Book More Meetings in 2024 with these 10 Video Prospecting Tips
- CEO at DeckLinks, Speaker, Podcast Host
- Published on November 7, 2022
- Updated on August 29, 2024
Table of Contents
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million.” Videos have quickly become one of the most effective tools for sales teams looking to connect with and convert prospects. But what are the secrets to video prospecting success?
Not only do prospecting videos can make it easier for B2B sales teams to personalize their cold outreach but they also allow BDRs to connect with prospects on a human level and establish trust.
Additionally, since most people prefer watching video content over reading long emails, a sales prospecting video is more likely to capture and hold a prospect’s attention.
Although video prospecting tools have been available for quite some time was proven to be a very effective outreach tactic, not many B2B sales professionals know how to use video prospecting effectively in their sales process. In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about video prospecting best practices, how you can use video to build trust with prospective customers and book more meetings.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Focus on authenticity, not perfection. Show your passion and personality in prospecting videos instead of trying to create the “perfect” polished video.
- Use video analytics to optimize your strategy. Identify which parts of your video resonate most with viewers to improve your approach.
- Include a clear CTA. Guide viewers toward booking a meeting or taking the desired action. CTAs eliminate confusion.
- Make engaging thumbnails. Choose visuals that grab attention and convey what the video is about to boost clicks.
- Research prospects beforehand. Understand pain points and roles to create targeted, relevant messaging that resonates.
- Balance personalization and scalability. Fully personalized videos drive the best results, but some generic videos can work too. Find the right mix.
- Use scripts as flexible guides. Sound natural, not robotic. Sprinkle in some humor to stand out and build trust.
- Optimize your recording surroundings. A cluttered background is distracting. Consider lighting and noise to ensure high quality.
- Keep videos concise. Long prospecting videos overwhelm. For first outreach, keep videos under 60 seconds to pique interest.
- Craft compelling subject lines. Use urgency and value to get prospects to open video emails.
What is video prospecting?
Definition
Video prospecting is a type of cold outreach used by business development representatives to connect with prospective clients, get them interested in their offerings, and secure a meeting. BDRs send prospecting videos via email or social media. Prospecting videos come in the form of short messages or presentations.
Is video prospecting effective?
The concept of video prospecting may seem new to some business development representatives and perhaps even a bit unconventional. However, the HubSpot experiment shows that video outreach is highly effective for creating sales opportunities.
HubSpot has done an experiment where they observed the activity of five corporate business development representatives over a period of 45 days to determine whether or not video prospecting is effective at engaging prospective customers and efficient at converting leads into sales opportunities compared to traditional cold emailing and cold calling tactics and strategies.
Below are the results of the video prospecting experiment.
In the HubSpot experiment, video prospecting activities generated over 4 times the sales opportunities for BDRs compared to cold emailing, cold calling, and leaving voicemails.
Based on the HubSpot experiment we can conclude that cold video outreach is a very effective outreach tactic and can be more effective than other forms of prospecting.
Of course, your experience may vary. B2B sales teams should consider testing various video prospecting strategies and tactics to identify the video prospecting strategy that works for their target audience and meets their sales strategy goals.
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Benefits of using video for prospecting
Prospecting can be a daunting task even for the most experienced B2B sales professionals. Cold outreach takes a lot of time, a wide range of BDR skills, and mental energy. However, sales prospecting is also crucial for the sales success of any B2B sales team or organization. Without a steady stream of new sales opportunities, it becomes difficult to grow and expand the sales pipeline.
That’s why high-performing sales reps always try to find the most effective ways to get the most out of their prospecting activities to build a solid sales pipeline for account executives faster.
Over the past few years, video prospecting has proven to have many benefits that can greatly improve prospecting outcomes and accelerate the sales cycle.
Here’s a list of some of the most important benefits of using video for prospecting:
- Video increases email open rates – having “video” in the email subject line increases email open rates by 19% on average (Campaign Monitor).
- Video increases click-through rates – video sales letter has 200% – 300% higher click-through rates compared to traditional emails (HubSpot).
- Videos increase engagement – video-narrated PDF presentations have 4 times higher engagement, on average, compared to regular PDF presentations (DeckLinks).
- Video helps close deals – closed deals involve using video 41% more often than lost deals (Gong).
- Videos increase reply rates – sales video emails have a 26% higher response rate compared to traditional emails (Salesloft).
- Personalized videos makes cold prospecting more effective – video lets BDRs show their personality and connect with prospects on a human level and establish trust.
- Video content is more memorable – a sales message delivered in video form is much more effective than a sales message delivered in text form. Viewers remember 95% of what they see in a video, compared to only 10% when reading the same information in text form (Forbes).
- Video content is shared more often – in comparison to any other type of content, people on average share video content 100% more frequently (SproutSocial).
- Videos are generally more clear than text – sending a video message instead of a text email reduces the risk of misunderstanding or misinterpretation.
- Video analytics provide practical insights – video analytics enables sales reps to identify the most engaged prospects and better time and tailor their follow-ups.
While video prospecting can be a very effective type of cold outreach, sales teams need to remember that it is not a silver bullet. Like with any other type of cold prospecting, BDRs need to know how to use video effectively and develop a sales strategy that works for them and resonates with their target audience. But no worry! We have put together a list of the Top 10 video prospecting best practices and tips that will help you book more meetings:
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Top 10 video prospecting best practices and tips
1. Don't try to perfect sales prospecting videos.
Many B2B business development representatives who just started using video prospecting in their cold outreach oftentimes experience the pressure to create the perfect video sales letter.
They want it to convey the value of their products or services and cram as much information as possible in their sales videos. But here’s the thing – instead of striving for perfection and trying to cover all bases, a sales rep should focus on authenticity, showcase their unique personality and leave a lasting impression on potential clients.
A polished and rehearsed video message might impress at first glance, but it can also come across as inauthentic and insincere. Showing your genuine passion for what you do will have a much stronger impact on prospective customers. The point of a prospecting video is to spark interest not to sell a product or a service on the spot.
Do a practice video recording but don’t overthink it and be yourself. At the end of the day, that’s what will truly capture a prospect’s attention and help you book more meetings!
2. Use video outreach analytics.
One of the biggest advantages video prospecting gives to a business development representative is video engagement analytics.
Using video prospecting tools can help BDRs better understand potential customers by providing data on how the recipients are viewing and interacting with prospecting videos. Some of the more basic video sales platforms simply show when a video sales letter was opened and whether or not the recipient finished watching the video. However, more advanced tools like DeckLinks provide even more detail, allowing sales reps to see precisely how prospects are engaging with their video content.
While video prospecting can be highly effective, simply sending out videos and hoping for the best is not enough. To really make the most of video outreach, it’s important to utilize video analytics to its full potential.
By looking into video analytics, sales rep can optimize and tailor their video message to better engage with potential customers, improve prospecting strategy and book more meetings.
PDF Documents Tracking
Identify the most engaged viewers and understand how they interact with your PDF presentations and documents. Learn more.
3. Always include a crystal clear call to action.
It is important for business development representatives to ensure their video prospecting emails have a crystal clear call to action. Video CTA helps guide prospects toward booking a meeting or taking the next steps in the sales process. Without a clear call to action, video prospecting emails may not have the desired impact or leave the potential customer unsure of what they should do next, slowing down the sales cycle.
Including a clear call to action can help generate more responses from potential customers and as a result, help BDRs book more meetings. So, when creating video prospecting emails, make sure to include a clear call to action and encourage the potential customer to take the desired next steps. Video CTA will help to eliminate any confusion, help you book more meetings, and will lead to a better buying experience overall.
4. Make video thumbnail more engaging.
While the majority of video sales and prospecting tools offer a video thumbnail feature, many business development representatives don’t take full advantage of that feature.
A video thumbnail can catch the prospect’s eye and increase the chances that they will actually click the video link.
When recording a prospecting video, it’s important to keep the video thumbnail in mind. The thumbnail is often the first thing that prospects will see, so it’s crucial that it grabs the prospect’s attention and accurately represents the prospecting video content. Choose visual elements or a presentation slide that succinctly explains what prospects can expect from the video.
If you’re using email for prospecting, place videos near the top or halfway point of the email body. It is one of the most effective ways to increase email click-through rates.
Try to AB test different visual elements to identify the most effective ones. A video thumbnail that works for one target audience may not work for the other.
BDRs that invest the time to create an attention grabbing thumbnail can greatly increase the chances that their video sales letter will have higher click-through rates and sales engagement. This in turn can improve response rates, help convert more leads into opportunities and make it easier to build the sales pipeline for the sales team.
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5. Understand your prospects.
Business development representatives need to have a clear understanding of the potential customers and their pain points before recording prospecting videos. Are you reaching out to decision makers? Will the person you’re reaching out to be using your product? How long have they worked at the company? What challenges they may be facing other than the problem your solution is solving?
It can be easy for a sales rep to get caught up in KPIs and prospecting quotas but at the end of the day, people buy from people. BDR’s job is not to pitch or sell a product or service, but to connect with the right person, spark interest, build trust and rapport, and book a meeting.
Conducting research on LinkedIn and gathering information about the potential customers and their pain points beforehand will ensure that your video message resonates with them, increasing the likelihood of your prospects engaging with you and booking a meeting.
6. Video personalization is key but you can make exceptions
A business development representative’s workday requires a high level of organization and efficiency. From sales prospecting and networking to market research and phone calls, BDRs are constantly on the go. Time is scarce.
Even though video personalization helps increase engagement and fully personalized videos usually drive the best results, oftentimes using more generic and less personalized videos can work too. Recording a few less personalized sales videos to email to a larger group of potential clients is perfectly fine and will make your life easier. This video content can still be engaging and save time for sales reps.
Segment your prospects into different categories. This will help you record a more relevant and engaging video sales letter that can still resonate with these prospective customers and show them that you understand their pain points.
If you’re doing account-based sales video outreach, reaching out to decision makers within the same organization, you can easily tailor one video sales letter to this group.
At the end of the day, it’s all about finding the approach that works best for both you and your target audience. That may involve a mix of generic and personalized videos. There is no one-size-fits-all solution in video sales prospecting. What matters for sales success the most is identifying what makes every single prospect type tick and tailoring your approach accordingly.
7. Use video script as a guide.
When recording a prospecting video, it can be tempting for some sales professionals to memorize a video script to sound more polished and professional on the camera. Or even worse, use a video prospecting script template they found on Google. However, this approach can often backfire, making the BDR appear overly rehearsed and sound just like thousands of other BDRs.
Instead, it’s best to write a script yourself, use the script as a guide, and allow yourself some flexibility. This will ensure that your video outreach emails come across as genuine and engaging. Additionally, don’t be afraid to have some fun with your prospecting strategy. Adding some humor can help make your prospecting video stand out among other more generic sales videos and emails and build trust.
8. You don't need expensive video tools to record prospecting videos.
To start recording great-looking and engaging prospecting videos you don’t need an expensive video camera, microphone, or studio light. While these tools definitely can make a difference when it comes to video and audio quality, the easiest and cheapest solution is simply to optimize your surroundings when recording a prospecting video. A modern laptop camera and microphone nowadays can record good-quality video and audio.
It’s important to take into account your surroundings as you create videos. A cluttered or disorganized background can distract a potential customer and make you appear unprofessional.
It’s also helpful to consider natural lighting to ensure that the camera captures a clear image of your face. Keep an eye contact with the camera and smile. Carefully choosing an appropriate location for your video can make a great impact on the impression you make on your target audience.
In addition, take into account any background noise that could interfere with your audio quality. Consider recording videos in a quiet room and make sure everyone in the office or the house is aware that you’re video recording.
Your video message is a reflection of yourself and your company so create an environment that puts you and your company in the best light possible.
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9. Keep prospecting videos short.
Many business development representatives oftentimes try to cram as much information as possible in their video prospecting emails. Or keep prospecting videos short but speak very very fast!
While it may be tempting to include as much information as possible in your video content, it’s important to remember that less is often more. No one wants to feel overwhelmed by a deluge of information, especially if it is the first prospecting video they receive from you. Cutting out any unnecessary details and speaking clearly can make a video sales letter more engaging and effective.
When recording the first prospecting video in your outreach cadence try to keep it under a minute. Your goal is not to sell a product or a service or talk about your value prop in detail but to share enough information with the potential customer to spark their interest, build trust and take a certain action. Longer videos and async video presentations are usually used at later stages of the sales cycle.
Insight
The first 10 seconds of a prospecting video are the most important by far. According to our data, 61% of video drop-offs happen at the 10-second mark.
To keep prospecting videos short and optimize them, we highly recommend you use video content analytics to better understand what messaging, presentation slides or visuals are resonating with your target audience the most.
DeckLinks offers industry-leading video prospecting analytics helping BDRs optimize their video prospecting strategy, convert more leads and accelerate the sales cycle.
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10. Write a great subject line for your prospecting emails.
The email subject line is often the make-or-break factor for whether a cold email gets opened.
Even though adding the word “video” in the email subject line can lead to the biggest increase in email open rate, it is not as easy as it sounds. Putting something like “Hi – prospect’s name -, I’ve recorded a quick video for you!” will not grab prospect’s attention in 2023. Writing email subject lines is very similar to writing magazine taglines. Oftentimes, it is worth spending more time writing a great subject line than the email itself. A great subject line can dramatically increase email open rate.
On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy.
It’s important to avoid being too salesy or using gimmicky language. Consider including a sense of urgency to compel your prospective customer to open your video sales letter immediately rather than letting it sit in their inbox indefinitely.
Video prospecting examples and use cases
Video prospecting can be a valuable addition to a prospecting toolkit of any sales team. Not only can it capture a prospect’s attention more effectively than traditional methods like cold calls or cold emails, but video lets BDRs be more creative in their sales outreach.
A video can be sent via email or shared on a social media platform, making it easy to target specific prospects or groups. Some BDRs use async videos as an introduction before a video call or face to face conversation, allowing them to make a strong first impression and provide more context about the upcoming meeting.
Here’s a list of the most common video prospecting examples and use cases:
- The first touch point with a potential customer.
- Follow-up to keep potential customers engaged.
- Re-engaging with prospects who may have shown interest in the past.
- Sharing marketing content and sales collateral, recent news and valuable insights with potential customers.
- Sharing pre-recorded demos and more detail about a product.
- Update potential customers on product updates, new offerings, or promotions.
- Sharing case studies and testimonials to establish trust.
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How to measure prospecting video effectiveness
Depending on the video sales platforms you’re using, you may be able to access some or all of these video engagement metrics:
- How many times prospects watched your video
- View time
- Drop off point
- Sections prospects watched the most
- Sections that were skipped
- Percent completion
- Clicks
- Downloads
- CTA clicks
- and many other
Overall, a combination of these metrics can provide a comprehensive picture of the effectiveness of your sales prospecting strategy. Using video prospecting analytics can help you identify the most engaged prospects, better time and tailor your follow-up game, and prepare for upcoming meetings.
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How to make a sales prospecting video
DeckLinks is a video sales platform that makes video creation process easy for sales teams. It allows BDRs to turn PDF presentations into interactive sales prospecting videos. DeckLinks’ industry-leading video analytics helps BDRs better understand their potential customers. Simply upload any PDF, record a video narration, and send videos using trackable links. No downloads or Chrome extension required. If you have a product demo video or screen recording, you can embed them right into your video PDF.
Showcase your brand.
Create company profiles with custom banners and info-packages tailored to different industries.
Show your contact info easily accessible by your prospects and clients.
Add custom CTAs to drive prospects or clients to your calendar, sign up form, etc.
Collect feedback from prospects and clients. Feedback and reactions are not publicly visible.
Share any existing PDF presentations and documents.
4x Sales Content Engagement
Record and share Video PDF presentations and proposals and WOW your prospects and clients with the most personal customer experience. Access engagement analytics. Learn more.
Creating professional-looking sales videos doesn’t have to be time-consuming or difficult. With DeckLinks you can create videos for prospecting quickly and easily without any prior video recording or video editing experience. Plus, with custom call-to-action buttons your prospects will always know the next steps. And with our CRM integrations, you won’t even have to leave your CRM to send videos.
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FAQs
Why is video prospecting more effective than other outreach tactics?
Video enables sales reps to establish personal connections and build trust with prospects quickly. Human face-to-face element cuts through the noise and makes your outreach stand out, leading to more responses and engagement. Videos also convey more context and detail in a short timeframe compared to emails or calls.
What are some best practices for creating prospecting videos?
Keep videos short. Highlight pain points prospects face and how you solve them. Use a casual, conversational tone and make eye contact with the camera. Personalize each video with the prospect’s name and company. Have a strong call to action. Invest in quality lighting, audio, and visuals for a professional look.
When should you send prospecting videos in the sales process?
Use prospecting videos when establishing initial contact with cold prospects. Send after the prospect consumed content or responded to an email. Follow up if they opened but didn’t respond to an email. If they objected on a sales call, send a personalized video addressing concerns.
How does video prospecting support and enhance your overall sales process?
Video prospecting breaks down barriers and establishes trust to initiate new relationships faster. Videos give prospects something to watch before agreeing to a meeting. They prime prospects with valuable information before and after calls. Videos provide something novel and engaging versus traditional outreach.
How can you track the performance of prospecting videos?
Use video metrics like watch time, views, time spent per slide, clicks, completion rate, etc. to see what video content resonates. Monitor prospect behaviors after receiving videos. Note video click-through-rates and links clicks. Integrate your sales CRM to track meetings booked and deals closed from video outreach.
How can you continually improve your video prospecting skills?
Study the highest performing videos and replicate tactics that work. Stay up-to-date on video best practices and sales trends. Review examples and success stories from other sales teams. Practice regularly and get feedback from colleagues. Personalize and test videos to see what moves the needle with your prospects.
About the Author
Lidia Vijga is a seasoned professional with 10 years of first-hand experience in B2B sales and B2B marketing. She has a proven track record of driving growth for companies across various industries. Throughout her career, Lidia has led numerous successful sales campaigns and implemented innovative marketing strategies that have significantly increased revenue and reduced customer acquisition cost for her clients. Lidia regularly shares her insights and experiences on LinkedIn, webinars, and public speaking engagements. Lidia believes in the power of personal qualities such as kindness, empathy, and the willingness to understand others. She is committed to empowering client-facing teams with tools that enhance their talent instead of automating it, and she firmly believes that teams that show their human side grow companies much faster.
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