Consumers care more about what’s in a brand video than how long it is. That’s the conclusion of a new study from Invodo tracking consumer response to e-commerce and shopping videos. Invodo is an online video e-commerce company with clients
including Office Depot, Toys R Us, and Verizon.
Invodo surveyed more than 1,000 online consumers who had watched product videos on retail and brand sites, and the results showed that several
common assumptions about online video don’t hold up. For instance, many experts say 30 seconds is the ideal length for videos, but Invodo found that about 37% of consumers spent more than three
minutes watching product videos that are educational or demonstrate how to use a product. Invodo also found that two-thirds of consumers watch videos on so-called “information-intensive”
products two or more times.
This study has interesting implications for brands producing how- to, informational and other product-related videos. "The biggest takeaway of this research for
brands is this: Forget about adhering to any 'industry standard' time limit for product videos," said Craig Wax, CEO of Invodo. "If anything, our research suggests that packing too much content into a
shorter video may be a mistake. As long as the video is compelling and helps them make a purchase decision, most consumers are willing to absorb videos much longer than 30 seconds. Focusing on video
content and quality will help brands drive business results."
Also, about 66% of consumers said seeing a video demo of a product before buying that item online made it easier for them to
understand how the product works and half said that watching a product video before buying an item online made them less likely to return the product. Finally, consumers prefer more professionally
produced videos with nearly half saying higher quality videos were more reliable in helping them to make purchase decisions.
The study was done in partnership with the e-commerce consultancy e-tailing group.