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Survey: Video Helps Persuade 73% of People to Buy a Product or Service

Survey: Video Helps Persuade 73% of People to Buy a Product or Service

This morning, Animoto reported new survey results that show video has a positive impact on purchase decisions and drives brand engagement. The new Animoto Online and Mobile Video Study surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers and revealed that nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents are more likely to purchase a product or service if they can watch a video explaining it beforehand.

Courtesy of Search Engine Watch


“The business benefits of using video to increase discovery, traffic, engagement and conversion are widely documented, but we were curious about whether consumers actually find business videos helpful,” said Brad Jefferson, CEO of Animoto. “The data shows that there’s a real power in business videos to help people make confident shopping decisions. Further, consumers develop a more positive impression of companies that use video and even find such companies to be more trustworthy. Businesses that don’t embrace video are overlooking a valuable way to reach their customers and will struggle to keep up with the competition.”

Videos Play a Pivotal Role in Decision-Making During All Stages of the Customer Experience

Nearly all the respondents (96 percent) find videos helpful when making purchase decisions online – creating a significant opportunity for small businesses to capitalize by offering more video. The findings also show that videos hold tremendous value for driving brand awareness throughout the purchase process as well as post-purchase engagement:

  • 93 percent of respondents find video helpful in comparison shopping.
  • 87 percent of respondents find video helpful for researching additional items from the same brand.
  • 93 percent of respondents find video helpful for instructions post-purchase.

Video Drives Brand Engagement, Leaves Consumers With Positive Impression

According to the study, video helps businesses connect with their customers and leaves consumers with a positive impression of their brand:

  • 71 percent of respondents agree that watching video content produced by businesses leaves them with a positive impression of a brand/service/company.
  • Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents find it helpful to watch videos to learn more about the company they will purchase from.
  • 58 percent of respondents consider companies that produce video content to be more trustworthy.

Consumers Speak Out About Video Preferences

Longer videos aren’t necessarily more effective, with 83 percent of respondents citing the ideal length of a video to inform a purchase decision is five minutes or less.

Respondents also had interesting views on what types of video they would like to see more. From a tour of a restaurant’s ocean view to an interview with a conference speaker, people want to watch more video across industries, products, and services:

  • 42 percent of all respondents would like to see more product description or service demonstration videos, such as a 360 view of a product, how to play a game, or use a phone.
  • People would like to see more video content about electronics (57 percent), restaurants (39 percent), travel (34 percent), and exercise/fitness (33 percent).
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