Videos Instead of Sales Letters?

What's your opinion on using videos INSTEAD of sales letters?

I know most marketers are doing videos for squeeze pages now; and many have a video at the top of their sales letter... but I haven't seen too many yet that have NO sales letter at all and JUST a video.

Here's an example: AffiliateLaunchBlueprint (disclosure: that's an affiliate link).

That video by Michael Rasmussen is 33 minutes long. There's no text information about his product on that page -- to find out what he's selling, you HAVE to watch the video. (There's no way to fast-forward.) There is no BUY button on that page, either... the link to that is at the end of the video.

I honestly found it annoying. Not the video itself, but the fact that I had to wait 33 minutes to (1) find out the price, and (2) be able to order his product.

Plus, I have to admit (don't tell my boss), I was doing this while at work. During slow times, I check my personal email account, saw an interesting message from Jimmy D. Brown (one of my many online heroes, in addition to Lynn ;) ) talking about his number-one affiliate. He mentioned Michael's name, and that made me follow his link (Michael was my first copywriting client many years ago).

So anyway, I get to Michael's page and its a video. I can't turn the sound on, cuz I'm working in a cubicle cluster and coworkers hear everything. (I'm guessing other internet marketers who have jobs do this sort of thing at work, too.)

Fortunately, it's not a "talking head" video... it's basically a slide show and I could follow it by reading the text in the video.

The video convinced me to buy (especially when I FINALLY saw the price), but if there had been a sales letter on that page, I would've read through it within 5 minutes (vs. 33 minutes for the video) and bought much sooner.

As it was, I barely had time to place my order before shutting down my computer at work and heading home! :D

Personally, I do like videos on sales pages... but in addition to sales letters, not in place of them.

But I'm not a top-selling marketer like Michael, and I'm assuming he's tested it. It just boggles my mind that making prospects wait until the end of a long video (even an interesting one) to click the buy button is apparently converting well.

I was tempted to quit waiting and just click off. I'm glad I didn't, because his product is just what I need right now, but I suspect many prospects will not be as patient.

Sorry for the long post. But I would like to hear your opinions: Are sales letters being replaced by videos? And is that a good thing or a bad thing?

*** UPDATE ***
Just found out... if you go to the above link and decide you'd like to try to product without sitting through all 33 minutes of the video, you can add /go at the end of the URL to jump to the order page.

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Originally Posted by Bonnie

What's your opinion on using videos INSTEAD of sales letters? Are sales letters being replaced by videos?

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Bonnie, while video presentations definitely have their place, they will never replace sales letters. Here's why: Just like you found a 33 minute video annoying, so do many other people. For example, I would never sit through a 33 minute sales presentation. That would just be a huge turn-off to me. In my opinion, nothing is more powerful than the written word. In addition, many people just have a comfort level with text.

Does that mean a pure video presentation can't work? Not at all. We've already seen evidence that they do work, in certain instances. I just don't see them altogether replacing sales letters. Personally, I think the best sales presentations are a combination of both video and text.

One last thing, Bonnie. The top selling marketers have blindly loyal followers, who will buy virtually anything they put on the market, regardless of the format. Having a recognized name is extremely powerful, and definitely influences buying decisions. Just something to keep in mind.

David Jackson

This has really been a trend lately, though that's the longest video I've personally seen with this sales letter format. I was just looking at it yesterday and didnt make it even a few minutes into the presentation.

That said, it makes for a GREAT opportunity for affiliates to offer a content-based review of the video, of the points shared, and of the product itself. ;)

I find them really annoying. I clicked through to the page, discovered there was no way to fast forward the video and no other information there, and immediately hit the back button. Not only did he lose that potential sale, but he also made me less likely to pay attention to any other marketing materials he sends me.

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Originally Posted by cindybidar

I find them really annoying.

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It will be interesting to see what the consensus is, regarding this topic.

David Jackson

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Originally Posted by David Jackson

It will be interesting to see what the consensus is, regarding this topic.

David Jackson

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Well, to be fair, under certain circumstances I find all web video annoying. At work (because the connection is so darn slow), on my iPhone (because it doesn't do Flash), and if it automatically starts talking to me the second I open the page (because my husband leaves the speakers turned up too loud).

So I'm not sure I'm a good judge. :)

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Originally Posted by cindybidar

Well, to be fair, under certain circumstances I find all web video annoying.

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Cindy, thanks for that caveat! :) However, contrary to what you might think, you really are not the exception, when it comes to video presentations. I'd be willing to bet that there are millions of individuals who feel exactly like you do. Conversely, there are also millions of people who don't mind video presentations.

Same thing with pop-ups. Everyone I know hates them, but pages that use them still continue to convert at an impressive enough ratio to justify their continued use.

David Jackson

I personally don't care for videos and tend to click away from pages that only have them as an option.

I think having both as an option would be a good way to go - best of both worlds. :)

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I think having both as an option would be a good way to go - best of both worlds.

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I agree... not only for sales letters, but for the products themselves.

I love watching video tutorials (which is what Michael's product is), but for detail-oriented training, I like to study and highlight written materials.

I like MP3 audios, too, BTW, but the same goes -- I always like it when the creator includes a transcript, as well.

Multimedia seems to be the way to go... that way, everyone's preference is covered.

I should be ashamed to admit this, but I was going to multi-task and listen to this, but the second task ended up being taking a nap. :D

John Reese beat it with this 46 minute video sales page.

So the entire product is also video-based, with no transcripts?

Yeah, it's 6 video modules, but no transcripts. The videos are detailed and have lots of helpful information -- he even includes scripts of promotional email messages and blog posts -- but it'd be nice to have transcripts with clickable links, because he mentions a lot of website resources. I just pause the video and open the site he's talking about by typing the link in a new browser window, so I guess it's not a big deal.

Of course, if he included extras like transcripts of the videos, a list of resources, and maybe a few PDF checklists, he'd probably be charging a lot more.

I also thought a Friday afternoon release was interesting.

Fridays are often paydays, and according to Michael, people are more likely to buy stuff when they've just been paid.

Well, if the entire course is video only, then maybe the video-only sales letter is somewhat of a 'qualifier' for the right type of buyer...

Bonnie --

You are a patient soul. I would have clicked away in a minute or less. I don't like the hypy sales pages, but at least I can read and make a quick decision.

Denise

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Originally Posted by deniseoberry

Bonnie --

You are a patient soul. I would have clicked away in a minute or less.

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Yep, me too. But like I said earlier, some people will watch the entire video. Apparently, those are the people they're counting on.

David Jackson

But wouldn't you miss some people by just doing video? People learn in different ways. Some learn better from Video, some audio and some text and some all three. I learn by all three medias, it just depends on what it's for. Also, Lynn made a good point on a call that there are people who are wanting to get involved in IM that are either deaf or blind. Shouldn't we keep them in mind. Even if they are a small percentage of your audience, I am waiting for one of them to become the next big guru.

Glenn

I agree Glenn BUT if your entire product is video based, you might as well qualify your buyers as people who will actually enjoy your forumat and consume your content...

I know I'm a voice in the wilderness, but you'd definitely miss me as a customer, if a product (and especially its sales letter) was all video based. I'm on dial up - no choice, my geographic area - and videos are the bane of my existence.

My writing schedule is so busy, I have to really squeeze time in for me. Waiting for a video to download... and download... just doesn't cut it. I'm off to something I can access more easily.

Video screw up audio "classes" too. The presenter starts showing a slide show or visiting websites - and my connection's overloaded, crashed, gone.

I love people who provide transcripts or other text-based alternatives.

This is a tad off topic, but another problem I have is when marketers call audio recordings "videos" just because a video-like image is shown while the audio plays (John Carlton recently did this -- provided a free series of interviews, which were great, but called them "videos" when they clearly weren't.) I think they're doing this because videos are "THE big thing" right now.

As Kayla hinted at, it's hard to stay focused on an audio (or video without compelling visuals) while sitting at your computer. You're too tempted to do other things, like check your email while listening. (Or napping, as in Kayla's case :) ) But if you're reading email or doing anything else that requires cognitive thinking, you can't really listen to the audio at the same time.

I'm enrolled right now in a Jimmy D. Brown workshop, and he provides audios AND transcripts (and checklists and other extras). I listen to the audio during my (long) commute (cuz I can drive without thinking :eek: and listen at the same time). Then I read the PDF and take notes by longhand (rather than typing). That seems to work best for me when my goal is to seriously "get" and remember what I'm learning.

@ Bonnie I agree totally video as feature or option can be a powerful tool especially if you want to demonstrate a product or connect with a personal image.

Sales copy will always be a skill to work on even if it is enough content to convince the visitor to click on the video. The 30 min presentation was over the top and which I listened to while clicking through other mail so the video was not a selling point at all.

I will be interested to hear back from you what you think of the program, I wrote to him asking for more detail and had no reply so I will not even consider the product.

@ doothe great it would have been better to see a video from the device, seems more a toy then any thing serious. Are you just a reseller of your sites products or are you the actual importer from china

Today Reese decided to add a more traditional sales page (much abbreviated version though), along with the video: http://www.moneymindset.com/

watzzupsport, it may be a while before I actually put the program into action and have any results to report, because I'm in the middle of a different project right now. I do plan to get more into affiliate marketing early next year, though; that's why I bought it.

I do like what he's teaching. Some of it's not "new" to me, some of it is... but the best thing is how he ties several elements together. I think my favorite part are the modules that show how to promote affiliate products without a list. I do have a list, but only in one non-IM niche... so that was particularly interesting to me.

There's quite a discussion about it going on at the Warrior Forum (the product reviews area).

My personal preference is video plus sales letter; that seems to be the way most marketers are going now.

One of these days I've gotta add a video to my own sales letter. So much to do, so little time... :p

@ Bonnie

Are you doing what your sig link takes me to, are you promoting that program as an affiliate.
There does seem to be a good market in selling web properties it would be good to hear from somebody who is being successful with it.

@ Randy

Interesting to see what Reese has done with the product now, hard to know what is marketing and what is spin.

@ watzzupsport -- Yes, I'm doing it; Yes, I'm an affiliate for it. Too soon to judge whether or not I'll be successful with it, but it seems like a good biz model to me.