Nowadays, many businesses are adding their company videos to their websites.  After all, it makes sense. 

With the increasing rise in video consumption among online viewers, promoting your brand on your website can do wonders for your company’s bottom line.  It targets those who come to your website purposefully to see what you have to offer, entices those who are unsure about your brand, and ultimately boosts conversions and sales.

The problem is, video integration can prove to be more complex than simply uploading a video to a website.  When done properly, website videos have the potential to double conversion rates.  However, if done poorly, video integration can harm your site visitor’s experience and even cause them to leave your website, never to return. 

Integrating your Baltimore area company’s video, whether it be a commercial, corporate, or explainer video, does not have to result in lower conversions or reduced sales. 

Take a look at these four video integration mistakes and learn from them.  That way when it comes time to upload you video online, you experience nothing but positive results.

 

 

Top 4 Pitfalls of Video Marketing (and How to Avoid Them)

1. Poor Quality Video

Your business video has the potential to provide lots of value to those who view it.  Maybe it explains how a product works, details an upcoming sale, or even compares your services against those in competition with your business.  The point is, people watch business videos because they believe they will gain something from them. 

A low quality video that does not help potential customers, answer pressing questions, or provide any type of explanation can actually harm your company’s reputation more than help it.  It reduces your credibility as a brand, damages your reputation, and can actually discourage customers from making a purchase.

The key to producing a high quality website video is to hire a professional website video production company to help you.  They can conceptualize the overall vision of your video, making sure it is on point with what your company stands for and what your customers need. 

Video production companies also provide the necessary equipment and crew to film a video properly.  Lastly, they will edit your video so that there are no glaring errors or a lack of professionalism in the final product.

In the end, a website video production company can help you produce a video you will be proud to integrate onto your company’s website.

In addition to producing a poor quality video, here are some other quick things you will want to avoid in your commercial:

• Long and drawn out videos.  A good benchmark to aim for is 3 minutes or less, with less being better.  Audiences don’t have great attention spans and are looking for the next best thing even as your video plays.  Grab their attention, explain your point, and move on. 
• Monotone voiceovers.  Remember Ferris Bueller’s teacher…anyone? anyone?  No one jumps at the thought of listening to a monotonous and boring voice.  Make your videos’ voiceovers exciting.  This will excite your viewers and inspire them to make a purchase.
• No visual appeal.  In addition to have low attention spans, people are by nature visual.  Include bold (yet relevant) imagery to your video that will create a reason for a visitor on your website to click ‘Play’.

 

2. Long Loading Times

One of the biggest complaints amongst website visitors is the slow speeds at which some websites load.  Watching the page slowly download bit by bit is enough to make anyone click the back button, regardless of what is being offered.

 

As you may have already guessed, one of the top culprits of a slow site speed is the addition of a video.  This is especially true if there are more than one video on the site or if a lot of images are used alongside of the video.

There are several things you can do to reduce your website’s page loading speed and improve your site visitors’ experience:

• Don’t put your video on autoplay.  Besides being annoying (even on social media platforms such as Facebook), autoplaying your business video can actually slow down your entire website drastically, affecting all areas of your website, not just the video section. 
• Optimize your video for streaming.  Encoding your video onto your website will make a big difference when it comes to the amount of buffering your video will do when someone clicks “Play.”  This is something an experienced website video production company may be able to help you with if you are unsure about video optimization.
• Format for multiple devices.  Another technical aspect that has to do with integrating your website video is format.  Using a reputable hosting service to stream your videos (such as Vimeo) and formatting your video to play on a wide range of devices will ensure every viewer will be able to see your video as you intend, without interruption.  Those on the go using small devices such as Tablets and smartphones make up a large percentage of website video viewers.  Don’t forget that they need to access your video as well.

 

3. Hard to Find Videos

There are many elements that go into making a video hard to find.  And honestly, it is not hard to commit these mistakes if you are not sure how to integrate a video onto your website properly.  Let’s take a look.

 

No Play Button

Seems obvious to have a “Play” button right? 

Well, there are plenty of website videos that fail to include one, which means a percentage of website visitors will never see your video because they do not know it exists.  In addition, consider adding the word “Play” or “Video” underneath the button making it crystal clear that you want visitors to watch.

 

Too Much Text

Leave the text to your blog posts or elsewhere on your website.  Typically, people viewing videos are trying to avoid reading lengthy text.  Incorporate your website video onto your website surrounded by encouraging headlines and images. 

 

Poor Positioning

If you think about it, not all of your viewers are going to scroll to the bottom of your webpage right?  

Some lose interest and leave, while some get distracted and move elsewhere on your website.  In any case, don’t place your video clip at the bottom of your webpage if you want maximum views.

It’s also important to place visual cues around your video.  For instance, if you website video explains a particular product, consider adding an image of the product nearby and the “Add to Cart” button in plain view.  This makes purchasing your product easier than ever for your customers.

Lastly, make sure your website video is appropriate for the page it is placed on.  Having a relevant website video will encourage visitors to explore your website (and products) more.  A website video placed on a page that has nothing to do with the video will confuse site visitors and they will probably leave, never having seen your video.  Make sure your entire webpage is consistent and makes sense. 

 

4. No Call to Action

Although this idea may seem repetitive, it must be discussed.  As one of the most important parts of your website video, it is crucial you and your website video production company draw up a way to encourage viewers to take action.  Show your customers what they need now and then tell them how to get it.  Often done through the use of text or graphics, or even a linkable button, your call to action is typically at the end of your website video.

 

If you are ready to integrate your Baltimore business video onto your company’s website don’t hesitate.  The payoff can be huge for your company in the form of increased conversions, sales, and customer loyalty.

Call Sheffield Audio-Productions today and see how they can help you with the production and integration of your website video.  Understanding that a wave of new media is still gaining speed in the online world, Sheffield can help you with all things related to creating a powerful website video production.