As far as marketing and sales tactics are concerned, video is a juggernaut. The stats and case studies continue to stream in and it’s hard to deny the positive impact video can have on your sales efforts. According to a report published by Forrester, including video in an email leads to a whopping 200–300% increase in click-through rate. Yeah… we were sold.
It’s a huge reason why we partnered with industry leading video platform, Vidyard to make it easier than ever for Salesloft customers to record personalized video for their prospects. The integration is now live to all users and you can learn more about it here.
Fortunately for our sales team, they’ve had early access to the integration for a little over a month now. They’ve been experimenting with different uses, styles, timing, and a dozen other variables to try and dial in our sales video strategy and figure out what works.
Using video in the sales process is still in it’s infancy and there are no experts to turn to for definitive best practices, so we wanted to share some of what we’ve learned as a team here so you can hit the ground running in your own sales video efforts. We’ve broken our learnings into two sections: style and substance.
Style
Style is all about the way your video looks, and there’s plenty of opportunity to do it wrong.
Lighting
As you’re thinking about your video, you should aim for a shot that is well lit from the front, without glaring lighting from any angle. Natural light is best. Be careful that you’re not backlit too strongly or your face will be shadowed and hard to make out. It helps to have a lamp or window in front of you.
Special tip: If you have an external monitor, turn up the brightness and select a mostly white screen to display.
Framing
To frame your shot correctly, aim for a shot with the computer just above eye level with your body centered (vertically and horizontally) within the screen. Don’t position the camera too far beneath you. That’s nobody’s best angle. Also be aware of your proximity to the camera. You don’t want to get too close.
Thumbnail
Many people don’t consider how the video will look once it’s inserted into an email or webpage. You want to make you’re making a good first impression with your thumbnail. Select your thumbnail specifically for more clicks. A smile + a prospect’s name held up on a whiteboard is great, like so:
Don’t leave a default thumbnail or a black screen or select a generic or mid-motion thumbnail.
Substance
Substance is all about what you put into your video. This is what will make or break your videos success.
Length
We found the most effective videos were under 30 seconds long. These were the videos with the highest engagement rates. So introduce yourself and get straight to the point.
Content
The best videos aren’t made to be in-depth explanations or rambling pitches. They’re designed for your prospects to see who they’re communicating with and understand why they should respond to your email or take a next step. Keep it short, sweet, and concise with a clear call to action.
Cadences
Once you’ve mastered how to record a video and what to include, you need to think strategically about how these videos fit into your sales cadences. When is the best time to use a video? We’ve found videos to be great tools for re-engaging cold leads and for following up with specific information for your warm leads. Every sales process is different so take some time to experiment.
There you have it. One month’s worth of knowledge on how you could and should be using video in your sales efforts.
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Check out our product news blog for even more information on our recent Vidyard integration and how you can get started with video today.