We were surprised (as we sometimes are during tests) to find that a newly designed offer page advertising an online subscription product which included a video from the founder of the company, explaining the product, converted much lower than the same page without the video:

Figure 1: Percentage of users who continued through each step of a subscription offering, by offer.

This was confusing to us. Shouldn’t the founder of a company personally explaining the features and benefits of a product sell the product better than a plain text/graphic page?

What we found was this:

A portion of the users could either not hear the sound or watch the video altogether, therefore missing out on the main point of the offer.

Those that did watch the video (indicated by the fact that they also made it to the next step of the registration process) were much more likely to continue the process.

If a user actually watches a video, it appears it does increase the overall conversion rate, however if they miss it somehow, due to technical issues, then they are not as likely to purchase or take action.

The short answer appears to be -- Yes.

In a recent set of tests, in which we distributed 28 short, entertaining video clips through YouTube and Google Video, we converted almost 1.5% of viewers into subscribers.

That may not sound like a huge conversion rate. However, all of these video clips were non-commercial. They were simply entertaining, with no sales message included.

In other words, the video clip was simply part one in a three-step process.

1. Watch the video.
2. Go to the site url featured at the end of the video clip.
3. Sign up for the site’s newsletter.

The use of online video in this way, to drive site traffic and convert visitors to subscribers or buyers, is still in its infancy.

If you would like to know more, and study the full set of data from our recent tests, register for our free webinar, this Wednesday, at 4:00PM EST -- Can viral video clips drive targeted traffic to your web site?

That is to say, if you create a video clip to run on TV, will it be received just as well on the web or on a mobile device?

Marketers everywhere might hope that the answer to this question is yes. It would certainly cut down on budgets if a single video could be run across all media with equal success.

But common sense says no. As does this article in MarketingVOX, citing results from a recent survey sponsored by the Cablevision Advertising Bureau.

Here is a short excerpt:

More than 60 percent said they prefer watching video on TV rather than a computer or iPod. Only 12 percent of those with video-enabled phones said they used it for video. Only 30 percent said they had an additional screen device (beyond a TV and computer) used for watching video.

So while marketers dream of teens and those in their early twenties being glued to their iPods and cell phones, eager to watch another commercial video, the truth seems a little different. And you have only to look at some of the short amateur video clips that have burst onto the scene through services like YouTube to see that while they were immensely popular on the web, they would likely not go down as well on TV.

In other words, each medium, or screen, suits different approaches to video, and they are not necessarily interchangeable.

As we have mentioned before in this blog, we are undertaking a significant study ourselves on the potential of video as a marketing tool online. The question of the right video for the right screen will doubtless be an issue that merits exploring.

Here are a few examples of what we feel are great viral videos:

1. Terry Tate, Office Linebacker

We like this (maybe we can relate) but why in the world did Reebok take the page on their site down that it points to?

2. The German Energy Drink Commercial:

Make sure your volume is turned WAY up.

3. What are You Thinking About?

We laugh every time we watch it!

Following is a PDF of the Presentation from yesterday's research call:

Video for the Web 3.0 - Research Project Overview

It will give you an overview of what we went over, in case anyone missed it.

Also, you can click here for the audio:

Video Research Project Audio

We do not know exactly how many times these videos have been viewed or passed around. They are (in our opinion) great examples of large corporations creating and then using them to market virally over the internet.

Making a video, even one of these professional commercials, is not that hard (it just takes money). Making one that is good enough to get passed around, is hard.

Here are some of our favorites:

Learn a New Language

Buy Nike Shoes

During the course of our upcoming video research project we'll be looking specifically at what makes a good video, and what causes it to spread on the internet.

We recently conducted our first conference call to introduce the upcoming video research project. The goal of this projec is to answer the questions:

1. How can video be best used to sell a product or service?
2. How can video be used as a way to market virally online?

It is clear that there has been a huge growth online for the 'amateur' video producer and consumers, however to date it is not clear what the commercial use of online video is, specifically how marketers can use video cost-effectively.

During the first call, we looked at a short clip that a creative Jerry Bader's creative firm Jerry Bader, of MRP Web Media put together called "Battle of the Blizzard", which was a creative approach for building brand awareness for Blizzards.

Jerry expressed that “in the sterile and untrusting environment of the internet today, video can communicate trust and visual validity when promoting a business’s services or products.”

We all agreed. It seems, at least at first glance that video adds an entirely new dimension to web.

Next, we heard from Alan Mathias, marketing executive for NDC Infrared Engineering, which sells high-end industrial control equipment through a sales team and distributor network.

He created this video as a tool for his sales team to use as a way to 'communicate a consistent message' to customers. The response was that it is a useful tool, but he has not been able to quantify the impact of the video.

This conversation highlighted the need for qualitative research in this area. We are even more enthusiastic to answer these questions.

If you missed this call, or if you would like to partcipate in this study, please register online:

http://www.marketingexperiments.com/video-call.html

P.S. To date we have had over 50 applicants for this research. If you are interested in participating, please contact us soon.

If you work in the online world you can hardly have missed all the latest talk about using video and video clips to promote products and services.

Suddenly, video clips are the way to go. And every marketer’s dream appears to be based on magically going “viral” on YouTube.com or some other video-sharing site.

Based on some of the comments from this recent article in the Chicago Tribune, online agency executives are eager to invest in this emerging “medium”.

We have a feeling that most of the money going into “video clip marketing” will be wasted. It will be clutter. Just like the last round of rich media investments.

This doesn’t mean to say we don’t believe in the potential of video online. Far from it. In fact, we are currently looking for research partners to explore this further.

However, it is our guess that agencies and companies will rush into video marketing with sales-centered clips, and be disappointed by the results.

While further research will reveal more, some initial testing indicates that there are three basic ways to go with video.

1. Use video to deliver information and add a depth to your web site content in a way that is either hard or impossible to achieve with text and static images alone. (Here is an example from one of our partners, National Alert Registry.)

2. Use video as a “how to” demonstration tool. (How to install a video card in your computer, how to make a Caesar Salad, how to install a dish washer etc.)

3. Or use video to entertain.

This third option will be hard to achieve for most companies. There are countless hundreds of thousands of video clips fighting for attention already, most of them made by enthusiastic amateurs. And the chances of any one clip going “viral” in a big way are very slim.

As we learn more about what really works with video clips, we’ll share our findings here and, in time, in the form of a full report.