Is video messaging really effective? And if so – how effective is it? Our sales team has been using video messaging techniques for some time now and we can see intuitively that it works to connect and engage with prospects quicker than some of the more traditional methods like phone and e-mail.
However, since this strategy was always embedded into a diverse sales cadence, we lacked concrete evidence of the effectiveness of video alone. I knew that this technique added value, but I never knew for certain how much of the “heavy lifting” was done by video. In other words, were the prospects responding to the video email, or simply the step in the sales cadence the day before?
A few weeks ago I decided to run a test to find out how effective video really is on its own. Here is a description of the test and the results that followed:
Testing Videos Within A Sales Cadence
- In total I sent out 107 videos.
- The video outreach was the first and only step in the cadence.
- The recipients were segmented into two groups – Group 1 was familiar with our company and had interacted with us in some way. Group 2 have never interacted with us, and it was uncertain if they were familiar with our company at all.
- None of the recipients knew who I was – this outreach was cold.
- Both groups received only 1 personalized video e-mail.
- In most cases more than one senior leader per account was sent the video.
- My platform of choice was GoVideo by Vidyard.
My Video Tool of Choice
I specifically chose GoVideo by Vidyard as the platform of choice in order to receive the engagement metrics and track results.
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The Results
I did not receive more than one response per account as of the date of this post (approximately 3 weeks after initial e-mail) and 5% of accounts targeted in Group 2 have become clients.
| Group One | Group Two | |
| % Who Watched The Video | 69% | 40% |
| % of Viewers Who Responded | 18% | 9% |
| % of Accounts Targeted Who Responded | 13% | 3% |
I will continue with this experiment and gather more data points to see if any of these trends change, but in the meantime these numbers are quite eye opening. If you consider that this outreach was both cold and stand alone (no other outreach on my part unless a response was received) the response rates are impressive.
After sending the videos, here are several responses complimenting the video:
Example #1:
Example #2:
Example #3:
Increase Sales Velocity and Account Penetration
Further, the sales velocity and account penetration was dramatically higher than many other strategies (on only one touch point). There is no question that the use of video is effective and belongs in a diverse sales cadence.
Of course, using a contextualized outreach and key messaging was the secret. If I merely spit out the typical sales messaging that is prevalent today, I don’t believe my approach would have been this effective. However, GoVideo helped me with some of the “heavy lifting” by ensuring that my approach was opened and viewed. There is no doubt in my mind that results significantly increase even further, when this approach is used in a diverse sales cadence.
