How effective is video advertising on the web? Conversion rates for regular web ads can be tiny — 1 percent or less.

But recent research suggests that once consumers start watching video ads — especially videos that include product demonstrations — purchase conversion rates can skyrocket.

More than half of consumers feel more confident in their purchases after watching an online video, and 66 percent who watch videos more than once will eventually purchase something, according to stats compiled by eMarketer.

“Fully 85% of those polled said they would watch a video that educated them about a product they were interested in for at least 1 minute. However, the percentage of customers willing to spend a minute watching a video that specifically lacked a demonstration dropped to 65 percent,” eMarketer wrote.

It’s no surprise where viewers are seeing these ads. YouTube, obviously, is the most-watched source of product videos.

But Facebook — not traditionally known as a video medium — is a huge source of product demo videos, too.

According to a May 2012 survey by Google and Compete (the online traffic measurement service), apparel shoppers turned to consumer-generated video content even more than marketer-produced video.

And how do people feel about these ads? They like them, a lot.

The Google/Compete survey showed that 25 percent of online shoppers who used video for research made multiple purchases; whereas only 16 percent of other shoppers who did not use video.

via Online Shoppers Love Video Ads – Business Insider.