You want every visitor to your website to see the new explainer video for your product or service. So you’re embedding it on your homepage. Now the question is, should you set it to autoplay?
When you autoplay video on websites, the content becomes unmissable. Which is good. Visitors may stick around longer too. But autoplay can also be really annoying, especially if your video includes sound. We’ve all had the experience of scrambling for the back button to stop unexpected audio in a shared space.
Despite its pitfalls, autoplay can be effective if done well. That’s why so many social media platforms are embracing it. Let’s look at how you can use autoplay to your best advantage.
Why Choose to Autoplay Video on Websites
There’s no doubt that autoplay has its drawbacks, but many content creators still choose to use it because of the benefits it can deliver. Benefits like:
1. The element of surprise
In the world of on-demand media, viewers are in control. They stream their favorite show, turn on a video podcast, or flip through TikTok videos at will. Autoplay flips that script by starting up content as soon as viewers arrive. Injecting the element of surprise can spark curiosity and invite your audience to explore more.
2. Grabbing audience attention
Autoplay is the next stage of the battle for audience views. As people get better at tuning out or avoiding advertising, autoplay can be a way to snag a sliver of their attention. That’s why Facebook videos autoplay as you flip through your feed. Users might not click on a video advertisement on purpose, but if it starts to play you might have a chance to capture their attention.
3. Ease of use
Autoplay saves visitors the trouble of clicking. If they came to the page to see a video, why make them go through extra steps? Just serve them exactly what they came for. This is especially true for mobile video, where small screens can make clicking a pain.
The Drawbacks of Autoplay Videos on Websites
Of course, it’s never a good idea to focus only on the positive aspects of a technology and ignore the negatives. Autoplay certainly has its share of drawbacks.
1. Not everyone likes surprises – especially noisy ones
Content bursting forth without your consent can be annoying. Especially if it comes with loud music or voiceover that blares unexpectedly into your quiet office. It robs users of the autonomy to direct their attention. Many see that as a bad thing.
2. People are really good at avoiding ads
Research has correlated video with the rising use of ad blockers. PageFair’s 2017 Adblock Report found that interruptive ad formats were one of the leading motivations for adblock use. While the 2020 edition of the report found that the rise of mobile is leading to a decline in ad blocking, people are pretty good at tuning out what doesn’t interest them. That can include autoplay videos.
3. It can annoy repeat visitors
When someone is researching your product or otherwise visits your website frequently, autoplay video quickly becomes annoying. The element of surprise is lost, since users already know what to expect. Rather than grabbing their attention, you’re driving them to leave the page or scroll by as quickly as possible.
4. You lose a datapoint
If you set a video to autoplay you can’t tell if customers were interested enough to click. You can probably still collect data on how long they watched, but that doesn’t tell you about the effectiveness of your thumbnail or headline. Plus, there may be some viewers who would have watched if they’d had the choice but bailed because of loud music or other surprises.
Should you join the autoplay revolution?
Ask ten random people on the street whether they’re in favor of videos playing automatically, and you’ll probably hear a lot of nos. Digiday called autoplay video the Most Hated Digital Ad Tactic. Yet many social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have enabled autoplay by default. Then there’s Netflix, where video previews autoplay as you’re trying to read the show description.
What gives? If users hate autoplay video so much, why are huge content platforms still doing it?
It might seem like a case of platforms not listening to what users want, but it’s actually more complicated than that. When users complain about autoplay, it’s usually because a website has focused only on the benefits and failed to correct for the drawbacks.
You can avoid this fate by learning from what social media platforms and other big content producers are doing. Many platforms have introduced tools and settings that make autoplay more palatable. For example, pretty much every social media platform allows users to shut off autoplay by adjusting their settings. Others default to mute when videos autoplay.
You may have noticed that on Facebook and Instagram, you have to click on a video to make it play sound, but once you do, other videos you come across will play with sound as well. You might adopt similar settings on your own website. The silent video trend might be your friend here.
Best Practices for Autoplaying videos
If you do decide to autoplay videos on your website, a few best practices will help you keep visitors happy:
- Autoplay without sound – A moving picture will catch the eye, but blaring sound sends visitors scrambling for the back button. Set your videos to autoplay without sound. And remember to include captions!
- Offer an easy escape – The back button is easy to find. Your escape route should be even easier. Include a button, or scroll feature that allows users to bail out quickly without leaving the page.
- Only autoplay what is relevant – If your video offers the information or experience that users were looking for, they won’t mind that it autoplays. Before you set a video to play on entry, make sure it’s exactly what visitors were looking for.
There was a time when we had an autoplay video on the IdeaRocket homepage. We’ve since replaced it with a play video button prominently displayed on the home page.
The bottom line is this: Autoplay is neither good or bad, but thinking makes it so. If you’re thoughtful about how you use this tool, you can gain the benefits without annoying your audience.
Contact our video experts at IdeaRocket to start making a video that’s worth autoplaying. At IdeaRocket we’re experts in making quality explainer videos and animated commercials in 2D, 3D, whiteboard, motion graphics, mixed media animation and even live action. Contact us to get started.
