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Does Video REALLY increase time on site?

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Jeff Kershner

Jeff Kershner

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#1
I was hitting my twitter stream this morning and ran across this tweet...

Screen Shot 2011-08-10 at 9.05.53 AM.jpg
-Thanks Matt!

It linked me to an article on the Dealer.com blog - Top 10 Reason to Use Video

Let me start off by saying I'm a huge advocate of online video. I have a LOVE relationship with UnityWorks Media and have been personally in the video and video optimizing / distribution game before someone else was coining themselves "King of Video SEO". :)

Reading the top 10 reasons to use Video, I agree with all 10 or I WANT to agree with all 10.

Number 3 is the one I have in question.

3. Video increases time on site. The more time a visitor spends on your site the more likely they are to submit a lead.

Video increases time on site...

Does it Really?
....Does it Really?

I've added video to many many many dealership websites and time on site has either NOT increased or increased only a small fraction on average. There have been a few exceptions BUT too many times video was not the ONLY change, and there were other factors that could have played into the increase.

Now of course we can dissect this and tear it apart...

Where are your videos placed?
How engaging are your videos?
How long are your videos on average?
Etc, Etc.

But that's my point.

Let's be honest. "Video" for most dealers are photo stitched walk arounds on our used and maybe new cars. For some dealers, this could include Video Specials for Sales and Service. Some dealers take it a bit further and shoot some in-house story telling videos and customer testimonials.

I want to know from other dealers - Have you truly seen an Increase on Time on Site after adding video to your dealership website?

If NO - why do you think this is and what kind of videos do you have?
If YES - what do you believe is the magic formula for the increase of time on site AND have you tracked an increase in lead conversion?
 
#2
Hey Jeff,

Glad to see this conversation up. We did a study of our dealer body and compared those with videos against those without. Quick recap:

Time on site is 67.5% higher for dealers with video on their site
Conversion rates are 20% higher on sites with video

Now, you will notice that the study focused solely on the sites with inventory videos. So we did not look at custom dealer videos, staff vids etc...

This does not mean that it works for every dealer. I have seen cases where we turn on vids and it has little to no affect on the site. In aggregate however, videos seem to have a positive affect. I would also like to hear from some of the dealer population about what affect they have seen as the result of video integration.

You can download the study in it's entirety here: Research & Studies | Dealer.com | Car Dealer Marketing and Automotive Websites, Auto Dealer Website SEM and SEO

- Matt
 
#3
My Used Car Guy findings
(8 parts opinion, 2 parts science ;-)


Golden Rule: Once, twice, 3 strikes and your out!
Video must deliver what SHOPPERS want. Video is OPT IN. Miss the mark* on your 1st video opt in, you're in trouble, miss it again in the 2nd video and their ain't gonna be no third video.


Great Video Results Needs Great Content.
All else = FAIL.
Great Content = Great walk around.


This reminds me of the great comment generator debate. It's best done by humans, but who's got the time? If its Computer Generated Video, the software program manager needs to eat, live and breath engagement stats.
 
#4
Matt, thanks for jumping in and sharing.

67% is a nice jump in time on site. I wish I could say I've seen the same. This would include sites with prime placemen for the video and sites with only inventory walk-around videos.

If a site is averaging 3 minutes time on site, this would mean a jump in just over 2 minutes. Damn - I wish I could say I have seen an increase such as this... hummm.

I need to do some more digging.

Hope we get some more dealers to comment!
 
#6
Well of course it did Alex. :)

I jumped back in some old archives from a previous group. What I found confirmed what I thought I had remembered.

With video to no video on 1 particular website platform, there was an increase in time on site of 11-13%.

I wish I could look at my current sites trends with this but we added video too soon after switching to DealerOn.

Great topic of conversation but after looking at the traffic to this one thread, my fear is.. not enough dealers are tracking / monitoring their analytics after a change on their websites or adding something such as video.
 
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#7
Matt_Murray said:
...We did a study of our dealer body and compared those with videos against those without. Quick recap:

Time on site is 67.5% higher for dealers with video on their site
Conversion rates are 20% higher on sites with video

- Matt
Click to expand...


Matt,

In your study, you break dealers into 2 groups, those with and those without video. For your study, you set a floor of at least 2,000 visitors per month. From my home spun studies, inventory size is the single greatest influence* for TOS (Time on Site). I have a back of the napkin rule where for every 100 units on the ground, you'll get 1 min of TOS. So 300 units equals a 3 minute TOS stat.


How does this apply to your study?
My gut instincts tells me that dealers with video have MORE INVENTORY than those without video. Ergo, your 67% gain in TOS. I wouldn't be the least bit suprised of your dealers with video had 70-100% more inventory than those without video.

The real clean number would be TOS for dealers before video, then after video.



* Also, on a lesser level, the used car to new car ratio can skew the numbers.
 
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#8
#9
JoePistell said:
From your study, you reference:
"...Zappos reports 6-30% sales impact after integrating video product demos
(http://www.reelseo.com/video-demos-sales-zappos/)"

There it is, the "classic" walk around video...
[video]http://www.zappos.com/multiview/7606075/132968#autoplay[/video]
Click to expand...
Joe, my middle daughter graduated from high school this year and wanted luggage as a present. I shopped eBags.com where I'd made numerous purchases for myself in the past. While shopping for Claire's present, I was blown away by their informative videos. I didn't realize it at the time, but these could be the "blueprint" for a quality walk-around.

Watch the video here
 
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#10
Ed Brooks said:
Joe, my middle daughter graduated from high school this year and wanted luggage as a present. I shopped eBags.com where I'd made numerous purchases for myself in the past. While shopping for Claire's present, I was blown away by their informative videos. I didn't realize it at the time, but these could be the "blueprint" for a quality walk-around.

Watch the video here
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? Great find Ed! KILLER CONTENT! KILLER WALK-AROUND!

I swear this happened to me...

I started the video and recognized the "walk around" qualities. I SWEAR, by the time the 1:30 mark came, I was wishing I hadn't bought luggage last year, I just paused the video at the 2:00 mark LAUGHING at my behavior. I was in awe of how awesome this mother loade luggage is and if there was a "Buy It Now" button near by, I was in trouble! hahhaa

Walk Around Thoughts:
It's a guided tour of the features and benefits that already exist in the bullet list, but the "Tour Guide" makes it all so much more alive!

Comparing Zappo's "old kid" to eBag's Tour Guide, I find eBags video to convey the feeling of much more product knowledge (and authority) which led me to feel more buyer confidence. This also makes me think of how much better eBags was at connecting benefits to features and how important that is to the walk-around. Granted, there's only so much to talk about to a shoe vs the mother-lode... but how much more complex is a used car vs luggage??!

eBags was a 3+ min video and I'd bet my school lunch that the engagement stats are smokin' hot!

Some used car guy back of the napkin business projections.

If Zappos sees 6-30% more sales for an "inferior" walk-around, and we see how important walk-around videos become as the product gets more complex, then its not hard to imagine, IF the used car walk-around video is executed intelligently and with product authority, then it's entirely possible, WALK AROUND VIDEOS MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT SALES TOOL ON A DEALERS WEBSITE.


Thnx again Ed, great find, that made my day!
 
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