Over the past year, how many video messages did you receive? Compare this to the number of emails you received from people trying to sell you a service, product, or job opportunity…
Video has been around for a while, but the majority of outbound prospecting and recruiting is still done by cold emails. Even though video has a 3X higher reply rate compared to regular email. In this article, I will show you how to use video messaging and for you to start closing deals and jobs fast and efficiently💪.
Why is this article useful for you?
- Cold emails don’t work anymore; you need to stand out to get a reply
- You will learn which tools and knowledge are required to create a great video
- You will be able to send out quality videos at scale that convert to leads/candidates
This article will show you:
- Why video is such a powerful way of communicating
- What tools you can use to create powerful video messaging
- How to make a great video
- My learnings of sending hundreds of video messages
- How to send personalized videos at scale
- The data
1.Why video messaging?
In this section, I will discuss the power of video messaging
Video is personal
Video messaging is (very) personal. The receiver actually gets to see your beautiful face :). And not only that, all your verbal and nonverbal communication that comes with it. This immediately creates a bond between you and the receiver which will be much stronger compared to a text message or an email.
You CAN be (VERY) creative
The possibilities with video are endless. If you use video to sell your product/service, you can actually show your service/product in action. If you use video to convince a potential candidate to have a conversation about a ‘great new opportunity’ you can actually show your office, get the hiring manager involved and/or show the actual product/service/project this person will be working on. Think about all of the good stuff you normally try to cram in an email that you can now show.
“An image speaks louder than a thousand words…”
There are pitfalls
However, there is a pitfall with the ‘endless possibilities’ using video. When you make your video too ‘professional’ and look more like an Instagram advertisement, the message won’t feel personal and authentic. This will negatively impact your reply rates. Secondly, you will spend too much time crafting a beautiful video which is not necessary. All videos in this article are recorded with the camera of my laptop and with the microphone of my headset.
Video makes you stand out
Video makes you stand out because the majority of your competition doesn’t use this powerful medium. Again think about how many videos you received last year? That is your opportunity. Think about all those unanswered emails you send that will now get a reaction…
Your reply rate is (much) higher
According to research from Vidyard emails containing a link to a video have a 3X higher reply rate compared to email! People actually answer you when you send a video 😱.
- What tools to use
In this section, I will discuss the three most popular tools to create personalized videos
Below the three most popular tools:
Loom is my personal favorite and is very easy to use. Loom allows you to record a video of yourself, the screen of your computer, or a combination of yourself and your computer. Your videos are stored in the cloud and can be shared either by a link or Giphy. Loom’s software allows you to trim your video, add a call to action in your video, and choose your thumbnail.
The first five videos are for free. If you need more videos you either delete one of your old videos or switch to a paid subscription plan of $10 for an unlimited amount of videos. The downside of Loom is that it can be slow to load (cloud) and I discovered several times, too late, that my microphone was switched off…
Vidyard clearly focuses on cold outreach using video and is primarily used as a sales tool. It has the same functionalities as Loom but allows you to personalize your thumbnails with a prospect or candidate’s name. Great if you want to create a ‘generic’ video but still make it feel personal. The first 5 videos are as well for free but if you want to create more videos you need to pay $15 for an additional 20 videos. Vidyard has more reporting functionalities compared to Loom.
BombBomb software enables you to directly embed your videos in Gmail. Despite its great integration in Gmail it, unfortunately, doesn’t integrate with Outlook (yet). It works similar to Loom and Vidyard but is more expensive. You pay $29.99 for its most basic subscription plan.
If you are new to using video in your outreach my advice is to start with Loom. It’s the most straightforward tool out there. Once you have mastered using video you can still decide to use a bit more of a sophisticated tool like Vidyard of BombBomb.
- How to make a great video
In this section, I will discuss several rules of thumb to keep in mind when you record a video
If you ask any director what a great video should look like you most likely get different answers but with any great clip, there are a couple of rules to follow. Make sure to keep these rules of thumb in mind when you create your video and set yourself up for success.
Have the right equipment — test your video on sound, lighting, and quality of the video
Be personal — Be yourself, be personal, and be authentic. Scripted messages, videos that are too clearly edited, or messages where you can see that you are not yourself will result in lower conversions.
Explain why you are reaching out
Make it about him/her — Why is your message interesting for the receiver? What is the value you are bringing for them?
End with a call to action
Keep it short — The rule of thumb is to keep your video under a minute and ideally aim for 40 seconds.
- My learnings sending hundreds of video messages
In this section, I will openly share some of my learnings/failures using video.
Don’t overdo it
It took me over 2 hours to send my first short video to a prospect. There was just always something to improve in my video. I didn’t like my tone of voice, my message wasn’t powerful enough, I didn’t like the way I looked on camera, etc. etc. Only when I started to get more comfortable recording myself and understanding that it is more important to send your message than spend hours on crafting the perfect message, I got more comfortable that good is ‘good enough’.
The first one is the most difficult video you will make but “just do it” and you will soon get more comfortable and more efficient.
This happens a lot…
Send a good follow up in text
Make sure to send a good follow up in text. Video is a great way of getting your message across but not every receiver will like it. Your prospect needs to click on your video, be in an environment where he/she can listen to your message, actually watch your video and give you a reply. Often prospects will see your video, don’t have time to watch it, and forget about it.
Send a clear follow up 2 days later with you explaining in text what you explained in the video to make it easy for your recipient to reply. There are various tools that make it easy to automatically send follow-ups like Trinsley, Lemlist, Mixmax. Vidyard and BomBomb also offer this service integrated with their video platform.
Check for email deliverability
When I just started with video messaging there was one crucial component in my whole strategy that I neglected, and I paid the price… I created personal videos for each potential new client explaining our service with MatcHR.
Out of the 124 videos I sent, only 44 people actually viewed my video (!). 80 videos never saw the day of light and were buried in someone’s spam filter or were sent to an email address that didn’t even exist! A complete waste of time.
[Actual footage of me analyzing the data]
Therefore, check for email deliverability using a tool like Bouncer or Zerobounce. I personally use Bouncer and if you use this code “MATCHR” you can get a 10% discount on the credits that you buy. The first 1.000 credits are for free.
Lemlist, an email automation tool, enables you to ‘warm-up’ your email account to make sure that your emails get to a prospect’s inbox instead of spam.
“So what did work? Below two examples how you can use video messaging.”
Example for BD work
Check out this video I have sent to a prospect. Despite that the video didn’t end with a clear(er) call to action, it did get a positive reply because I clearly did my homework (this was a company selling online sound clips) and it received a positive reply.
Example for candidate review
This is an example of how you can use video to actually show a candidate that you reviewed his/her LinkedIn profile and explain why he/she would be a great fit for the role you are hiring for. Super personal and will get you a reply for sure.
The downside of doing this is that you might waste a lot of time on candidates that will reply but that are not interested.
In order to avoid this, I have found a way to send out personalized videos at scale 🚀! Please fasten your seatbelts and hold on for Part 2 Coming soon!