Homepage Video Sound Test
| VERSION B | |
How site visitors voted:
VERSION A (32%)
VERSION B (68%)
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Actual Test Results:
15% more first-time visitors clicked the ‘Join Now’ button when this homepage’s video sound was muted until visitors moused over it. EyeView, Inc., online video marketing and optimization firm, used its proprietary testing platform to conduct this A/B test for virtual stock trading site UpDown. Here’s the interesting part – the team’s prior tests already had proven that playing the video automatically increased page conversions for UpDown. (Note: This is definitely not the case for all sites, you really have to test it.) So, this auto-sound vs. muted-sound test was the second test in a series. It proved that while auto-video increased conversions, auto-sound did not. In fact, perhaps being forced to interact with the video to hear sound got more prospects into “interaction mode” so they were then more willing to click a ‘join’ button next. This psychological factor has been tested heavily offline by direct postal mail marketers (remember all those sticky stamps in Publishers Clearing House packages?) We think more online marketers should test it too. Often once prospects begin to interact, they’re more likely to continue interacting… WhichTestWon.com is sponsored by: WiderFunnel Conversion Optimization, the A/B and multivariate testing firm that guarantees Conversion Rate Lift. Click here for info on improving your site’s results – risk free – today! |
Damn, I really thought that the interruption done by the video would call people’s attention in a good sense.
This was one of our more counter-intuitive results which says something about how people feel about opting in and how important it is to find a balance. We have seen how effective autoplay can be, but we know it annoys some people. This test offered the best of both worlds.
Anne,
Some friends of mine sent me a site they did where autoplay WITHOUT sound lifted conversion rates. It’s a very cool technique: http://bit.ly/14rW2S
Doug
We went from no video to autoplay on our DRTV microsites, which gave us a lift, but then taking autoplay out and leaving the video with a play arrow actually boosted response rates another 10%
Hi Anne, guys,
Wonderful test this, and one of the sources I mentioned in a post comparing Auto-play to Click-to-play for ecommerce ( http://blog.treepodia.com/2010/03/bug-my-eye-autoplay-vs-manual-on-ecommerce-videos ).
I’m curious as to the other metrics from the study quoted. Specifically how did Bounce Rates compare for both versions?
Cheers,
Mike
http://Treepodia.com – The ecommerce video platform