanti
    It's more about who doesn't opt in than who does.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by drewfioravanti View Post

      It's more about who doesn't opt in than who does.
      Yes, I certainly won't argue with that one. It took me long enough to learn it.

      At first, I used to think in terms of the number of people who opted in (making the classic mistake of assuming that the biggest list built from the traffic was also necessarily going to be the highest-earning list - it's far from true, of course).
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        Yes, I certainly won't argue with that one. It took me long enough to learn it.

        At first, I used to think in terms of the number of people who opted in (making the classic mistake of assuming that the biggest list built from the traffic was also necessarily going to be the highest-earning list - it's far from true, of course).
        That reminds me of a story about two golfing buddies. After a round, they were showering off in the clubhouse when one commented on the size of his friend's 'package'.

        "I'm jealous. I wish I had one that looked that good in the shower..."

        The other countered with

        "Tell me, friend. How often do you and your wife still make love?"

        "At least once a day."

        "And are you still seeing your mistress regularly?"

        "Two or three nights a week, when I'm 'working late'"

        "Speaking of work, are you still doing your AA?"

        "Just about every lunch hour. Why?"

        "You wanna trade yours for one that looks good in the shower?"

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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Originally Posted by drewfioravanti View Post

      It's more about who doesn't opt in than who does.
      Bingo! I have actually never been a fan of "squeeze" pages; IMO they typically attract time-wasting freeloaders and do not effectively screen for qualified prospects. But consider that it doesn't necessarily have to be exclusively either video or text copy. What does seem to filter as well as convert well (especially for high end or complex products) is a judicious combination of text and video - perhaps even seasoned with some tastefully themed graphics.
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