Alright maybe a video on every page is wishful thinking, but as the number of overall site visitors continue to grow on mobile devices, it only makes sense. I mean, what would you rather do, read a page full of text on your smartphone or watch a short video?
If you’re like me, seeing a page full of text on a mobile device makes your eyes roll back in your head, at least a little bit. Especially if the site isn’t responsive and you need to do a bunch of scrolling and zooming to read it properly. A wall of text on a smartphone is overwhelming to most; even if that page is loaded with exactly the content you’re looking for. You could break up the text with some images but, let’s be honest, they don’t capture your attention quite like a video.
A video is so much more engaging than a page full of text, and it’s not just me the crazy video guy saying it either. According to the most recent survey by Ooyala’s Global Video Index, online video viewership on mobile devices is up a whopping 719% in just two years.
Why? People love video. More specifically? Video engages the brain with both audio and visuals; a killer combo to grab people’s attention. Think of it this way, video is like going for a run on a quiet woodland path for your brain. While a page full of text is like running on a treadmill. Same thing? Sort of, but not really. So when a video is presented as an option to a page full of text on a mobile device, viewers will hit the play button every time.
So do I think what constitutes a website is changing based on the amount of mobile traffic? Undoubtedly the answer is yes. Content needs to be easier to consume on every device, regardless of size. Would it be great if more content was presented in the form of video rather than just text? Absolutely; then again I am writing a blog post here. So maybe I’m a hypocrite, but I’m also a realist. There will always be a need for text, it just needs to be broken down to snackable bits sandwiched by great visual content like videos.
A video on every page may be a stretch today, but the day of responsive reckoning is coming. Agree? Disagree? Let me know.
Eric, I think you’re sharing a glimpse of the future here.
The future of selling is a single page sales presentation… designed specifically from the ground up for mobile and social.
More specifically, I think we’re moving to a ‘single window’ type of sales presentation.
The mini-infomercial of the future will be designed for smartphones and tablets.
Imagine if Billy Mays or another famous infomercial pitchman was to create a mobile-only infomercial. To me, that will be the future of online marketing and conversions.
Might as well get started figuring out how to turn a web site from a web site into what is should be – every page is an immersive video-based sales presentation – a mini-infomercial experience for mobile, if you will.
It’s not about web site and web pages. Those aren’t persuasive enough. It’s all about video, and for a lot of reasons backed up by psychology and brain science. I don’t have time to go into these reasons – just google benefits of video and video marketing.
If all we have to work with on 2 billion smartphones is a single window, then sales presentations must work within that constraint.
I’d love to continue this conversation Eric. Let’s DM on Twitter and go from there! -Dan
@Dan – You are preaching to the choir! I can’t agree with you more, with a single window on any device why make the sales content any more difficult for your potential customers to consume? There’s a shift happening, slowly, but it’s changing the entire process of what content sales teams are utilizing to best fill their sales funnel with more leads.