A lot has been written about how important video is to marketing, but I want to dig deeper into how video affects sales.
Marketing and sales are tied together and both are essential to the other. I believe that video affects both marketing and sales similarly. Essentially, video makes your communication more personal, engaging and interesting. Those are good things for sales, right? People buy from people. It's hard to come across as yourself on email or even the phone. Face to face is great, when possible, but when that's not possible, video can step in.
According to Vidyard, video allows you to harness the vocal and nonverbal aspects of communications. Vidyard further states that communication is:
- 7% words you say
- 38% the tone of your voice
- 55% your body language
Video covers this all quite well.
We use video in multiple ways. First off, we love helping our clients develop 2- to 4-minute client testimonial videos. We recommend they develop authentic client testimonial videos from clients in all of their various target audiences — think case study, but easier and more enjoyable for your audience to consume. If you sell to small businesses who sell professional services, then create a testimonial with a client who fits that description. Then use that video during the sales process with a small business which provides professional services. Seems a little obvious doesn't it? Your prospects love to see how your solution works for someone who is like them, someone who has their same challenges.
These testimonials can obviously be used in marketing as well. Videos posted on your website and shared via email and on your various social channels are very effective. For now though, focus on how impactful that testimonial video would be to a prospect who has already found you, is already a few steps into the sales process and just needs a little more information or a little more convincing that your solution is right for her.
Another way we use video for sales is by capturing the sales team's biggest hurdles or most frequently asked questions in the form of video. Taking the answers to these questions and creating short, 1-minute videos that provide the answer can be extremely powerful and influential in the sales process. Here's an example of one we use in our own sales process, The Benefits of Content Marketing.
If you have a client who is worried about how difficult it is to implement your product or service, send them a video that addresses how easy it is. If you have a prospect who is curious how your product or service solves a particular problem, send them a video that shows them how you solve it. Sales needs tools to better explain their offering. Video is great for this.
Need more stats to convince you that video is important for sales? Again from our friends at Vidyard:
- Adding Video to Email Can Increase Click-Through 200% to 300%
- 59% of Company Decision-Makers Rank Video as Their Preferred Way to Learn
- 25% of Businesses Are Already Seeing Success Using Video in Sales Conversation
(see Vidyard's awesome infographic on 'Why Video is a Must-Have Sales Tool' here)
Need some help creating the right videos and then using those videos to help your sales team close more deals? If so, reach out, let's talk.
