I Created A "Whiteboard" Sales Video - Please Critique
- Thread starter SeanMacnamara
- Start date
These have never worked as well as generating my own visitors and tracking. I prefer to use these tools.
Run some traffic using the tools I listed, search for patterns in certain scenarios, and split test with targeted visitor data. The usertesting.com stuff isn't bad, but it's never been as good as collecting targeted user data as the tools I mentioned with your actual targeted audience.
Use Optimizely to rotate a couple variations of the video as well as the long form. As suggested above, make your site responsive...
The script is about 19.5 minutes, which is about average for this type of sales letter. It actually might be a bit short. Many sales videos of this type can run up to 40+ minutes.
The goal is not necessarily for the user to watch the whole thing. The "buy now" button appears around the 9 minute mark, after the user has been properly pre-sold. The user instantly wants to see the price but if you haven't properly justifed that price with how the product will benefit them, it will seem too expensive. If the user watches past the point of the "buy now" button appearing, they are not ready to commit to the product, and are shown more value, with stronger and stronger closes throughout the end of the video.
With long-form letters, heat maps and order form impressions show that the user often scrolls to the bottom of the page and clicks the "buy now" button just to see the price. The point of the long VSL is to keep them from "jumping ahead" to the price until they fully understand how great it is and will solve their pressing problems.
These are great videos and I appreciate you sharing them. I will definitely create another version with more white space to test out.
scottspfd82 said:
Yes, of course there is demand for the product! I wouldn't have spent several months working on the product BEFORE even thinking about the marketing message if the demand wasn't there. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I've been at this game since '08 and have created many offers. This isn't my first rodeo!
I outlined this in pretty great detail on our affiliates page but will hit a few points here.
There is a top 20 product on Clickbank that offers a similar style training course but for the iPad. The product has been in the top 20 for over a year. The iPhone market is WAY bigger than the iPad market.
318 total iPhones sold vs 121 million iPads.
47 million iPhones sold in Q1 2013 vs. 22 million iPads.
iPhone training manuals such as "My iPhone" and "iPhone - The Missing Manual" outsell their iPad counterpart on Amazon.
Smartphones have started to reach critical mass, meaning the older generations are now making the switch. And since the iPhone is the most recognized brand among smartphones, it's the logical choice for boomers. These are the target audience for the product...your parents and grandparents!
Jaguar7 said:
The 640x360 frame size is pretty much standard for these types of sales videos. I think that is mainly due to the streaming cost of a 20 minute sales video. Dat Wistia bill can get big fast.
Though with the new YouTube CSS hack that people are using, that is a moot points so I will definitely test a larger frame size.
Tobias Funke said:
This was my inspiration for the product. My parents get so frustrated with their phones and I'm constantly showing and re-showing them how to do the simplest tasks. Plus, my dad is now 65, retired, and BORED! He spends money like nobody I've ever seen so OF COURSE he HAD to have an iPhone when his buddy got one.
LegitAM said:
Awesome! This is exactly what I'm going to do.
So far, it's converting pretty well at about 1 in 25 to 1 in 35 for targeted traffic, and the EPC is around $2.00 or so for that same targeted traffic over the last few days. I would consider this to be amazing if it was just a standard long-form letter but I can't help but think it can get better with some more testing. Again, this is my first time doing the VSL so I have no idea what to expect.
Any guys out there who do this type of marketing or own/promote products with VSL's that want to chime in?
Also, any feedback on the headline?
Awesome.
As I mentioned, I was just asking. I hate seeing people spending a ton of time/resources on a product with no market. It sounds like you've put in the research. Best of luck!
Million dollar critique incoming...
I watched the sales video and tried to put myself in the shoes of the prospect. That is his/her needs, wants, desires, fears etc and it just wasn't satisfying my appetite enough.
Sure I want to be an expert but here's just a few open loops going on in my mind as a brain-dead newbie iphone user, that you didn't close, so in the end you just lost a sale.
These include:
etc...
See, there's a lot of loops going on in my head, that you didn't close, this causes cognitive dissonance and in the end you'll lose some sales.
Do I really want to be an expert or do I want my problems solved/answered. (think the benefits, being an expert is nice but is it enough? Not in my case.)
I do like how you pace and lead the prospect very well with useful information, and overall it does a good on the blind copy angle, that is you're telling us that in the product you'll teach us how to be experts using tricks and what not but don't actually tell us what we'll be learning.
Another problem... It has little to no story...Sure you could get away without using one but a story creates such a wonderful thing in selling in that it holds the attention of the prospect longer and in most cases adds a lot of credibility/proof, helping get the sale.
The other huge objection is the offer, you really don't tell me what I'm getting other than an information product that I can watch on my computer / iphone / devices... Also the $97 objection. Huge one here, that's a lot of money to most people... So why not break it down from $127 dollars. The psychology in doing this is, they'd be paying a lot of money @ $127, but you're not going to charge that (objection, too much money) You're going to charge them only $97 (Ah, that's better) ...
Then just justify it... 97 dollars could save you from a potential security breach, which could prevent thousands of dollars in damages from identity theft, hackers etc...Smart investment, I think so.
When I think of buying something like an information product and it doesn't have me skipping traffic cone practice with my construction buddies just to start digging into it on a friday night...There's a problem, and it's usually the copy/offer.
I'm glad you're making monies from it, that's a huge sign this has a lot more potential for you! Good luck with it, and hope I've helped.
I watched the sales video and tried to put myself in the shoes of the prospect. That is his/her needs, wants, desires, fears etc and it just wasn't satisfying my appetite enough.
Sure I want to be an expert but here's just a few open loops going on in my mind as a brain-dead newbie iphone user, that you didn't close, so in the end you just lost a sale.
These include:
- Securing my phone from hackers (personal, sensative data, use blind copy here)
- jailbreaking, is it legal or illegal and how to do it?
- Save money on my data plan, that could pay for the product itself, or a tank of gas? etc
- The dangers of tracking, storing GPS information, how to prevent this from happing. (moar blind copy)
etc...
See, there's a lot of loops going on in my head, that you didn't close, this causes cognitive dissonance and in the end you'll lose some sales.
Do I really want to be an expert or do I want my problems solved/answered. (think the benefits, being an expert is nice but is it enough? Not in my case.)
I do like how you pace and lead the prospect very well with useful information, and overall it does a good on the blind copy angle, that is you're telling us that in the product you'll teach us how to be experts using tricks and what not but don't actually tell us what we'll be learning.
Another problem... It has little to no story...Sure you could get away without using one but a story creates such a wonderful thing in selling in that it holds the attention of the prospect longer and in most cases adds a lot of credibility/proof, helping get the sale.
The other huge objection is the offer, you really don't tell me what I'm getting other than an information product that I can watch on my computer / iphone / devices... Also the $97 objection. Huge one here, that's a lot of money to most people... So why not break it down from $127 dollars. The psychology in doing this is, they'd be paying a lot of money @ $127, but you're not going to charge that (objection, too much money) You're going to charge them only $97 (Ah, that's better) ...
Then just justify it... 97 dollars could save you from a potential security breach, which could prevent thousands of dollars in damages from identity theft, hackers etc...Smart investment, I think so.
When I think of buying something like an information product and it doesn't have me skipping traffic cone practice with my construction buddies just to start digging into it on a friday night...There's a problem, and it's usually the copy/offer.
I'm glad you're making monies from it, that's a huge sign this has a lot more potential for you! Good luck with it, and hope I've helped.
I think your script is a bit too long for what you are trying to sell, since one of your main USPs you are selling as a "benefit" is the "just 7 minutes a day" low-commitment angle, so watching this whole sales vid may be more than the average iphone owner wanting a quick/fast/dirty solution is going to want to invest. Even your "wait, don't go" message on exit seems pretty long. I think you could shave a few minutes off this script and it would convert even better. Check your data on what point in the vid the majority of viewers have left by, and use that as a target-length to get all your sales points in by.
From a technical perspective, the hand is a little dizzying, but the quality seems really good, better than most I've seen. I always think its a bit dangerous to have the visuals writing out the exact same words that are being said aloud, since it makes people tend to "zone out" on one or the other, so maybe make sure the script varies some from what the hand is writing a bit more, most parts are exact duplication.
I kind of agree with skohh that you left some unaswered questions out there that seem like they would be things a lot of peeps would think "if I just knew how to do XYZ on my phone, it'd be awesome". maybe cut out some of the repetitive "fluffy" part of the script and throw the viewer a few more bones like how much more secure they'll be, how they'll no longer only be using just 15% of their iPhone's potential, etc.
Overall, I really like the quality and approach, I think you could just shorten it and do a few tweaks to make people more likely to pay attention to both the audio and the visual, and really make the commitment (both time and money) seem very small compared to all the great benefits the viewer is going to get by buying.
From a technical perspective, the hand is a little dizzying, but the quality seems really good, better than most I've seen. I always think its a bit dangerous to have the visuals writing out the exact same words that are being said aloud, since it makes people tend to "zone out" on one or the other, so maybe make sure the script varies some from what the hand is writing a bit more, most parts are exact duplication.
I kind of agree with skohh that you left some unaswered questions out there that seem like they would be things a lot of peeps would think "if I just knew how to do XYZ on my phone, it'd be awesome". maybe cut out some of the repetitive "fluffy" part of the script and throw the viewer a few more bones like how much more secure they'll be, how they'll no longer only be using just 15% of their iPhone's potential, etc.
Overall, I really like the quality and approach, I think you could just shorten it and do a few tweaks to make people more likely to pay attention to both the audio and the visual, and really make the commitment (both time and money) seem very small compared to all the great benefits the viewer is going to get by buying.
Yeah forgot to say that, the quality is good, this adds credibility / genuineness / proof. This is probably the strongest thing going for it.
Yeah, so I ask for a critique of my video and then I go on vacation. Sounds like something out of BST! Sorry for the delay on responding to this.
I really appreciate the detailed feedback, especially from Mont and Skohh. There is some real gold in there. I am working on another variation to test. Unfortunately, with this type of sales presentation, it takes a bit of work to get another video out there.
But for now, I feel like I have a pretty good "control" sales letter. Conversions have leveled off between 1:35 and 1:95 depending on my keyword list and negative keywords. Plus, this is all direct linking. I haven't even tried to do a review lander in front of it. I definitely think I'm on to something here.
If any Clickbank affiliates want to chat, hit me up on PM.
I really appreciate the detailed feedback, especially from Mont and Skohh. There is some real gold in there. I am working on another variation to test. Unfortunately, with this type of sales presentation, it takes a bit of work to get another video out there.
But for now, I feel like I have a pretty good "control" sales letter. Conversions have leveled off between 1:35 and 1:95 depending on my keyword list and negative keywords. Plus, this is all direct linking. I haven't even tried to do a review lander in front of it. I definitely think I'm on to something here.
If any Clickbank affiliates want to chat, hit me up on PM.