Photos or Video Best for Landing Pages?

[Kingalan1]

My real estate brokerage firm is promoting a listing via advertising on LinkedIn. The advertising links to a landing page: http://www.nyc-officespace-leader.com/MidtownLawOfficeSublet3300SFBelowMarket

Rather than photos, the landing page has a 1 minute video. So far we have had about 10 visits to the page. Visitors leave the landing page after a few seconds. So they are not looking at the video.

Would it be better to replace the video with photos?  Or is engagement generally better with video?

My thinking is that business owners may not have the patience or the time for a video and they would more likely have the time and willingness to click on photos.

I would be willing to test this further, but at $5/click it could get costly!

Any thoughts?
Thanks, 
Alan Rosinsky

[ThompsonPaul]

Something to consider regarding how you're measuring the traffic to the page...

Do you have tracking of actual interaction with the video in place? (e.g. Play click, length of video viewed, where they stop?) I ask because we need to remember - Google Analytics by default counts a bounce visit as zero seconds, regardless of how long the visitor actually stayed on the page. This is especially important for landing pages.

And what is the call to action on the page? Unless the CTA entails a second interactive hit to Google Analytics (like a second pageview), even successful page visits will be tracked as zero-second bounces.

All this is to mean - the time on page being so low doesn't necessarily mean the video isn't being watched. It might, but you need other tracking to know for sure. And you do need to know in case it's not a problem that the video isn't being watched, but instead the video is being watched but isn't persuasive enough.

[R0bin_L0rd]

Hi Alan, I see Roman has already given a pretty detailed answer to this question which has some really good points. The only reason I'm not marking it as "good answer" is that, I would add the caveat that you should be building with your audience in mind. Therefore jargon etc. is acceptable if you know your audience talk that way.

Hotjar and Crazyegg are good tools to gather some information, as Roman suggests. I would also consider something like Optimisely or VWO to test variations of the page against each other, that being said I absolutely feel your pain about LinkedIn prices and the cost of testing. I'd recommend experimenting with Google Adwords to try to get some cheaper clicks through, you could also use usertesting.com or usabilityhub to gather specific feedback about the pages, from your target demographic, without having to wait for them to click through naturally.

It'd be worth considering what tracking you can add to the page. If you have Google Tag Manager installed on the site you can add scroll tracking to see how far down the page people actually scroll, Wistia should be able to tell you whether people are watching your video and tracking all the link clicks could give you information on whether they are clicking elsewhere. As a side note, have you considered adding links to supporting pages on the site? It could help reassure people that they are giving contact details to a reputable firm.

Hope that helps!

[Roman-Delcarmen]

Another good tip could be installed a heat map and video tracking so could see what exactly are doing the users when they leave your page or how they interact with your landing page

Hotjar and Crazyegg are a good option for that (Hotjar offers a free personal account)

[Roman-Delcarmen]

I think the problem is not the video or photo I think the main problem could be the landing page itself. I will suggest you run an audit of Landing Page Analyzer

The main problem from my point of view is your landing page does not capture my attention in the first 3 seconds.

So rebuild the header text, remember you need to
propose a problem and show a solution for that problem.

It just my opinion, but I have to face the same problem over and over again because I have to manage over 50 landing pages on Unbounce every week

Always Be Very, Very Specific

When you make a statement in your headline, be very specifc. Never say “easy-to-use software.” Easy is much too vague. What makes it so easy, exactly? Is it easier to use than your competitors? How, specifcally? Always ask yourself the questions “how, exactly?” and “so, why is this important?” when writing headlines.

Make Sure Your Unique Selling Points Are “Really” Unique

I see this very often. A business writes down their unique selling points (USP’s), but it does not compare them with the competition. When you ofer free shipping, and your competitors do as well, your free shipping is not a USP. Your visitors will compare you with your competitors. If you ofer the same benefts, you’re not uni-que. Emphasize your unique diferentiators, those that others don’t mention and, ideally, something they can’t compete with.

Match Your Visitor’s Expectations

Most of your visitors come to your site via a digital channel. Make sure you match your visitors’ expectations by using the same wording on your landing page as you did in the previous step. For example, make sure there’s a nice “scent” between your ads and headlines by using the same words.

Support Your Claims with Proof or Evidence

Your claims will be much more efective when you support them with hard proof. Using “best restaurant” is too vague. Support your claim with proof: “best-rated res-taurant on TripAdvisor.” You could also use numbers as evidence, e.g., “14,102 books sold” or “over 1384 customers trust us.”

Always Be Super Clear and Easy to Understand

Remember that your visitors do not work for you and are not privy to your indus-try-based lingo. Avoid words that make perfect sense to your colleagues but do not ring a bell for your visitors. Make sure you use language that he/she can readily un-derstand. Talk to your clients like they are right there with you. It’s not about you; it’sit’s all about your visitor. Aim for a Grade 6 reading level and be jargon-free.

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