Do you have the habit of referring to videos before buying a product? You are not alone. 96% of consumers report watching product demo videos before purchasing a product. In fact, a good demo video will tell a potential lead why they should consider purchasing your product. It also works well for customers who are weighing their options and are in the last stage of purchase. A convincing demo video can be the one driving factor that gets them to hit that “buy now” button.
Product-based businesses, both physical products and software products, and service-based businesses can all benefit from demo videos. Here are some advantages they offer:
A demo video can thus be used for so many purposes. Build your brand or product awareness. Strengthen your brand’s reputation. Increase the sale of a particular product. You get to choose what benefit you need to focus on. But all this depends on the effectiveness of the video you design.
A good demo video is one that actually convinces customers to take any action at the end of the video. For this to happen, the video should inform and educate customers, excite them and engage them. Here are some questions to ask yourself to be sure that your demo video creates an impact.
Make sure that your demo video has a clear goal. And that your CTA is aligned with this goal. Customers do not always leave without taking an action because the content did not make an impact. Sometimes they leave because they do not know what to do next. Or what the video directs them towards.
You have demonstrated a new product. Great! But what’s in it for the customer? Are you going to provide a discount code so that the customer can purchase the product at a lower price within a short period? Or are you going to take them to other videos that help customers compare their other options and make an informed buying decision? Be clear about what you want your video to achieve and direct your customers on the right path.
Knowing who the video is for helps you come up with the apt content for the demo. If it is a new customer who is going to encounter your product for the first time, your demo can just be an overview of the features. Or you can identify the strongest features, the USP of the product. And create a video that shows how these unique features make the product worth the audience’s time, and money too.
Take a look at the above video for example. Novel concepts like Amazon Astro are sometimes difficult to understand. Sometimes people might not really be sure why they might need such new technologies. That’s when a demo video can be useful. It convinces them that it is an innovation worth trying.
The above example was for potential customers. But if the audience will be existing customers, you can delve into the often-overlooked details of the product. Or even talk about how to use a particular feature. Take a look at the below video:
This video explains a feature for existing customers. But it also shows where exactly this feature is useful. Videos like these put a new perspective on your product. This will make them appreciate the product a little more and thus recommend it to their friends and family.
The ideal length of the video depends on where you plan to use it. Long product demos might work on YouTube. Because people head here to know more about a product they plan to purchase. So, they will prefer a detailed video. But for landing pages, and emails, stick with a short video. In fact, when you have a short video, it becomes easier to convert it to a GIF for your emails, if required.
After all, having the best demo videos will be of no use if you do not use them in all the right places. In fact, you can use the context to determine the content and the tone of the video. The most common places where brands use demo videos will be the home page of a website, the product page for ecommerce listings, and social media posts. But other than that, here are a few more places where you can embed your demo videos for better conversions.
Your landing page welcomes an interested customer who actually took the first step in interacting with your business, by clicking your ad. So, this page should be all about making things simple for them and providing them with information that eliminates their doubts about the product.
Adding videos helps increase the landing page conversion rate by 86%. And demo videos are the best types of videos to add here if the landing page CTA is purchasing the product.
Take a look at the below example. The first image is the ad, and the second image is the landing page where Hostgator provides a demo video. The video gives new customers a peek into what the website builder offers.
A well-designed ad will convince your leads and take them to the product download page. This can be the software download page on your website or the app download page on Google Play or Apple App Store. Having a crisp demo video makes sure that your customer gets a brief feel of your app before actually installing it. It also helps in preventing them from having second thoughts. It works well both for paid and free apps.
Adding videos can make your emails more interactive. And this is said to increase the click-through rate by 200% to 300%. For an introductory email that welcomes your customer or an initial email that tries to convince your lead to try your product, a demo video will be a great choice.
The best way to design a demo video will be to identify the most common questions your customers have about the product or its specific features.
Look for cues on social media or even gather some questions from your customers directly through your social media pages. Use the demo video to answer this question. Or if it is an introduction video for a new product, explain the context and show how the product makes things simpler.
Your product is the one mandatory subject in your video. Whether you choose to show the face of the presenter or not, is totally up to you.
If you wish to cut down costs involved in product photoshoots, you can eliminate the need for bringing in real people. Instead, you can use animations to convey the message. And this works particularly well in demo videos for software products.
Voiceovers are great. They can engage the audiences and break down the concepts for them. But you can create demo videos without voice-over as well. To ensure that the vital information is conveyed, use text overlays to highlight the ideas you present. The choice also depends on where you wish to use the video. For emails and app download pages, videos without voice-over might be better choices. While longer videos for YouTube engage better with voiceovers.
As you can see demo videos have several roles to play. It truly depends on how you use them and where. So, get creative with the concepts and use your demo videos to eliminate all purchase-related confusion. This helps customers proceed to the next step in the sales funnel without any friction or second thoughts. If animations and professional video editing seem like a tough job, you can always work with professional design teams to get the job done.
