3 Things You Need to Know About Making a Marketing Video Convert

Daniel Glickman is CMO of PowToon, an animated videos & presentations platform. This article originally appeared on The Next Web

In this brilliant digital era, consumers are watching more videos now than ever – in fact by 2016, the number of people who watch online videos is expected to reach 1.5 billion.

Standing out in the crowd is remarkably difficult and growing harder by the minute. Analyzing data of 2 million videos created in a well-known platform, here are 3 facts that you need to know about using Videos to generate conversions in your landing page.

Fact #1: Landing pages with video are likely to convert

You did your keyword research and you’ve got good organic and paid traffic. You’ve worked tirelessly with designers to get your landing pages just right. You’ve done your market research and people are interested in what you offer – yet your page isn’t converting.

It’s not surprising that researches show consistently higher conversion rates for landing pages with videos than those without. Today’s consumer craves more information and loves videos. Even more interesting: conversion rates are higher no matter how many people view the videos or how long they watch them for.

What this means for you is that putting a video on your page can help you triumph over low conversion rates, even if people don’t see it. And if you don’t try video, you’re risking never knowing what kind of impact it could have.

Fact #2: About 60 percent of marketing video views are lost in the first 8 seconds

Your marketing video is amazing, you love it, and you’re sure everyone will love every second of it. But, no matter how great your video is, the data shows that videos lose the most viewers in the first 8 seconds. Some could think “this isn’t for me,” while others bore quickly, or they could just get distracted.

What you as a marketer or designer need to do is to put the information that you really want to communicate in the first few seconds. Since you only have a few seconds to tantalize your visitors and make them want to stay for more, don’t waste those first moments in your video.

In fact, the first 8 seconds aren’t your only challenge. Researches show that the first 20 seconds, the number of viewer takes a sharp plunge.

What is going on in the video during this decline?

10 seconds

Decision time! “Will I or won’t I watch this video,” is what viewers decide during this crucial time. The first 10 seconds is your time to secure viewers. Anywhere from 20 to 60 percent of viewers abandon videos in under 10 seconds.

30 seconds +

Distraction time! While visitors decided to give the video a chance, it’s in the first 30 seconds that they’ll abandon the video. Different studies have come up with varying averages, but the bottom line is that both getting a user’s attention and keeping it are a huge challenge, no matter length of the video.

You’ll want to experiment with different ways to keep users engaged in your video, and increase your profit by running A/B testing. Finding what works for your company is like running your own case study.

Fact #3: 45 percent of animated marketing videos are made by small businesses (which are leading the way as early adopters of short animated vids)

As a business owner, you’re making a mistake if you assume that a marketing video is just for the big guys. A few years ago this might have been true, but today there is a frenzy of new marketing videos, even among small businesses. And these “small” businesses generated an astounding 986 billion dollars in revenue in 2013.

But with 75 percent of small businesses having only one employee, and the average annual revenue of those businesses being $44,000, marketing budgets can be limited.

One great way small business owners can conquer competitors, earn new customers, and inspire credibility is by making videos. And since making videos can be cost prohibitive to small business owners, making a short animated video is a cost effective way to get into the video marketing world.

The bottom line

If you’re not thinking about a marketing video, you could be missing out on customers and losing ground to your competitors.

Not every product deserves an online videos, in some cases it may even distract you from converting in a page (Seeing the video – finding it very fun/boring – seeing it again – forgetting why you arrived at the page).

But numbers don’t lie; it definitely has an enormous potential and it’s just up for grabs. Do an A/B testing on your landing page with and without video and let us know how it worked out.