When is the best time to display a lead form in a video?
The beginning of the video seems pushy. In the middle could be disruptive. But, if you put it at the end, no one will see it or bother to fill it out, right?
Inserting a HubSpot lead form into your video quickly brings up a tangled web of strategic questions.
Today we will once and for all answer these questions.
Perhaps the fact that you can use a HubSpot lead form in your video at all is news to you.
In fact, most online video platforms will let you simply copy and paste the embed code of your form into their platform and then control when it pops up within the video frame. This not only gives you the option to save precious real estate on your web page but also places the form front and center in your video, leading to potentially higher conversion rates.
When deciding where to include a form in your video, there are two variables you need to consider:
- Your content
- Your audience
We would love to say that WE are the experts on both of these topics. However, if we’re honest, most of us have a hard time being objective when it comes to our own content, and our audience never ceases to surprise us, right?
The idea here is to learn how to pair the right lead form strategy with the right content.
For example, if you have information that your viewers place a high value on, you have a better chance of them filling out the form at the beginning of your video to get to that info.
Also consider your audience’s demographic. A younger audience might be more willing to fill it out after you've given them something valuable and have won them over with your video.
The tricky part is learning what your viewers feel is valuable information.
I recently spoke with two insurance companies who changed their lead capture strategy to get better results after learning some surprising facts about their content and audience. We’ll call it a “Tale of Two Companies” (real creative, I know!).
Insurance company #1 started with the lead form in the middle of their video, but their viewers started dropping off when the lead form popped up. However, they didn’t want to remove the form altogether. To recover the watchtime of their videos, they moved the lead form to the end of the video. To their surprise, this worked! A significant number of people filled out the lead form and they ended up capturing several new leads.
I examined their content and noticed two things:
- Their videos were charming and entertaining. Even I was happy to watch them to the end.
- However, their titles and descriptions were vague. Before clicking play, I felt unsure if the video’s contents would be worth my time.
While I was entertained, I felt apprehensive waiting for the information, and when the lead form popped up in the middle of the video it pushed me over the edge and I abandoned it. However, when the lead form was at the end, I was grateful for the useful information I had received. I was happy, entertained, and more than willing to fill it out the form.
Insurance Company #2 started with the lead form at the end of their video. I thought “Aha, they must know something.” However, they told me that on average most people only watched 54% of their videos as it was. So no one would even see the form when placed at the end. They took the opposite and somewhat aggressive approach and moved the lead form to the very beginning of the video. It worked. I was a little surprised that they got tons of new leads despite gating the video with a lead form up front.
I investigated their content as well.
- Unlike Company 1, they had great thumbnails and titles that told me exactly what information I was about to receive. Considering the upfront promise it seemed worth the effort to fill out the lead form (Aha!).
- However, the videos themselves were a bit stale and stuffy and quite frankly, boring. So I too abandoned the video halfway through.
What is the takeaway from all this? While it was clear that company #1 has to work on their titles and descriptions and company #2 needs to work on more engaging videos, ultimately the content and audience dictated what lead form strategy worked for both of them.
Ready to try it yourself? Here's how.
Create your custom form in HubSpot.
Then, navigate to the form you want to embed, and find the “Embed Code” in the “Actions” menu.
Copy the provided embed code to be used in your video platform. Below we've used Brightcove as an example.
Paste the HubSpot embed code into the appropriate section in your video platform to use a HubSpot form directly in your video player.
Brightcove, for example, provides a simple html box where you can paste the HubSpot form embed code along with any custom JavaScript or CSS styling you’d like.
It's that easy. Now, it's time to experiment and analyze.
The answer to the great and mighty “best practices” and “industry standards” question is: Start with what you think will work. But realize that you'll need to make some adjustments along the way, based on your audience and content.
Half of the term “trial and error,” after all, is “error.” Going into the lead form embed process with this perspective will help you be less frustrated and more flexible.
Keep fine tuning your forms until you find what's working, and your new leads will be pouring in in no time.
