How to Increase Conversion Rates Using Explainer Videos

Is your home page leaving money on the table?

Does it clearly and concisely explain what you do, who you do it for, and why that’s important?

Because here’s the thing: your home page probably gets the most traffic out of any page on your website and visitors expect it to clearly communicate the value of your product or service.

If you don’t grab your visitors by the eyeballs, the vast majority will never give you a second chance.

You probably already know you need a great headline and a clear, compelling message. But if you’re counting on website visitors reading to learn more about your product, then you’re definitely leaving a significant source of revenue untapped.

One-in-four people will actually lose interest in your company if you don’t have a product video.

That’s why a home page explainer video is one of the safest (and best) investments you can make in your business.

NOTE: You can also download this episode to your device (right click and save).

Why Most Website Visitors Don’t Convert

Most marketers believe that the solution to low conversion rates on home or landing pages lies in rewritten copy or a new headline.

While that may certainly help, you also need to realize that people don’t read nearly as much as they used to, especially on mobile devices. Reading feels like work, and people want answers fast.

If you force them to read through long blocks of text to learn about your product or service, they’re much more likely to try and find an (easier) answer somewhere else.

Thankfully, there’s a solution that’s been proven to better educate prospects and increase conversions…

Explainer videos.

The Role of Explainer Videos

Explainer videos are short videos (typically 60-90 seconds) that quickly and concisely educate viewers about your product or service.

While it’s tempting to cram as much information about what you do into your video as possible, effective explainer videos get to the point and typically focus on just three things:

1. What your product does or how it works (features)
2. How it makes the viewer’s life better (Problems it solves, desires it fulfills — benefits)
3. What they need to do next (call-to-action)

People enjoy watching videos, so your explainer video doesn’t only educate your viewer about your product or service, but it also feels entertaining — which is much harder to do through text.

Why Explainer Videos Are Effective

Video is by far the most effective tool your business can use when educating prospects on your product or service:

• People are 4x more likely to watch a video than read text
• Viewers are anywhere from 64-85% more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it
• Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text
• Video even gives your website an unfair advantage in search results, because it doubles the amount of time people spend interacting with your site — a strong indicator to Google that your content is valuable and relevant.

Explainer videos are simply a more visually engaging way to sell your products. They add character and personality to your message with animated graphics or eye-catching b-roll footage, something that isn’t possible with text.

Plus, video works well when sharing the story of your brand or product. Studies continue to show that our brains are wired for storytelling. Stories evoke emotion and hold our attention longer, especially when we are able to pictures ourselves as a character in the story.

Achieve Higher ROI with a Great Explainer

Remember, your video’s ROI value relies heavily on two variables:

Business Impact x Exposure - Cost = Your Video’s ROI

Now explainer videos obviously have a significant business impact, by nature of being many prospects’ first interaction with your brand and story. They also communicate the value of your product in a more emotional and persuasive visual format. That’s why explainer videos increase conversion rates by an average of 20%.

So the business impact is clear, but what about exposure?

Not only is your home page likely the most trafficked page on your website, but explainer videos, by nature of their versatility, present a significant opportunity for exposure across a variety of media.

You could use them in several different ways:

Homepage: Since your homepage sees the highest amount of traffic, it’s an ideal location to include your explainer video. Including your explainer above the fold where your visitors can see it is a quick way to increase the video’s value (more exposure), and communicate your product or service quickly.

Social Media Retargeting Ads: Set up a retargeting ad campaign and put your most valuable video asset (explainer video) in front of people who visited your website, but didn’t convert or take action. Chances are they’re looking for a solution to their problem, so they may just need a friendly nudge to remind them how you can help.

Email Campaign: Email and video go really well together. Video has been proven to increase open rates and click through rates. If someone has opted in for your newsletter or content offer, your explainer video can be used in an email follow-up sequence.

Sales Outreach: If you think getting warm prospects to read your content is hard, try getting cold prospects to read your sales emails. A quick and easy way to double the effectiveness of your sales prospecting is to include your explainer video in that first email (as an image linked to the page on your site where the video lives). We’ve tested this at WireBuzz and it has more than doubled (nearly tripled) our sales efficiency.

Examples of Effective Explainer Videos

Natera’s Panorama Overview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1:23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natera’s explainer video for their Panorama test leads with an immediate desire for women who are pregnant…

Get essential genetic information about your baby early in your pregnancy.

Then, using animation, we’re able to explain complex topics like genetic testing in a friendly, easy-to-understand way.

In less than 90 seconds, Natera explains the benefits of their test, how it works, and how the viewer can access the test — everything the viewer needs to take the next step.

Symmetry Software

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2:17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Symmetry Software’s approach to creating their homepage explainer video began with identifying a problem payroll managers face, then ended with the solution they offered.

Payroll managers are faced with the constant challenge of changing payroll taxes, and need to be precise in their role of paying thousands of people. So when they watch the first 20 seconds of the video, they’re already nodding their head in agreement, waiting to hear about the solution Symmetry is offering them.

This kind of approach follows a copywriting framework that is known to see high conversions:

Problem — Agitate — Solve

Leading with a problem your audience can relate to hooks the viewer, then takes them on an emotional journey to the end — where you resolve their pain with your solution.

And because Symmetry used this explainer on their homepage, visitors were enticed to press play and learn about how Symmetry Software could work for them.