Script & Voiceover Guidelines

The following guidelines are best practices for script writing and voiceover production.
Script

Imagine you are sitting right next to one of your visitors/users. What would you tell him? How would you explain to him about your page / product / system? What are the key points you would like to emphasize to ensure your customers fully understand your product offering, company and website? While writing the script, please keep in mind:

  • Make sure sentences are clear, concise and to the point.
  • If you were the user, would you understand clearly what is being explained to you?
  • If there are specific Call-to-Action buttons, make sure to include and emphasize this in the script.
  • Don’t just say ‘click here’. Say the name of the button (e.g. “Let’s Get Started’). Just in case the user didn’t notice it on the screen or missed the mark.
  • Keep it simple and short. Internet users don’t have much attention, so try not to exhaust them with too long scripts. The general duration of the voiceover should vary for the placement of the guided routine. For instance:
  • Home or Landing page - If the button is deployed on a homepage or landing page, the message should be short and to the point. As a guide, no longer that 30-60 seconds (90-200 words) as a rule. The shorter the script the higher the play completion rate.
  • Product Page - Depends on the complexity of the product/services being described. If the product is overly complex, then focus on where visitors can find clear and concise information about the product. Try to keep the script below 1 minute (~200 words). If the product is less complex, then aim to provide shorter and concise guidance. In case a longer explanation is needed, it is recommended to split it into a few separate shorter walkthroughs.
  • Onboarding & Support - For pages that provide support to visitors and include walkthroughs that users need to undertake, the guidance can be much longer. In this case the information reduces the need to undertake a search for information, therefore, there is a higher focus threshold from visitors. The time can be in excess of 2+ minutes (more than 400 words) on a complex page.
  • Make sure to include a graphical effect every 5-10 words. Otherwise, the user might lose focus.
  • Try to include a graphical effect during the first 2 or 3 seconds of the walkthrough in order to better engage the user straight from the beginning of the walkthrough
  • There is no need to describe the location or the color of a specific button / area on the page. For that Toonimo uses the coach marks. E.g. say Click "Buy Now" instead of "Click on the red Buy Now button on the right".

It is worth noting: We, as fragile human beings, remember…

10% of what we read

20% of what we hear

30% of what we see

50% of what we see and hear

70% of what we say

90% of what we say and do

(quote: Cisco: Multi-modal learning through media)

Button designs & performance

Different buttons might have very different click rates (CTR) in different areas of the site and in different industries as most people would expect. We have mapped our findings on the ranges below:

Conversion & Acquisition

For webpages with higher visitor volumes that are higher up the funnel we expect to see a generally lower CTR trend.‍

Upper: 5% Button Click Through rate‍

Average: 2.2% Button Click Through rate‍

Lower: 0.4% Button Click through rate  

Support & Onboarding

Typically, for webpages with lower visitor volumes that are lower down up the funnel we expect to see a generally higher CTR trend.Upper: 28% Button Click Through rate

Average: 10% Button Click Through rate

Lower: 5% Button Click through rate

Voiceover

* Relevant only in case you choose to generate your own voice over. The following bullet points relate to the recording and production of the voiceover:

  • Make sure voiceover is being recorded in a soundproof room or studio so there is no background noise.
  • Make sure the person speaking has a warm friendly professional voice that is very clear and easy to understand.
  • Where possible, personalize the message to suit the visitor type (this should be pre-planned with the Toonimo program manager in the strategy phase of a deployment). Visitors will be more enamored to the message and feel more compelled to listen to it.
  • Speak slowly and make sure to emphasize important sentences.
  • As a general guide, it is generally accepted that if you smile whilst talking, people will be able to pick up the positive intonations in the voice.
  • Make sure the pace of the speech isn’t fast and that you have brief pause between sentences (about 1 second). This will allow the user to better digest the information.