A video on your home page is likely a sign of bad messaging
A video on your home page is likely a sign of bad messaging
This isn’t an ironclad rule, but if you have to include a video on the home page of your site to explain how your product or service works, it’s likely a sign that your messaging needs help.
Not long ago, the guys on the Marketing School podcast made this very argument, and I tend to agree. Having videos to support your product can be great, but if someone needs to watch a video to understand what you’re offering, you’re going to lose a huge percentage of your potential buyers.
As Neil and Eric explain in the podcast, sometimes metrics can fool you to make it look like the opposite — your conversion rate might be low, and then it gets a boost when you add a video. Clearly the video helped, right? Compared to your previous text, yes, but you’re likely still leaving a lot of money on the table that better messaging could help.
No video?
Look at a tool like HubSpot (or even GreenMellen) as an example. Lots of great information, put together in a friendly format, with no need for a video to explain the core concepts. Once you’re beyond the basic idea and you’re looking for more, then videos can come into play.
Building a solid message isn’t easy. As an example, our process generally takes four weeks to complete, and there is a lot of effort that goes into it. At the end of it, though, you’re able to get your value proposition across clearly and powerfully, leading to much better understanding (and outcomes) when visitors browse your site.
As someone that has a video on their homepage, I think it helps pull in those poor souls that won't take the time or exert the energy to read (a group that seems to be increasing in my estimation). I agree that if all of your messaging hinges on someone watching the video to understand what you do, that's a problem. But, a video that reinforces messaging for the video watchers out there is pretty helpful.