We know that the internet was created so we could watch cat videos, right? (Given that I have 3 cats, I’m quite partial to cat videos…)
And while I’m not suggesting that you put cat videos on your business website, there are a number of serious reasons why you should use some form of video.
Video is currently exploding on the internet. YouTube is now the second largest search engine on the web. It was launched on Feb 14 2005 and today, over 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. YouTube gets over 30 million visitors per day. That’s an awful lot of traffic…

Why do people love videos so much?

1 Biology

One of the core reasons is that as humans we are ingrained to focus on things which move. From our very earliest days as hunters and gatherers we had to be alert to changes in our environment. That rustle and slight movement in the bushes could be a Saber Tooth tiger, ready to jump out and eat us. So we are hard wired to notice changes, and take action on them. Even in our peripheral vision we can detect motion, which we will then turn our head to look at.
Another aspect of our biology which makes us take notice of motion is that things which don’t vary soon disappear from our awareness. Have you noticed that when you first put your clothes on that you are very aware of how they feel on your skin? After a while that sensation fades, and it’s something you don’t pay attention to any more. Similarly, if you look at a picture, or a spot on the wall or paper, and keep looking at it without blinking, it can start to disappear. This is because your brain starts to ignore things which it perceives as unimportant. It’s not moving, it’s not changing, it’s no threat to you, so you move your concentration to other things. (If you’re interested in this, it’s known as the Troxler effect.)
People also learn and process information in different ways. The three main modes are

• visual (through seeing)
• auditory (through hearing)
• kinaesthetic (through doing)

40% of people are primarily visual learners. Of those who are not primarily visual learners, most process visual information more easily than text. And videos tap into both our auditory and visual senses. When multiple senses are involved we can process information more easily.
Vision is our most dominant sense. Most information transmitted to our brain is visual. When you’re thinking, most people think in pictures.

2 Emotion

As well as being biologically predisposed to pay attention to sound and movement, seeing other people either in person or in video also triggers our emotional reflexes. Human are social beings. We crave interaction with others. Videos showing people help us to connect emotionally with them.
Our brains are incredibly complex in some ways, and simple in others. Our brains can be tricked into thinking that we are actually a part of something, when we are just watching it on a screen. Have you been into an IMAX cinema? Or watched a movie in 3D? You feel like you’re actually there, experiencing what you are seeing. Your body feels like it’s going down that roller coaster, even though you know you are sitting safe in your chair. While a small video on your computer may not give you exactly the same experience, there’s still an element of immersion when you watch a video.
We like watching and listening to other people talk. Before we developed writing, information was passed on through stories. Even with all our technological advancement, our fundamental involvement with stories hasn’t changed. They draw us in, they keep us interested, we learn better and remember more through stories – the situations, the characters, the emotions.

What does all this mean for you?

What this all means is that video is a very powerful way of engaging with people.
If you’re not using video on your website, in your social media marketing, you need to add it. You get so many benefits from videos.

3 Videos build trust

When people can see your product in use, or hear someone talking about your product, or just getting to know you, the business owner as a real person, it helps them to trust you more. They can get a feel for you, your company and your product. There’s something real about what you present in your video that is much more tangible than reading words on a page. Without trust, people won’t buy your products and services.

4 Videos boost conversions and sales

Because videos engender trust, they can increase your conversions and sales. Including a video on your landing page can increase conversions by 80%. After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online. Other studies show that 74% of users who watched an explainer video about a product subsequently bought it. With those kind of numbers, why wouldn’t you do it?

5 Google loves videos

Having videos on your website can boost your search engine rankings. This makes sense, when you know that Google also owns YouTube. Google’s search algorithms take videos into account, to provide a variety of mediums for the searcher.

New way to use video on your website

One of the newest and most exciting ways to use video on your website is with a video sales assistant. Your video sales assistant can load when your page loads, and sits on top of your website. So your visitor can move around your page, with the video sales assistant still showing. The video sales assistant can be a real person, or an animated character. You still get all the benefits with an animated character, without the time and cost of creating a new video.
You can even have a different video sales assistant on every page of your website, tailored to the content of each page.
Contact me to see how a video sales assistant on your website can help you boost your sales and conversions.

Over to you

How are you using video? What has worked well for you? What would you like help on? Leave a comment below, and let’s have a chat.
And contact me to discuss getting your own video sales assistant.