RYPPLE:

A case study on conversion and viewer engagement

Executive Summary

Why Rypple chose Switch Video: Rypple wanted to work closely with a professional team to design a video in the whiteboard style

Rypple contacted Switch Video about producing a short length animated video to promote their performance management tool. Rypple wanted a video that would improve conversion rates on their website and engage visitors in a unique way. Switch Video produced an explainer video for Rypple in their whiteboard style and developed a script that connected with viewers on an emotional level. By focusing on why people use Rypple, Switch Video was able to produce a video that clearly demonstrated that Rypple understands their customers’ needs.Following the production process, Rypple placed the video on their home and landing pages. The video was tested against a control page and another landing page containing a live action testimonial from Facebook.

Not only did Switch Video’s landing page perform better, increasing conversions by 20%, but it also lowered the customer acquisition cost and generated leads that were more engaged and ready to use the product.

About Rypple

Rypple is a social performance management tool available to businesses large and small. It offers an alternative to the standard annual performance review by integrating feedback and goal setting into the culture of an organization.

RyppleDetails More than 10,000 customers and businesses Industry Human Resources Location Toronto, San Francisco In December, 2011 Rypple was acquired by Salesforce.com

Rypple’s Goal

Rypple sought a unique way to reach potential customers and increase their online conversion rates. Rypple wanted to encourage viewers to sign up for a free trial where users could test and interact with the service and invite their friends and colleagues.

Switch Video’s Solution

Switch Video developed a custom whiteboard style video that focuses on Rypple’s aspirational goal – to help organizations of all sizes provide real time feedback to their employees.

The message of the video is clear and succinct, and told through a story, allowing the viewers to relate to the characters. This video demonstrates that Rypple understands their clients pain points and that Rypple has a solution.

Secret ingredient to their video: Custom designed score used to elicit emotions at key moments of their video

Jesse Goldman, VP of Customer Success, commented:

“I hear from lots of people at top companies that the video tells a story that they can easily relate to, and very clearly. That probably also explains why overall engagement with the app was higher – more inspiration to explore Rypple, invite people and try stuff out. We find that once people make a point of doing that, engagement goes up dramatically – as does the number of people invited.”

Rypple’s video is 107 seconds long and describes the problem that Rypple can help solve, without focusing on Rypple’s feature set. Production of the video took into account the tone, pace and call-to-action of the video – all important elements to helping Rypple increase their online conversion rates.

Switch Video’s Evidence

Figure 1: Rypple’s home page featuring their video produced
by Switch Video. This video increased conversions by 20%.

Increasing Conversion Rates by 20%

Rypple conducted a split test following the completion of the video. One landing page contained only image and text, another landing page featured a live action testimonial video from Facebook, and lastly, the Switch Video landing page, seen in Figure 1, featured a custom whiteboard video.

The results of the split test clearly demonstrated that the landing page with video converted 20% better than the landing page featuring the Facebook testimonial as well as the page with only image and text. The increased conversion rate resulting from the video lowered Rypple’s customer acquisition cost and inspired viewers to further explore and engage with Rypple.

Video Play Rates and Visitor Interaction

Figure 2: Play/Interaction rates for the Rypple Video (red) compared against the average play/interaction rate for a two-minute video (grey).

A video’s play rate is used to determine how many visitors watch the video embedded on the landing page and indicates how users are interacting with the content.

Figure 2 demonstrates the play rate for the Rypple video compared against the average play rate for online videos. The average play rate of an online video less than two minutes in length is 16.9%. The Rypple video produced by Switch Video recorded a play rate of 30%, which a 78% increase from the average play rate.

Video Playthrough Rates and Viewer Engagement

Playthrough rate is a metric used to determine how long viewers remain engaged and serves as an indicator of the quality of the video content. In Figure 3 the playthrough rate of Rypple’s video is compared against the average playthrough rate of a two-minute video.

While 56% of viewers watch half of an average two-minute video and only 40% of viewers watch the video through to completion, the Rypple video performed much better. 75% of viewers watched half of the video (an increase of 34%), and 50% watching the video through to completion (an increase of 25%).

Figure 3: Playthrough rates for the Rypple Video (red) compared against the average playthrough rate for a two-minute video (grey).

“The video did have a big impact on signups and engagement with Rypple. I think it’s because the video does a great job at explaining the problem Rypple solves.”

(Jesse Goldman, VP of Customer Success) The custom whiteboard video by Switch Video not only increased conversions, but also generated leads that were ready to engage with the product.

After watching the video, a visitor was 15 times more likely to convert. As a direct result of the increased conversion rate associated with the video, Inbenta saw a 20% increase in total online leads generated.