ATTENTION: I’ve edited this blog post and removed my link to Jay’s product. It really wasn’t fair for me to write a post like this, put the blog reader into a totally bad frame of mind about a particular type of video, and then send them to exactly what I was just bickering about.
The point of this blog post was not meant to be so much about the specific product, but the practice, the effectiveness and the feelings from the community. You.
I was really interested in multiple testing statistics. And boy did I get them. However, I SEVERELY skewed those statistics by writing this blog post and then directing traffic in the manner I did. And because my blog kicks ass, I rank really well in the search engines for all kinds of terms related to his product.
Therefore I’m gonna delete any mention to his product because I just don’t think it’s fair for someone to see this post first, and then see his sales pitch. Seems like a dick move. And I really want the best for him.
Truth is, I’m really pumped that he took the time to make that video. It took a lot of balls. A ton. And guess what? It really did work like Gangbusters! More so then he ever expected. What’s a guy to do? Take down a video that is lining his pockets with a ton of cash? That’s what we are in this game to do if I’m not mistaken. Of course this goes without saying a worthwhile product is being delivered.
And in the whole mess of controls, or no video controls, content, no content and frustration we kind of lost sight that Jay is selling a product and method that has worked really well for him, and he’s willing to share.
I have much more to say on this topic. It’s been extremely interesting, educational, frustrating and profitable (for many of us). I really have some amazing ideas about this whole topic and mind set, but not sure how to formulate it all. I do look forward to discussing it further.
Okay, here’s the post today (with a few edits) that started the barrage of comments. Thank you everyone who chimed in. I only ask everyone keep an open mind, and ask yourself… “why” as often as you can.
……….
……….
During the last 6 months marketers have been exposed to a new kind of video that not everyone is fond of. Even I hated this tactic when I first saw it, and to this day I’m still not overly excited about it.
However, being a marketer and a astute observer of human behavior I’m able to set aside my personal preferences at times and see through the eyes of others who may think differently than myself. I also keep a close eye on the profits generated from a particular tactic.
Here’s where the controversy kicks in. A large amount of people HATE these types of videos and here’s why…
1. There are no controls except for a pause button. You can’t rewind or fast forward. (I know, it’s a bitch)
2. They are basically just slide shows that don’t present a whole lot of information or content. Instead they tell stories, show earnings, tease you with desire and bait you into wanting something that you can’t yet have.
3. You can’t see the price until the video is nearly done.
4. And a host of other things.
I hate to say this, but if you start educating people too much about your product in the sales process you’ll lose a lot of orders. Instead of focusing on the product features and all the bells and whistles of the products, many smart video creators do something different.
They future pace the experience you are going to have once you buy and implement the product. They display the life that you “COULD” have. They force you to imagine what might happen if you just do what they did or said in the video.
And guess what? It works. In fact, it works better than showing people exactly what they are getting in most instances. Lame, I know. But hey, I’m not operating on emotions here. I’m simply observing.
Think about all the late night infomercials you see on the television. Do you ever actually know what you are getting? Of course not. All you know is you’re getting “The System” that has worked for so many others. (Or at least that is what they tell you).
Anyhow, there are a bunch of lessons to be learned from these types of videos. Whether or not you’re willing to sit through 30 minutes of slides shows and a well orchestrated voice over is another matter in itself. If you do, I suggest you take notes.
Here’s another reason I believe these videos work so well. They literally force you to sit through the sales process. A wise direct marketer will take you through a series of steps to warm you up to the sale. Many call the process AIDA. Most marketers or copywriters are familiar with this process. It’s…
A = Attention
I = Interest
D= Desire
A = Action
This is nothing new in the marketing world and the formula has been used for a long time. The point is, when you are forced to sit through these videos the producer now has a chance to address each one of these steps without losing your interest. You can’t skip around the salesletter to view the testimonials. You can’t click the order button to see how much it is. And you can’t find out how much longer it’s going to be available.
You’re essentially held hostage if you want to find out more info. And this pisses some people off.
Personally I think it’s silly to get mad. No one is forcing you to watch. However, once you invest 10 minutes, you sort of want some type of reward for spending your time watching. You want something. Anything. Especially since the video usually promises to reveal something big, yet you have to wait forever for it.
So I’m curious. How do you feel about these type of videos?
Have you ever seen one? If not, email me at profitmoffatt at gmail and I’ll show it to you.
Have you ever used one yourself? What were the results? Ever promoted one as an affiliate? I’d love to hear how that worked out for you as well.
While I’m not a huge fan of being forced to watch a 30 minute video, I am considering using this sort of video in the future. I think I’ll make my video only about 15 minutes and I’ll include more pictures and entertaining video as opposed to just slides. I think that will do a bit better then just a powerpoint presentation. I could be wrong though.
Anyhow, would love to hear your opinions on these videos. Let me know in the comment sections below.
Cheers,
Jason
Check out the video if you haven’t yet.
You’re right Jason. It was a little bit of a novelty when I first saw it. Now it just PISSES ME OFF. Now when I see one of these pitches I’m much more likely to close the window than watch. I’ve also unsubscribed because of this.
You’ll be back 🙂
Yeah, i feel the same.
I think that this kind of video seems only an excuse for not doing more work on your list.
It is much easier to record a video thats forces you trough the sales cycle than to gradually build confidence with your subscribers.
When i buy a movie i now i can fast forward but i don’t because i want to see it.
This kind of page should have a simple sentence with the faqs like price and what does it do, let the people decide if they want to watch it.
Make people want to see the video..don’t force them to watch it. Believe in peoples decision capacity.
I think you are missing the point of the video Luis. They don’t want to provide you a FAQ about those questions because you’ll make up your mind about the product before the seller has had time to dose you with all their sales jujitsu.
Sometimes taking away control from people is the only way you can get them to absorb your message instead of letting them skim and consume the parts they want. It’s obvious that most people don’t enjoy losing this control, but marketers should pay attention to just how effective this is with a decent percentage of the market.
Being on a mobile broadband connection in Portugal – these videos are a pain to say it least.
They take “forever” to load so I just click GO AWAY … not sure what I am missing or if I am missing anything. – I do not like them at all.
Hey Susanne, Yeah that would really suck not having a great connection to view videos. Being on the road traveling I’m pretty much in the same boat as you half the time. It’s a bit difficult for me to stream videos at times so I inevitably just end up leaving. Thanks for chiming in.
I get impatient with the videos, so much of marketing today is branding and reputation…by just the name of a product or pre-sale of it I may know that I want to buy it but I’m slowed down by a tedious 15 minute video…sometimes I just leave the website.
I think that like everything else with internet marketing you have to test for your market. Do your followers know you VERY well like Frank Kern? or are you a up and coming guru coming out with one of your first 5-7 offerings? Are your clients very impatient, busy multi-taskers or very analytical? I think there are lots of things to consider but most of this comes down to just split testing 2-3 types of videos.
Our team has found that using Vimeo has improved our click through rates and conversions vs. Youtube because of the added control available there.
The greatest thing our team has found with video is that it elicits more reactions from clients who typically spend more money and are greater long-term clients. They are attracted to the video content and it sets us apart from others in a very personal way if we do a great job.
By the way – thanks for the free Frank Kern Seminar video, just opted-in for that above.
– Richard Wilson
http://BusinessTraining.com
Hey Richard,
Thanks for your thoughts. Much appreciated. Make sure you are careful with using Vimeo for anything that is considered commercial. You may be getting away with it now, but usually it’s only a matter of time before they cancel the account. I don’t say that to jinx you, but just to warn you so you can prepare for the day when it does happen. I’ve seen them shut down a ton of accounts, and some of them weren’t even really that promotional or commercial in nature. Just a heads up.
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the heads up.
I’m looking into how we can switch to S3 soon – we have 1,000 videos so it will definitely be a fun weekend project. Sounds like I should do this sooner rather than later…
Richard do you know that at GVO hosting you get your own S3 ? http://www.gogvo.com/ (not an affiliate link)
Best
Susanne
This is often referred to as presenting the benefits over the features.
It pisses me off too. I hate it. Maybe that’s why I can’t be a marketer, I don’t want to be like them even if it works.
Mike Filsaime’s latest video was the ABSOLUTE worst. It was 20-30 minutes of hype, bullshit, horseshit, and lies. It even included the most long drawn out story about him trying to take his wife’s wedding ring to the pawn shop. Yes, I watched until the end because it was beyond hilarious. It was like the best Jerry Springer episode of the IM world. I can’t imagine that anyone bought the Resale rights after watching it.
That was a really really bad video, I didn’t even watch 5 minutes of it.
Not only the video itself, I guess I just really don’t like Mike F.
I checked out Mike Filsaime long and hard about 2 years ago and as I looked his stuff over it became obvious that this guy is THE biggest BULL artist ever. Every product he “gave” away and even the ones he sold were all about building HIS business and list and not the marketers he was selling to.
I’d rather have a sales letter I can skim through rather than being forced to sit through a long video. And if I miss something in the video or got distracted because a kid is about to dump cereal on the floor, you’re then stuck having to re-watch the video. With a sales letter, the offer being made is clear. Of course, that’s not to say don’t use video but, shorter video is best.
I hate these videos, I find them boring, totally disrespectful of my time (just HOW MANY 30 min videos a day are we expected to sit through?) and in my case, totally ineffective.
They don’t “force” me to sit through anything, they turn me off the product and the creators – if they have so little respect for me BEFORE I become a customer, WTF are they going to be like after they have my money?
There’s one way to get rid of these forever .. when you see one, close the window. That’s what I do and I’ve missed nothing because there’ll always be a bigger, “better” product along tomorrow. My money will go to the people who treat me like a human being instead of a pair of eyeballs.
Yeah, I hate these with passion. Not because of the content, but because they are forcing me to do something. That’s just… desperate. A marketer that uses it must be thinking their video sucks so much that they have to force the viewer to watch it. What next? Are you gonna come over to my house and tie me to a chair :p
C’mon, isn’t this like marketing 101 – don’t force the viewer, make them think they made the choice themselves?
Has anyone split tested this against a video that actually has controls (everything else being equal)?
Jason, my first reaction was I don’t like these types of videos. But every time I watch one I end up sitting through the whole thing, so I’d have to say that they do work. It’s not that all of them are great at keeping my attention, in fact some of them bore me to tears. However, they do a great job at making me curious. Like you said above, once I invest 10 minutes of my time, something inside me tells me I have to stick around and see what the hell this guy is selling. Your idea to add pictures and spice up the presentation a bit would be a welcome addition to those of us that sit through these videos time and time again. 🙂
Well Jmo, I clicked the video yesterday afternoon, saw the Hype and walked away from the computer for a smoke, assuming I could cut to the chase and see the call to action. Came back and the Crap was Still Running. Hence window close. No Sale, No Action, Waste of my time, and your recommendation.
It would have been better Jmo if you did a 2 video minute testimonial and gave the final price and referral link. That would have been worth my time, and you would more likely have had a sale.
Remember your endorsements and your actions are what persuades your Audience, not necessarily the “sales copy or video” of the others.
Something to think about, and please refrain from making endorsements to things you know will PISS PEOPLE OFF.
If it was really cool and of value, you would have taken the time to “Promote it Better” and in JMO Fashion rather then the PISS PEOPLE OFF video mode..
Right?
Actually Eric, you set off a bell in my head. LOL Maybe an affiliate could clean up by summarizing the pitch for people and redirecting them to the page that you get to AFTER the video as well (give them a choice of links). Be the good guy, getting them out of watching a long a** video…say “If you’re like me and don’t have a spare 30 minutes, here’s what it basically says.” Pros/cons etc…Do text/video summary of your own.
If I’m interested in the initial pitch, I watch them on my lunch break and don’t have time to finish if it is long. If I can’t pause it and leave it until after work, I close it and don’t go back. Usually I am not watching the video, I just have the audio running while I do other stuff.
The one I really got sucked into was Video Boss, otherwise I pretty much close them. Because the impression was that he was teaching, the selling, I did to myself – I wanted to LEARN more…not BUY more. I didn’t buy it because of the price but was very tempted.
Even when I buy a course and it’s all video, I usually end up dropping it and abandoning the course, there just isn’t enough time. Not only that but then I have to take notes of at what min/time in which video to go back to if I forget something. On a pdf/text based course I can just copy the salient points into a word doc or text file. I have even tried getting speech to text software to try and transcribe videos but it made a mess out of it.
I read like lightning and can get through a transcript in minutes of what would take hours in video. I can skim what I already know.
So that’s my rant on the subject but I guess if it lines peoples pockets, then it’s good marketing.
Heather
I am in a training program and it has always been delivered in Pdf format. They did one month as video and asked for feedback. Nobody in the course liked it, because it is such a time suck.
I think ff you had to do a short “show and tell” supplemental to a bunch of text, sure.
Otherwise if I want to watch TV, I will go into the living room.
Stay Awesome
Rick
Hey Jason,
I agree, that although this tactic is “somewhat new”, there are more marketers utilizing it, seeing that it worked for a few “bigger” names, and I am still observing reactions, as you have been.
I have promoted a few of these as an affiliate, and my customers have not been overly fond of the videos. As stated, no fast forward, no rewind, simply pause to come back if it takes too long to load, or whatever. But in essence, I find many people are too tied up with other things, and trying to multi-task, so they click away. My affiliate sales for these type of videos is much lower than other methods of promotion. This may pick up in time. Of course, I need to factor in that perhaps the few who have waited are the ones truly interested in the product or service promoted in the video, knowing the marketer and willing to put their efforts toward reproducing the work that brought success to the marketer.
Always look forward to your emails. And thanks for the live streams recently from your road trip.
Best,
Paul Klein
Right on buddy. Thanks for the feedback, especially with the affiliate offers.
I went to the website you sent yesterday and after he repeated himself for the third time I left never to return. I don’t mind building the suspense but am I locked in for 5 mins or 30 mins? Yes, there is a major difference to me. If you’re going to use this method for god sakes make it tight, fast paced and don’t fall in love with the sound of your voice. Put me down as someone who hates these videos and probably will not make it through one unless it’s from Frank Kern.
Frank (not Kern)
I’m curious how long someone would sit around if Frank made one of these videos? It would be kind of funny if it was 3 hours and then at the end it was just a free product!
Yeah, that would be hilarious but Frank Kern wouldn’t do that even with his warped sense of humor. I think people who use this technique HAVE to use this technique. I don’t think you’ll see the top guys going to this…
Frank
I ordered Frank’s Mass Control a while back and in my opinion he is nothing less than a joy to listen to. The free product at the end would be cool but I would probably sit through 3 hours just to listen to him:)
As for the others, so long as it contains some keywords that I can later go look up,and so long as I can open other windows while the vid is playing, I’m happy to listen and will later decide if this is a marketing tool I wish to utilize.
I would love to watch Frank for 3 hours – not listen to him – just watch !!!
Hey J
I get a little itchy and find myself to continue to listen but clicking open tabs and doing other stuff if I the content starts to get to redundant and boring. The showing inflated prices and doing a count down is getting a bit old also. Kind of like getting to the point of showing the value and price as soon as possible. If you start pounding me with too much hype I have time to start creating doubt and want to ask more questions. I like the Dan Theis style of honesty.
Hope all is well in your world.
Always love to help.
Brad West ~ onomoney
I don’t like them only because at times I have to step away and close my browser. When that happens now I have to sit through the first 1/3 or 2/3 of the video again and I can’t fast forward to where I left off. AT that point I lose interest and say fuck it.
Jason,
I understand the sales process here, but personally I don’t like to sit through these long videos.
I rarely buy these kind of products but I do like to skip through the videos to get an idea of what they’re about.
Which is why I have a different method of viewing them 😉
I use a Firefox extension called “Downloadhelper” to which lets me download the video to my desktop, then I skip through it with VLC Media Player.
Save hours of time and lets me take an informed guess at what the “Big Guns” are doing.
Cheers
Steve
Yes, as far as I am concerned, they are literally wasting my time.
And I hate videos where they just read what is on the slides. You could give me a salesletter to read, it’s no different.
Everybody – quit your bitching. Seriously, look at the lesson here.
Apparently this works because I’ve been hit with video’s just like this over and over again (more so in the last month) and it’s from some major marketers that I know for a fact are killing it online.
Even though the video aggravates me – I still want to keep watching – just to see what it’s about. It’s all about completion. How many tv shows or movies do you watch all the way through even though you think it sucks at the beginning?
For many, you’ve got to keep watching just to see what happens.
Just my.02
Derek
Actually you are right Derek. People need to close the loop if something interests them – it is human nature. And once you have a certain amount of time invested, then you don’t want it wasted so most folks tend to keep watching.
Two key reasons psychologically speaking. BTW I hate the format but I have seen it used where the marketer tells you how long the video is underneath it.
Rick
Damn dude, you’re right. People are snapping.
I didn’t get pissed off or unsubscribe or anything.. you’re one of the last like 3 lists I’m still on. And I do like your emails.
And Jay is a cool dude..
But just like the other videos in this format, I was gone in 5 seconds..
Not sure if its possible, but it maybe would’ve been cool if you had pulled the link to the shopping cart.. and put that in the email as well.
Like “here’s another one of those videos – link” and if you don’t want to wait, here’s a link to the cart. Your people are too smart.
I have tried to sit through several, but got bored at some point in the middle and did other things. As you said it is a marketing standard. I used to recruit people to sell vaccuum cleaners and we had a similar thing in an ‘after the interveiw orientation’. I would have to sell the opportunity and then the vehicle (which was selling sweepers door to door) to get there. That was easier as you can ‘read the crowd’ and you had already interveiwed them and know a little about them.
The problem is that when these videos come out, links to them are sent by everyone and it is a shotgun approach at best since some may have no interest. Some that may have interest may not want to sit through the whole thing either. They are pretty dry, so if you did ‘jazz’ them up and keep them interesting they would probably work better.
If there was at least a pause button, that would be helpful as being able to pay attention to one single thing for that long is pretty tough and I have to schedule time. IF I know how long it is that is, if I set aside 15 minutes to watch and it goes for 30…..it probably won’t get finished.
Just my 2 cents for what it is worth.
Actually, the only sales video(s) i think i’ve ever watched all the way through were Andy’s.
Even frank’s.. I tend to fast forward.
Where do I start? Tooooooo long and boring … tried twice and never got to the end!! I don’t need to hear multiple times how his job was crap. I don’t need to see his holiday snaps. I definitely don’t need to see the new car and I never want to see the ‘proof’ pay checks again. So what do I want??
I just need to see what it does for ME (not him). I need to see the price and I need to see an example of how it can earn ME money.
If I want a picture of a nice car with me standing beside it I just go to the local showroom!! If I want sob stories I’ll join the Samaritans and if I want pay checks I can do them on Photoshop. Stop treating us like children or morons. Just give us the FACTS as they relate to US … and have the decency to give us the controls to switch you off if you don’t come up to scratch!
Right on Brian!!
Also JMO you can see from the 33 +plus response comments that your following are ones that take action. Mostly people don’t comment, so take these Action oriented followers advice and use it effectively in your “Campaigns”.
Hey Jason,
Hated It! Everyone knows that success in small businesses is built on relationships with people. As technology advances, it’s becoming easier and easier to leave out the human element.Jason as an advocate of video, you know that video has to be visual so we can see who you are and make a personal connection with you.I love your Videos because there is transparency.
Be Bop
Hey Jason,
I downloaded the video (using a FireFox plugin) and watched it at 2x speed in QuickTime because I figured it was going to be long. I thought the video was good, but that it lacked a little personality. I didn’t know Jay and still feel like I don’t know him very well.
I think some of your old vids with your before house and internet connection resonated with me more than simply telling me about it in a slide. The picture really spoke to where you were at and what you were doing.
I also like how Kern will talk to the camera and then cut to a screen capture of the slide show in some of his videos. And I think you’d do very well to do this as well. The name to face recognition can be so huge if you have a likable mug.
Just a few of my thoughts. Oh, and thank you for sharing these thoughts of yours, they seem to be spot on and incredibly valuable. I think you could do a bonus product on the psychology of video creation (seeing as you’ve been involved in it for soo long)
Take care,
C
Genius! What is the name of that Firefox plugin?
I use Fast Video Download. FVD for short.
C
Jason:
I did not watch the video for two reasons and both reasons come down to the fact that I am vigilant with how I invest my time. First of all, the person on the video did not identify himself at the beginning of the video. I am not going to invest my time listening to someone who is not going to identify himself.
Second, I had no idea how much of my day this video was going to burn. Was it a five minute video or a 35 minute video? Again, it gets back to the issue of being vigilant with my time.
I first encountered one of these from an affiliate email from Omar Martin. I emailed replied to him “Can you ask your guy for some video controls so I can skip the story and find out if this is a product I need?”
I got the response from his wife rather quickly that “You just failed marketing 101.” So I unsubscribed and will never buy anything attached to that name but that is besides the point.
The page you sent for instance, there is no header, no text, no nothing. I don’t know if its CPA, Clickbank, Lead Generation, Video Marketing, etc. I dont want to sit through a video for CPA if I don’t do CPA marketing. And I like to watch, rewind if I missed something, and fast forward through redundancy.
If it works that is great, but I won’t buy from one of those videos.
All advertising should be 100% Transparent “From The Get” if you expect to ever Earn the Viewer’s Trust! Gary Upchurch, VlogBABY.com
Dude, thank you for addressing this. I HATE this crap. Clicked on a link a while back for a Keith Wellman (sp?) video and immediately clicked close. Terrible.
I clicked on a link from the guy from SelfGrowth. Same thing. Terrible. Clicked close.
I will never buy from people who disrespect and waste my time like that.
A week (or two) ago Andy Jenkins released a few videos for his latest product. As usual, I found them entertaining and extremely educational. The guy has a gift AND he respects his audience enough to give them full control to pause, rewind and fast forward.
I like to have the rewind/reset button so I can go back and get things I may have missed while multi tasking.
Regarding your comment above about Frank. It would be an interesting experiment. The thing is, he has a way with videos that these other guys will never replicate. I would still click close, but I’m betting a lot wouldn’t.
Thanks again for opening this discussion.
I like these types of videos because I am a marketer that hates long sales letters. Some people hate these videos and one guy commented that he would even unsubscribe but if the person does get that mad, they probably wasn’t a buyer anyway.
The only thing that I don’t like is if the video is too long and isn’t entertaining or doesn’t deliver any content in the end. So always, always, always make it worth someone’s while to watch since you are trying to hold them hostage…
Hi Jason
I liked the Magic Bullet Videos and the Video Boss videos
– Even though I did not buy – I wanted to.
– I will always watch them – with eager anticipation – they deliver value even in the “just watching” of them.
– They lead to a greater understanding of an area of internet marketing that I have no experience or knowledge in.
– They set a level which I might aim for in the future…
– Maybe Jay could redo his?
He could be doing his system an injustice by using his current “long sales letter/video presentation approach”
– on second thoughts it is my personal opinion that he is doing himself an injustice
– but how will he or I ever know ?
– if he gives more value rather than promises in his sales presentation we all might learn something useful
– teasing is for not very emotionally intelligent people – those who hurt others in this world
– they often do not have very high E.I. scores
Desi
xx
Trust me, Jay doesn’t want to redo this with maybe the exception of making it a bit shorter. He’s been split testing and the EPC he’s getting is crazy good! He ain’t no dummy and wouldn’t be leaving the video like this if it wasn’t working.
I just wish I could share just how well it’s working. Not sure if I’m supposed to that or not.
I wish he gave some content like Andy Jenkins did.
The video was lame and disappointing. Maybe Jay’s got a good system, but when you correlate it with lame marketing it kills all the credibility, IMHO.
hey mofo,
great post and marketing dude,
question:
can you remember when i launched my first sales video back in november 2008 with no controls atall.
there was quite a buzz thread in the warrior forum about my video
marketing and people were not happy with it,
i remember you even posted on that thread ( thanks for the props in it )
now get this,
ive NEVER been an active warrior – and these people were going NUTS about my marketing video … to say the least there was alot of controversy about how i created the video with no controls – not even a pause button,
now people WERE NOT bad mouthing ME.
but they WERE bad mouthing my marketing video with no controls.
but this is what i was thinking at the time,
how many of these people who are complaining about my marketing would have ever become a customer anyhow …
… and on the flip side,
how much money was flooding into my paypal account from the direct impact of that one video with no controls.
$330,000 in 7 days
and my previous best week before that was $36,000
so from the results seen using this methord
i have done two more video sales letters WITHOUT any buttons NOT EVEN pause buttons and killed it again both times 🙂
and im about to do it again very soon.
YES i agree it does pee off some people,
but once i have your attention as a prospect i don’t
want you to stop watching for anything,
heck if they want it that bad – i know many of my customers watched my video 2 or 3 times before they ordered because of distractions that popped up and they couldnt pause,
yes they said they were pee’d off – but they were now customers that LOVED my product.
my 0.2 cents to the flip side,
i agree – i should have a pause button on my video,
but for a GREAT example,
i have a video on pause RIGHT NOW that i started watching last night that i paused and havent see the price or order page yet
and most prob now will never come back to the video and close it down
and im sure that HAS to hurt conversions right?
( i dont know that for a fact – pause buttons could help )
feedback MORE THAN WELCOME …
i’ll be open and let you know i see around $10 per person that starts to watch my video if they buy or not.
so id be scared to change my marketing
incase dollar per visitor drops.
and if i did change my marketing – who would it be for?
my customers
or just prospects who wanted a nose and poke at my video?
anyway,
great point
i could carry on here … but im going to just keep an eye
on your replies and wonder if i can be swayed to using a pause button.
alex
ps – if i ever see a video with full controls i NEVER watch the video i just go right to the end for the pitch, and that HAS to hurt overall conversions right …?
Folks, make sure you read Alex’s response here. It’s true, I thought he dropped a lot of money by implementing this tactic many months ago. I told him so in that Warrior Forum thread. Bottom line… I WAS WRONG! Way wrong.
I’ll say it again… MATH DON’T LIE.
He is capturing names as people leave, I see which is smart because I would sign up for that probably even if I didn’t watch the whole thing.
I don’t like these videos and 99% of the time I don’t stick around to see how long it’s going to take to get to the point. I don’t know if I’m in for 2 minutes, 10 minutes or 3 hours.
Most of the time, I’m more interested in who recommends something than I am with what the guy I’ve never heard of and don’t know if I can trust says he’s done. If the recommendation comes from someone I trust, that’s 90% of the selling for me.
I’d rather just skip the pitch that is obviously going to tell me how great the product is, and see what’s included and what it’s going to cost me so I can decide whether it is applicable to my business.
I get that these types of videos work, but I suspect they work best on people who are relatively new to the market. I think a lot of the people who have been around for a while see the video without controls and move on.
I didn’t bother watching the whole video you linked to yesterday because I didn’t know how long I was going to be sitting watching him read slides to me. If you’d told me how long the video was in your email, at least I would have known what to expect and could have watched it when I had the time required. Or just turned it on and gone and done something else for however long was necessary.
As for your comment a few up about how long people would sit around for a Frank Kern video? I wouldn’t sit around any longer than anyone else if I didn’t know what was in store. The fact is, if he was giving something away for free at the end, I’d likely hear about it on a forum or an email from someone and could go back and watch the video then.
It’s all about respecting your customer’s time, in my opinion, and these videos don’t do that.
I would have given my credit card number just to see this video end. I don’t think Ive ever been so excited to see an add to cart button. 🙂
BTW- Totally going to use that
Hi Jason,
well, I don’t like most of these videos. I thinks it is lame that someone believes s/he needs to take the video controls away from me. And usually it is exactle those videos that are deadly BORING. So I usually close the window.
It helps a little bit if the length of the video is displayed above or below (as some marketers do).
When I have a video I can download I often view it in QuickTime player on a higher speed coz some people just talk way too slow for me. They almost put me to sleep – hey maybe I should keep them for times when I can’t fall asleep 😉
On the other hand there are videos where I don’t even miss controls. Like Frank Kern’s or Andy Jenkins’ (unless I want to go back and view a portion *again*). And with Video Boss I am very optimistic that I will never make any boring sleeping pill videos.
Thanks for opening this discussion.
Detlev (Germany)
I’m a marketer and I don’t dig ’em a bit. If you at least knew how long the video was going to last, you might decide to watch. Who wants to sit and listen to a lot of babble without knowing there is an END in sight?
I’ve been giving these videos some thought too. I’m going to start split-testing them against my normal sales pages.
Thoughts that spring to mind:
1. Some of the top weight-loss sites are now using them and are continuing to use them. So the conversion rates probably speak for themselves.
2. I’d rather really piss off 90% of prospects and convert at 10% than not piss-off anyone and convert at 3%.
3. I like reading along with the voiceover. It’s kind of hypnotising.
4. I like how the Instant Income site squeezes an email opt-in at the end of the video in order to proceed. If you get to the end there’s no way you’re not going to hand over your email address.
5. If you really don’t like them, go View Page Source and the redirect link is there 9 times out of 10.
Ciao for now
Max
I just read the Irresistible Offer by Mark Joyner and I kinda lean to his philosophy. Show people up front why you are the best. Give them a taste and they will buy. Focus on the product and it’s entirety. Hone on it improve it.
Create a “Touchstone”
For example: Market Samurai, I bought it hands down no questions asked and if I was told I had to buy it again I would. No need to hide behind smoke and mirrors and a price tag. Show me why you are the best. Show me why I want the product. Make me addicted to it’s proven results.
Not just re-hashed crap. I don’t know what he is offering really since it is a secret tactic. Long video copy is kind od annoying and I don’t see how it will convert.
I think underneath it all.. if you don’t want to show me your face while you’re telling your story – I just assume you’re lying to me.
It just feels wrong.
I might be more inclined to stick around on these no-play-control videos, if you cut back and forth from you to the slides.
I close immediately, because they all start off the same way: “I’m going to show the exact step by step process I used to make a gazillion dollars” – and then they don’t.
The lack of control buttons is just icing on the frustration cake.
So these videos are actually counter-productive, in my opinion.
They differ from info-commercials in that some of the product is shown in the info-mercial. Some of the exercises are shown on a fitness product, or the kitchen product is demonstrated. In these videos, it’s usually just a promise – a tale of “I came from nothing and now I’m a millionaire” – a bunch of clickbank screen shots – and the pitch.
Sorry.
Any chance of seeing what Jay is selling without having to go through the video? It sounds great but I’m guessing I’ll never know and I’m one of those guys who believes in spending money to get educated. My last purchase was $6000 and I loved every minute of it but if Jeff Walker had made me listen to one of these videos I wouldn’t have done it.
Frank
I agree with most of the comments here. Boring is an unforgivable sin.
Any story teller knows THE STORY has to be good. That’s where Frank Kern is different. His audience hardly cares what the product is, he’s just so freakin’ compelling to watch and listen to, I want to watch just for the STORY, whether or not it’s my intention to buy.
Jay’s story is boring, his voice is boring, no matter what his product is – which I never got to.
These videos suck. I hate them. If I am really interested, I will download them (using replay media catcher) and then play it back with my GOM player which I can fast forward.
Jason,
Is there a place where I can keep up with where you are? Are you going to be in Colorado?
Jason,
I’m glad to see you bring this up…I’m interested in what others think as well.
I agree completely with you…it’s extremely annoying to be forced to sit and watch, yet it is SO effective, that it’s hard to ignore it and walk away.
“I think I’ll make my video only about 15 minutes and I’ll include more pictures and entertaining video as opposed to just slides. I think that will do a bit better then just a powerpoint presentation.”
I think this should work better…add a little entertainment, and cut some of the BS…and make the presentation more fun.
Ken
It’s funny, cause it was the instant income promo you sent out that made me think a lot deeper about this same thing. It was the first time the novelty of these videos wore off. AND, I think it was because your endorsement is like gold to me… so I would have been sold with just a few killer bullet points and a quick written summary.
I watched like 30 seconds and thought “Screw this… I’m not sitting through 15 minutes of emotional build up, credibility building, etc.” Because all that stuff is pretty much the same across the board isn’t it? We’ve all had the same dreams spun for us 100 times (a lot more if you’ve been in IM for long). I wanted to know – what makes this unique from the dozen other promotions I have sitting in my inbox this afternoon? Why does this strategy deserve my attention more than the myriad of other options I have? I don’t really want to listen to another long story about how someone else got rich and how great it would be if I was rich, too.
That said, I’m paying close attention to these videos, too. I’m a copywriter, so seeing long copy sales letters start disappearing concerns me. From a copywriter’s stand point, I’m actually pretty pumped it’s videos like these that are killing it and not live action real world stuff. I mean, come on. These power point videos are pretty much just a sales letter chopped up and narrated. Easier for me to transition to than putting together elaborate infomercial scripts.
It will be interesting to see how they evolve. I could see the novelty factor wearing off at some point and conversions taking a hit – but maybe not so much that they still aren’t more profitable than long copy letters. I know some marketers have found better conversions to their in house lists with these videos when they have a short letter underneath summarizing everything… probably because they already have that trust built and a lot of people don’t need to see a whole video to be sold. I also think pre-selling could be a big influencer. And also perhaps doing more advertorial style videos… where there is some really killer stuff given away in the presentation itself. I think that would help keep people locked in to a long video like that.
Great stuff and wise thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to explain your thinking instead of just a quick rant.
All this feedback is awesome because I DO plan on using a video with no controls in the future. However, I’d like to create a video that is more to the likings of my peers and will definitely be using the feedback in this thread when I am creating the video presentation.
Thanks.
PS: Maybe I’ll split test no controls vs controls and let you know which one wins.
Hey!
Yeh, I don’t know what to think of the video. I definitly am not one to complain, however I also don’t have patience. If a video catches my attention, I’ll watch it 2 or 3 times. But if a video don’t, I’ll close it. However, if the video doesn’t catch my attention at first, I’ll scroll for the price atleast. I mean, as a Kern subscriber, I’m pretty spoiled. So when I look at a video like Jay’s, it seems rather boring.
I mean, I don’t care about your job, I don’t care about your situation, all I care about is what’s in it for me. How will it help me. But because I’m a student of marketing, I watched it over and over again. Seriously, I’m not feeling the format. You gotta rise above the noise, and have confidence in your video. You can’t be all Hitler and try to control your audience. But, I watched it over and over again because a lot of ppl are telling me this is a really good format. Since we are all moving into video marketing, this is a really good debate. But, I think I’d rather have my audience pause and fast forward if they want too. I mean, what if they watched it already but want to get to the good part. It’s like tivo dood. We are in the TiVo age, so I rather give the control to my audience.
Hey Jason, you mind telling us what you really think of this format?
Honestly, I LOVE these video’s. (Not all of them,
but being a marketer, I actually enjoy going through sales process’s)
I can understand how it would piss a lot of people off, but
really, NO ONE is going to be happy with every promotion they get.
Even if its sales letters where they can control the process.
There are a few certain advantages with video.
First off, YOU CAN control the controls > as the marketer 😉
And by making it so people can only click to pause,
it FORCES people to go through your sales process.
It allows you to build value to your sales message.
I know with lots of sales letters, I just scroll to the bottom of
the page and check out the price. Here’s the thing with that…
I usually NEVER buy those things! Why? Because the VALUE of it
has not been built up in my mind FIRST to justify the price.
If I am really interested, I might go back and read the rest of the
letter, but even then I usually won’t end up purchasing.
Again, because the VALUE was not built up FIRST.
This is what video allows you to do. Build value FIRST before
you introduce how much it costs.
And if people just want to click away or skip through the message,
its of my opinion that these are not going to be your buyers anyway.
Here’s another thing with the video/slide model:
There’s slides, and there’s a narrator to speak the words of the
slides (duh.)
Now, to anyone who is PAYING ATTENTION, this acts as a DOUBLE HOOK.
How? Simple really, If your reading along, then your also listening.
So UNLIKE a sales letter where you are just reading, now your
reading AND listening. Basically, it ENGAGES the viewer (who’s
actually interested) to a level that sales letters cannot do.
Then of course there’s all the little subtlety’s that can also
be delivered by voice. I.E- You can tell if the seller actually
believes in his sales message, or if he is passionate about it.
I DO however think that anything over 18 minutes is a little too long.
Here’s one way that I see video, that I KNOW FOR A FACT is working
like gang busters. The whole pre-sell video blog model.
(Product launch formula style.) I notice that these blogs usually
ALWAYS have video on them. Every single time. They also have a paragraph or two, and then they encourage you to leave comments.
This obviously creates a nice buzz, and is pretty interactive.
These videos also have controls. But here is the thing,
if you worked in a PLF2 style pre-launch BEFORE you “released”
the official sales video without the controls, I think
people would be more receptive.
Again, I love video’s. And I know they work.
I am actually going to be doing a video sales letter for my
next product, which will include one video pre sell, and
a little waiting time (a few days) before I release the actual
sales video.
Pretty stoked myself to see the results.
As with any popular medium, when you introduce some change,
(ie- no video controls) people are not going to like the change.
That is, if they are not open individuals.
I consider myself a pretty open dude.
So I figure, Why not?
Internet marketing is a pretty fast paste, fast moving industry.
I’d say its good to at least split test the results.
Hell, I was even thinking, release a video first
and basically state that in the video, that you WILL be making a
sales letter, but because it takes more or your time, the price will
go up by XX number… If you catch my drift.
Again, always worth split testing.
Also, I think sales might be effected if its YOUR video (with your list) or not. If its just YOUR message, or if your sending them to a dude that they might know squat about. (Could loose a little trust there)
In all cases where I have been captivated by these videos,
it was because I was on the persons list.
Something to think about.
I guess Jay’s video gets through the BS most marketers shove on us
and mentally tells us what will happen if we don’t get up and do
something.
He’s believable as well,and that counts for a lot.