There’s no such thing as a free lunch. You may think that by taking product videos from YouTube and embedding them into your product pages you save a lot of money, but the truth is you end up paying for the free content with your customers. YouTube videos need to earn their keep somehow and they do that in a way which may turn out harmful for you – by distracting your customers and diverting their attention from the products you sell. How? In at least five different ways. Let’s see what they are:
1. Text Ads Show Competition
Text ads appear in the bottom of videos, which may not seem very harmful. Yes, they don’t take up much space, but the problem is not how much of the video they cover but what they cover it with. Do you want to run the risk of advertising competitors on your website?
2. Display Ads Distract Consumers
Display ads work similarly to text ads, but they’re more dangerous since they use images instead of text. These are not only more distracting, but also more convincing. In the era of targeted advertising, the risk that a display ad will show a product similar to the one you’re offering is pretty high.
3. Video Ads Confuse Consumers
Video ads are even worse than text and display ones. In addition to the risks mentioned before, a video ad may confuse your customers. Why do they see a tablet when they were supposed to be watching a video of a laptop? Not to mention the fact that video ads may simply irritate your customers. There’s a fine line between “Why should I waste my time on watching a bad ad?” and “Why should I waste my time in an online shop which allows bad ads?”
4. Suggested Videos Divert Potential Buyers’s Attention
Suggested videos which may appear on your product page will definitely make you look unprofessional. What you’re risking with suggested videos is not only that your customer sees videos of your competition, but also that they see videos similar to those that they have already watched some time ago. Do you really want to compete with Smosh or PewDiePie?
5. Watch On YouTube Button Competes With Your Add-to-Cart Button
The last thing you should be aware of is the ‘Watch On YouTube’ button. The most important call-to-action button on your website should be “add to cart” not the one which immediately moves your potential customer into the boundless realms of cute cat videos and funny pranks.
“If the most important place for you to establish and maintain business relationships and conversations is your own website, why the *** would you EVER want people to go anywhere BUT to your website?“
Adam Zais
You didn’t create such a good website just for fun, did you? It was made to sell your products, to establish business relationships and to maintain conversations with your potential clients and partners. If you want them to stay on your website (I’m sure you do), you have to say goodbye to your false friend and stop using YouTube for embedding videos. Why let it steal the customers that you worked so hard to win, if there are other, better ways to get product videos? Just check what they are:
