Verdict: People Hate Website Video Spokespeople
March 28th, 2011 by Janna Polzin
Website Video Spokespeople.
We’ve all seen them.
You arrive at a website wanting information when your browsing is unexpectedly interrupted with a talking head. It’s like walking into a furniture store to look at new sofas. A salesperson comes over to help you before you’re four steps in the door. All you want is to get comfortable, have a look at the goods, sit on a couple sofas and compare prices. You say you’re “just looking” and they back off for a bit. The sales tactic is annoying as hell, but it’s expected when you go to a furniture store, or a car dealership or any other high-priced retailer.
But unlike the predictable, smiley retail salesperson, website video salespeople spokespeople are overly intrusive. People don’t want their private Internet surfing interjected with sales pitches delivered by uninvited strangers.
I get more than a handful of unsolicited emails every week trying to convince me that my clients can’t compete without this “technology of the future,” that their 3D Video Technology will “captivate visitors” and “increase conversions.” All the vendors of this technology say it’s “proven” to make your website “stand out from the crowd.”
Their claims seem unrealistic to me because whenever one of those engaging spokespeople automatically pops up on my screen, I look for the nearest “close” button, mute my speakers or leave. But I could be wrong! Perhaps I’m just in the minority and missing the value that I’ve been told so many website owners and visitors have come to rely on.
I conducted a little survey using Survey Monkey to find out.
How do you feel about website video spokespersons that automatically run when you arrive on a website?
There were 86 respondents invited from my business Facebook page and Twitter account. Most of my connections on these networks are tech-savvy and familiar with Internet marketing, advertising and social media.
| Love them. I think they are helpful and/or fun. | 0.00% | 0 |
| They’re okay. I don’t mind them. | 0.00% | 0 |
| A bit annoying. I’d rather they didn’t play automatically. | 39.53% | 34 |
| Hate them. They are not useful to me at all. | 60.47% | 52 |
| No opinion. | 0.00% | 0 |
| I have no idea what you’re talking about. | 0.00% | 0 |
| Other |
Two comments were submitted.
1) they creep me out
2) I think video is powerful on a website, just don’t think it should start automatically. People could be taken off guard particularly if they are at work, etc.
I was surprised by these results. I figured most people are like me and would vote for “annoying” or “hate,” but I couldn’t believe there were not at least a couple votes for “love” or “okay.”
Suggested Best Practice for Website Video Spokespeople: Most people enjoy videos. Videos can be useful, engaging and fun. But think twice before you enable auto-play!
Tags: business, interactive, marketing, social media, user experience, web trends, website design
March 28th, 2011 at 5:20 PM
I hate music, videos or the video spokesperson that are on autoplay so much I usually leave a site and never return. Not sure why people do this…
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March 29th, 2011 at 8:31 AM
I thought the practice of auto-playing page elements had died off a few years ago when those horrible Flash splash pages started to go by the wayside (We still get requests for splash pages though! Gasp!) I don’t mind music or videos at all, but autoplay really grates on my nerves! Even on sites like movie trailer sites where I’m definitely going to watch something. I’d much rather click play than have it start as soon as I arrive.
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April 1st, 2011 at 6:07 PM
I have to say, I’m surprised all the responses were so negative. I’m not a fan of video salespeople, but just thought at least some people would like them. Interesting.
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April 1st, 2011 at 11:11 PM
User initiated make a significant difference. It is one thing when I do it, but quite another when it happens automatically.
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April 4th, 2011 at 7:16 AM
I was very surprised as well! Surely there’s someone out there who loves them.
As I mentioned, I’m assuming most respondents are tech- and Internet-savvy. They probably spend a lot of time online and use websites in a more specific way than the more novice user. If most respondents are like me, they probably dislike the unexpected (and uninvited!) interruption caused by video spokespeople. Regardless, I think the companies hawking these technologies need to take a look at their claims that these things are necessary and improve conversions. Perhaps for some industries/niches it’s true, but I doubt all.
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October 3rd, 2011 at 2:14 AM
Just checking out your article on my new Samsung Phone , and I wanted to check if it would let me comment or if it was going to me go to a full pc to do that. Ill check back later to see if it worked.
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November 15th, 2011 at 7:36 PM
I’ve noticed most of the websites using these frankenvideos belong to small/medium businesses, whose owners are frequently targeted by the creators of “virtual spokespersons” and “flash intros”. Auto-play videos and content seem to be more tolerated when it comes to the so called “squeeze pages”, but otherwise I don’t see how they can possibly enhance a website’s relevance or experience.
And just a few days back, a friend of mine was also struggling with a client that wanted as much “multimedia” content as possible squeezed onto his small website, including – but not limited to – auto-play video, flash animations and auto-play music.
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March 16th, 2012 at 9:08 AM
Such a great article which their claims seem unrealistic to me because whenever one of those engaging spokespeople automatically pops up on my screen. In which The sales tactic is annoying as hell, but it’s expected when you go to a furniture store, or a car dealership or any other high-priced retailer. Thanks for sharing this article.
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