subject: Video Marketing Tips - Controls Or Not? [print this page] If nothing else, I promise that this article is going to get you thinking. It has to do with videos and whether or not you should use controls. I'm bringing this up because a few people seem to like to complain about videos without controls. Yes, there is a reason for doing this. But unless you understand why and just follow the herd, you're not going to get the results you expect.
Okay, so let's start at the beginning. First of all, what do I mean by videos without controls? What I mean is videos where the person watching has no way of stopping it, rewinding it or fast forwarding it to the end. The only thing they can do is sit and watch or close up their browser. Doesn't seem like much of a choice and I can certainly see why this might tick off a few people. However, there is a reason for these videos.
Ignoring the copycat marketers who have no idea what they're doing and only do it because John Doe guru is doing it, the reason why successful marketers do this comes down to one of two things. Either they're split testing the video against one with controls to see which one converts better, or they already know and are using videos without controls exclusively.
Now, I know what you might be thinking. How could a video with no controls possibly convert better than one WITH controls? Well, there are several possible reasons why.
At the top of the list is the obvious. If the video has no controls, there is no way to stop it. So you either watch it all the way through or you don't. But if you DO watch it all the way through, you've seen the entire sales message. That means, if the sales message has properly done its job, you are more likely to buy than had you been able to stop the video or fast forward it to the end to get the price and link.
However, a less obvious reason would be that the tactic itself weeds out the people who aren't really interested in the sales message. See, people who are just casual prospects are most likely to just scan the video, maybe watch bits and pieces and then fast forward to the end to find the price. Most of these people don't turn out to be customers. Those who actually sit through the whole video actually ARE interested. They may still not buy, but they are probably more likely TO buy.
It's very similar to the old rotten sales page tactic that many top name copywriters use. They'll put together an obviously ugly sales page specifically for the purpose of seeing who will actually read it, because they are truly interested, and who will just close it up because they can't be bothered with it because of the amateur look.
It's called pre-qualifying your prospects and it works very well IF you know what you're doing.
And that is really the key. Because the answer to the question, should you use a video with controls or no controls, really comes down to testing. You're not going to know until you try it out on YOUR target market. Everybody reacts differently. So there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question.
Just understand what you're doing and WHY you're doing it.
