Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Impact Of Video Testimonials On The Home Page

Posted by Anonymous on 9/4/2009 at 12:20 PM ET 250 Points
Is there any data which indicates the positives and/or negatives of using video testimonials on the home page?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Annelies on 9/4/2009 at 1:57 PM Accepted
    Could you give us a little bit more info? What kind of bussiness? What kind of testimonial? Why a testimonial? How much place will this take? Maybe the website?

    I have a very good experience with video, but... it needs some explanation and setting... the execution is more important than the fact that it is video....

  • Posted by melissa.paulik on 9/4/2009 at 2:22 PM Accepted
    It probably varies depending on your sales cycle, so I'll answer as though you are in my industry - business software.

    These applications have a fairly long and complex sales cycle and the initial visitor to the website is unlikely to spend much time with the testimonial. They are more interested in downloads that can help them define their issues. What I call the "7 steps" white papers. (e.g. 7 steps to inventory optimization) Putting these free resources on the front page can help you build your opt-in nurturing database.

    Since testimonials come later in the sales cycle, I would save those for a separate section of your website that contains the kind of evidence that at a buyer at that stage needs to see.

    I attempted to explain this recently in a post on my site of you're interested in more:

    https://themarketingsurvivalist.blogspot.com/2009/08/tao-of-website-optimiz...

    All the best!

    Melissa
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 9/4/2009 at 4:11 PM Accepted
    Dear vberlin,

    Good or bad, video on a sales site will depend on its production quality, its content, its perceived value, and its overall cost per sale.

    The personality of the presenter also plays a huge role, as does the background, the script, the continuity, the sound quality, and whether or not the shot is well framed.

    I've lost count of the number of sales videos I've seen where the presenter has something sticking out of the top of their head ( a picture, a window, a tree, whatever), or where they mumble, fumble, um, ah, or er again and again. It's distracting and irritating.

    I hope this helps.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 9/4/2009 at 6:43 PM Accepted
    It's interesting that finding proof of effectiveness is hard online (at least it was for me):

    Here's a white paper with data and case studies:

    https://www.smps.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Research&Template=/CM/ContentD...
  • Posted on 9/5/2009 at 12:49 PM Author
    Thank you for great responses. The University of Fairfax has been advised to put testimonials about its graduates on its web site---specifically a video of one on the home page and then links to more as they are developed. The University of Fairfax is the only graduate institution in the U.S. exclusively focusing on information security at the Master's and Doctoral levels. The average age of our student is 42 and they are all achieving great successes in the public, private and academic sectors including the following: DoD, US Deptl of Homeland Security, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Univ. of Alabama, SAIC, Northrop Grumman, etc.

    The metric of interest is whether adding a video testimonial on the home page would increase registrations for more information on the web site (www.ufairfax.net).

    Again, many thanks for your thoughtful comments.
  • Posted on 9/9/2009 at 7:56 AM Author
    Thank you for these great comments. I did add more information and would like more feedback after you review the additional information.
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