3 Ways to Use Videos and Increase Conversions

People crave information, and they want it fast.

Clicking play is a lot easier than digging around a website for the right info. When watching a video, the information comes to them, they don't have to search for it.

Convenience.

You want to make it as easy as possible for people to sign up, learn more, or give you money.

Plus, videos are shareable. That's a win for you.

Obviously, not just any video is going to increase conversions. You need to consider a number of things: who your prospect is, where they are in their buying journey, the placement of the video, the specific content of the video, etc.

I didn't say video is a magic “instant conversion button.” But when used strategically, a great video can make a huge impact.

Here are three specific ways to use videos and increase conversions:

1) Pre-Purchase Product Tours

Most product tours become available after a product has been purchased, as part of the onboarding process.

But pre-purchase product tours can act as powerful conversion enhancers, too.

But it’s not as simple as “Video = Conversions.”

When you give your videos prominent positions — above the fold, top and center — visitors stay longer, engage more, and buy more.

2) Videos & Landing Pages

When Dropbox first put a video on their homepage six years ago, conversions went up by 33%. That impact has only increased over time, especially since there have been a few improvements and innovations in video marketing that can improve those digits.

Now, we have access to user data, which marketers can use to personalize experiences at scale. Below, Lowe’s leverages user data to customize its video based on:

Whether the viewer had purchased from Lowe’s in the past.

Location of the nearest Lowe’s store to viewer.

On-sale items that were most relevant to the viewer based on their location and past purchases.

Weather conditions, and weekday vs. weekend timing.

Lowe's ultimately had more than 180,000 variations on the video, each of which was personalized to the individual viewer.

On the lower-tech end of the spectrum, you can improve conversion rates by simply placing the video you use front and center, above the fold. We also recommend using a text call-to-action, like “click to play.”

3) Videos & Product Pages

Product videos have been shown to improve conversion rates — 73% of U.S. adults, for example, are more likely to purchase a product or service after watching a video that explains it.

That’s way up from the 20% conversion increase reported on Unbounce in 2012, and there’s a reason for that — the internet has gotten faster.

Loading these videos used to be a pain in the router, if you will, but with faster speeds, it’s quickly becoming the favorite way to get information. After all, Google didn’t acquire YouTube for fun.

Consider what your customers (don’t) want. They probably don’t want to read a lengthy product description — most web visitors only read 25% of text.

Instead, show how the product works and how real people are using it. And remember, features are nice, but what they really need to know is how your product will improve their lives.

Make sure these videos are accurate and will lead to more realistic expectations. That way, it can help reduce product returns, since a video shows how products are used day-to-day.

It’s worked for Zappos — and other brands, like ASOS, have estimated that a 1% fall in returns would add $16 million in profit.