What is a sales video and why you should include it in your strategy

Is there a perfect recipe for increasing the effectiveness of your sales processes?

The most honest and transparent answer is: no.

In fact, there are many variables in the field: the type of industry and business, the identity of the company, the type of product or service, the general sentiment, the target (or, rather, the different targets), the chosen channels…and the list could go on and on.

Yet, there is one cornerstone that always remains the same when it comes to sales. It works for all types of business, for all products and services, for all targets, and it applies to both B2C and B2B.

And it’s this: it’s always about people, no matter what the context. It may seem like something obvious, a truism…but, mind you, it’s not. And we’ll be returning to this point extensively shortly in the continuation of this post.

But let’s take it a step further. We’ve said that it’s always a “question of people.” But how does this concept fit in with the digital world that we are living in, the world that is the real playground of marketing today?

Let’s say it right now: digital has made possible what once seemed impossible in the world of communication and sales.

It’s about reaching the greatest number of people without “shooting in the dark.” Thanks to the data-driven revolution, you can calibrate communications, which are fundamental for all sales processes, based on the characteristics of individual recipients. All of this is done automatically, quickly, and effectively.

The most powerful medium to do this? Without a doubt, video. And we’ve dedicated this post to video sales.

We’ll delve into the topic starting with some quick definitions. Then we’ll provide you with some data on the effectiveness of sales videos. And then we’ll conclude with some tips and best practices.

Sales videos: what are they? When and how are they used?

Let’s start with the basics. Sales videos are almost always one-to-one communications that are built to facilitate sales processes. They are sent by the individual salesperson (or the sales department team) to a potential customer with whom they are aiming to build a relationship or to an actual customer for retention, upselling, or cross-selling purposes.

It’s immediately clear that videos are a fundamental tool, especially for B2B; we’re not talking about promotional videos, distributed on social networks, on a company’s website, on YouTube, or on any other channel: these have different purposes, targets, and therefore different styles.

Typically, sales videos are part of a previously designed sales process. They can be included in an email campaign aimed at new clients whose contact information has been acquired.

Sales videos can also be sent via email as a recap after a meeting, a conference, or a corporate event.

They can be reminders. They can be a reminder, or a demonstration of a specific product or service to capture the interest of the recipient.

In any case, there are two main characteristics that videos must have: simplicity (both in terms of communication and use) and personalization.

You can’t be effective without these two basic elements.

The effectiveness of sales videos – some data

The effectiveness of sales videos is obviously linked to the communicative effectiveness of the same video tool in the digital world. And on this point there are no doubts, the numbers speak clearly, here are some:

• Users who watch a video understand and believe 95% of the message it contains. When it comes to text only, this percentage drops to 10% (insivia.com).
• So, not surprisingly, 94% of video marketers say that video has helped increase their audience’s understanding of their products and services (hubspot.com).
• Let’s turn to a survey all about the preferences for recipients of a marketing communication. When it comes to conveying information about the features of a product or service, 69% say they prefer a short video. Only 18% prefer a text-based article. 4% an infographic. 3% an eBook or manual. Still 3% prefer to participate in a webinar. And 2% a phone call (wyzowl.com).

Let’s tighten the circle even more: 78% of marketers said video directly helped increase sales (wyzowl.com).

• By using video, marketers have noticed a 54% increase in brand awareness (optinmonster.com).
• Finally, in the area of customer sales, emails that contain videos have a 5X higher open rate and an 8X higher response rate, compared to text-only emails (hubspot.com)

In short, all of this data is very telling and needs no further comment. Sales video is a formidably powerful tool.

But what we want to ask ourselves, in conclusion, is: what are the best practices for making increasingly effective videos? Here are 8 of them. These are the practices we feel are most crucial.

Sales videos – 8 tips and best practices to make them even more effective

1) It’s not just about selling.

Remember: the actual sale is always the final goal of a journey that goes through several stages.

First, it’s always about building trust between people. So, start by introducing yourself, presenting your company, giving useful information to the recipient on topics that may be of interest to them. Then tighten the circle on your products and services. Lastly, come the real business proposals.

2) Be brief

This is an intuitive point: just think about the common experience of most people. Time is precious, and we can’t think of investing 30 minutes of our time in a slow, muddled, or confusing sales video.

Be brief, be concise, and be consequential when creating your video. When the relationship is already established, on the other hand, you can afford greater length and depth.

3) Watch the first few seconds of the video!

Everyone’s attention today is increasingly under siege, and winning it is increasingly difficult. According to a famous study by Microsoft, the average person’s attention span lasts only about 8 seconds (time.com).

That’s why it’s crucial to focus as much as possible on the very first seconds of your sales videos. Those are the ones you’ll need to hook your target audience.

A concrete suggestion? Start with a direct question to your audience.

4) The right call to action at the right point

Every sales video, at some point, must contain a call to action: it doesn’t have to be aimed directly at the sale, but it must always be there.

Therefore, make sure the call to action is consistent: it must be in line with the style, tone, and themes of the video; it can’t suddenly appear out of the blue.

Also, watch out for the insertion point: it’s important that it’s at the end, but you also want to make sure that the recipient gets to the end of the video!

5) Be authentic…with the voice of the brand

One of the keys to establishing a relationship of trust with your customer is authenticity. We’ve already stressed it several times: it’s always about relationships between people, and there’s no better way to trigger trust than showing up “as you are,” and without too many superstructures.

Be careful, though! Authenticity is not synonymous with improvisation. In fact, authenticity should always be combined with your brand’s tone of voice. This adds a recognizability and authority that the voice of a single person could not have.

6) With and without audio

We’ve talked about “voice,” but don’t confuse voice with audio! According to a Verizon survey of the American public, 93% of people prefer to watch videos without sound, especially on their mobile devices.

So it’s critical to make your message clear and understandable even when it’s “silent.” In other words, always include effective subtitles and textual frameworks.

7) Personalization

Here we come to a decisive point, which we have mentioned several times.

Effective sales videos are personalized, i.e. videos built based on the characteristics and navigation choices of the individual recipients.

Today, all this can be done in an automated way, relying on platforms specializing in personalized videos such as Babelee. Upstream, of course, is the collection and analysis of data, which must be broad and deep. It’s from this information that you can get a very precise idea of your target audience and then build a truly one-to-one communication.

8) Omnichannel

How do we use video today? Through different channels; from our computers but also – and often above all – from our mobile devices. A good sales video, therefore, must always be optimized for all types of devices and all modes of use. It’s a technical issue, but it has fundamental repercussions on usability.

So, in conclusion: video sales are a formidable and indispensable tool. But, as with any digital tool, the key to success lies in knowing how to adopt best practices, in knowing how to analyze what worked and what didn’t…and in continuous improvement!