Videos, videos, videos - IMHO, it is getting to be too much.

I'm with you brother. Perhaps one justification for a video is when there are some fiddly screens to navigate through - then an over-the-shoulder video could be helpful. What really frustrates me is when something goes wrong during a screen capture, and the author can't be bothered to edit it out.

People tend to like watching better than reading...no one really likes to read.

At ElderAcademy.com where I teach a number of video courses, I try to offer both videos as well as a pdf text book so people can get the best of both worlds...not sure why others don't do the same.

I'd rather just do written material...I write better than I speak :-p but that's the world we live in...

I understand where you're coming from. I enjoy the quickness of text content as well.

Easy to scan through and just "get to the point", right?

As someone who creates videos and has created a video based product, I think that the perceived value is much higher when the word "video" is involved.

However, I always make sure to make a written version or PDF transcript available of all the vids in my products just in case I get a customer like yourself.

I love watching vids, but more so for recreation and entertainment, rather than educational/informational purposes; although there are some educational/information vid makers whos vids I will watch because they're entertaining as well.

Overall, I think that it's just best to do both and mix it up. That way you cover all your basis.

Ti

Having different learning modalities for a product increases it's overall perceived value and creates happier customers.

I dislike them. I prefer written material over a video and would only buy a "video product" if it's exceptionally good. Other than that I always go for documents.

With videos you can make your product look bigger and more valuable. I think that's the main reason sellers use them. From what I've seen what "video sellers" say in 5 videos can most of the time be compiled in a pdf of 10-20 pages. A product which consists of 5 videos is more appealing to most people than a 10-20 page report and the refund rate will most probably be less as well, since the former looks more valuable even if both contain the same information.

i'm with you too, i like to skip some material only read what makes me interested most then after that sometime i will read fast the rest.. But it's hard with video to like that.. i think it's good if they provide two version pdf and video..

I prefer video, especially the "over-the-shoulder-" videos as you can see exactly what they are doing, making it (in my opinion) easier to follow.

To me it doesn't really matter as long as the content is good and structured well. There's nothing worse than dragging out concepts for long periods of time that can be said quickly, or being unorganized to the point where they don't really know what they're going to say next. That can be painful. But assuming it is good, then usually I want it in both. The video because you learn more from audio and visual, and the text for quick reference and implementation later.

The reason why I tend to like audio and video better, even if it's more time consuming for me, is because I'm very picky about what I buy.

So if I'm buying a WSO that turns out to be rehashed PLR, where they just hired someone to do a voice over and read the PDFs, then yes, I just want the PDFs.

I'm aware that there are tiny little gems, even in rehashed PLR products. But I do not want to listen to some guy they hired on fiverr to read them to me. That's annoying.

But if it's someone I genuinely like and follow who has pretty good presentation skills, I'm happy. Because often they'll say extra things, and their voice inflections highlight whats useful.

Even if they have bad presentation skills and good content (still painful) I will grin and bear it, but I still want the PDFs so I can search them for a certain how-to action step later if necessary.

Marc

PS. If you're selling your own products, multiple formats is always a better value argument than just one type of format for obvious reasons.

PPS. There is another argument for video, look up a thing called the cone of learning. The least useful way to learn is by reading, you retain the least amount of information.

That's why you can read a book 17 times and get 17 different experiences each time. But usually if it's video training, and you pay attention, you get it all at once.

I've always preferred reading a list of points that summarize an application, from which I can then take the ones I'm interested and find out more. But a video that acts as a quick tutorial style video showing the main screens and forms etc is useful and I will always watch those, and there is nothing more helpful (in my opinion) than documentation that is accompanied by a series of short how-to videos that can be followed easily and paused at any point.


The mind works by association and for me at least this doesn't always go well with videos because you cannot tell where to skip forward to see more about a particular point that was raised by the presenter. With text it is far quicker to learn what you need to know if it is laid out well and clearly.

I think when video first came out and became a popular medium that everyone started using it and felt that it was sometimes superior to text on sales copy, web copy, etc. But, the trend got a little out of control and it seemed like video is used in places where text might be superior.

As with anything in an online business you have to focus on conversion rates and test different mediums. Sometimes a combination of video/text works best, sometimes just video works well, etc. It's just a matter of testing and tweaking.

Yes, watching all kinds of videos over and over again gets a little bit annoying. I personally prefer to have a book that I can access at all times, but I guess it is easier for them to make a video than write something!

Interesting responses!

Like Ti Roberts pointed out, I think part of the video surge has to do with perceived value. After all, a (well-produced) video is "fancier" than a PDF, right? Perhaps marketers just want to be "fancy" these days.

IMO, another reason for all of the videos is the trust factor. When you can see and hear someone, it makes it easier to determine if they're someone you actually feel comfortable taking advice from. Sure, you can get just as much information out of a written report, but you don't get that same "one-on-one" contact that a video gives you.

It would be interesting to have some of the video marketers chime in and list their reasons for using video over written stuff