Tips and Tricks for Sales Teams Using Video Prospecting for Outreach

The average open rate for B2B emails across industries is only 19.2 percent. And if the email is an automated “brand” email (not from an individual’s email address), the recipient is only spending 10 seconds skimming the email. 

"Well, what the heck should I do then?" — you might ask.

Try video prospecting. We at Leadfeeder love it.

When you use just a few sentences plus video content, your prospects read the whole email — and get excited about the video. That’s how you attract and keep your potential customer's attention. 

And the best part is that you don’t need loads of time, expensive equipment, or even a fancy background. Here, let me show you how Leadfeeder’s sales reps use video prospecting to improve sales.

Why video prospecting? 

There are more benefits of video prospecting than meets the eye. Let’s get right to them.

More personalization = more interest 

You can go a long way with personalization. Because no prospect wants to feel they’re just another invoice. When you send a personalized video, it makes them feel valuable and shows that your services are worth it.

So, you achieve two things when you make a video that includes a person's or company's details (like name or job title). First, you surprise the person and make them open your email to watch the video (if you've chosen the right thumbnail, of course). Second, you make them feel special 🥰 (no Valentine's cards required). 

As a result, sales reps report a 70 percent increase in response rate when using video sales prospecting.

You can show off your personality

Yes, the video should be short, but you’ll still have enough time to show your personality. It only takes seconds for the prospect to see your friendly smile and professional attitude to instantly feel more connected. 

Even slight imperfections play in your favor as prospects see you not just as a corporate cog but as a person just like them. So if a cat jumps on your desk while you’re recording, you might want to keep this bit in your "Welcome" video and let Jenni-fur say "Hi."

It's a good tool for every stage of the sales cycle

You can use video marketing to reach your prospect as well as continue your interaction. For example, you can send follow-ups with a meeting summary, explanations to some confusing details, instructions, how-tos, FAQs, or just as a thank you. This way, you show prospects that you care and save them from reading lengthy documentation. 

It saves time for your sales team

We all have that annoying friend who sends audio or video messages because "it's faster." Well, they might be right (please let me explain before you exit the blog 😆).

Making videos is actually less time-consuming than writing clarifications. Recording your screen with a verbal explanation for a "how-to" video is much faster than explaining puzzling steps and making dozens of screenshots. 

And the faster you respond, the higher your chances are of keeping the client and increasing their loyalty. 

It allows you to be creative

Video gives you more opportunities to be creative than text, from images and props to ridiculously engaging ideas. For instance, T-shirts with signs that tell a story will keep viewers wanting to open another email.

And here’s a real-life prospecting example: Fresh Relevance's Sam Kean was doing overhead presses the whole video while pitching a sports company. A little suffering helped him grab the viewers’ attention and be memorable (and stay fit, obviously). 

So, my advice is to use every opportunity to stand out. 

And while you’re thinking of your most creative idea, allow me to give you some tips on how to create a prospecting video.

How to get started with video prospecting for sales outreach

Preparing a video for prospecting usually means following these steps:

Choose your reason and video type

Depending on the prospect's stage in the sales cycle, you will choose between sales emails and prospecting emails. 

If they’re in the early stages, don't rush to send an obviously salesy video because you don't want to overwhelm your prospect. Right now, it’s best to attract their attention and grow the demand for your product, helping them figure out how it can fix the problems. 

All in all, knowing the stage will give you ideas on what to include in the video.

Choose the communication channel

Video sales prospecting is not only about email — you can use any social media platform or channel to send videos. Of course, LinkedIn is the first to come to mind since people in B2B sales often use it for business and work purposes. But if you contact a company’s decision-maker on Facebook or even Instagram, it won't be any different. 

Decide on the target audience

Addressing one person or team and addressing a big group of people requires two different types of video. 

Suppose you address a group to send a webinar or demo follow-ups. In that case, you only know the general characteristics of your audience, which means your video will be less personalized and have a more polished tone.

But if you address a specific person or a small team with a meeting follow-up, contract review, or suggestions, you can focus on their personal characteristics and details. So your video will be customized and curated, especially when you include names, pain points, and details of your cooperation. 

Research your prospect

To make a personalized video, you need to know as much as you can about your prospect. So research their social media or use software that tracks user activity on your site (Leadfeeder at your service) to find out the necessary details. 

Just don’t go too far with details that are too personal, like their dog’s name or their mom’s upcoming birthday.

Write a scenario

Now, write a scenario for your video, knowing what you want to say. The structure is the same regardless of the video format — a simple webcam introduction, instructions shared from your screen with a voiceover or a short FAQ. Here are the key messages you want to include: 

1. Greeting the viewer and introduction

2. Voicing the purpose and value of this video

3. Getting to the point (answering the FAQ, giving instructions, describing features, etc.)

4. Encouraging the next meeting or step

5. Thanking prospects for watching

Here's a graphic to save and share with your team.

Doesn’t look too complicated, right? Now, to the final part.

Record the video

When everything is ready, you only need to hit that REC button. No need for advanced software or fancy equipment — just start with a regular webcam or your smartphone camera and some free video recording apps. When you understand what functions are your priority, choosing the right software will be easier. 

But there are a few simple rules: use good lighting, a neutral background, and PLEASE check your sound. No one wants to listen to drilling, the noise of the garbage truck, or chattering in the background. By the way, a tiny microphone makes you sound very professional.

That's it! Remember to add a thumbnail and a supporting message, and you're good to go.

However, before you send your video to the prospect, you might want to get some tips on video prospecting for better results. 

Tips on using video prospecting in B2B sales

Disclaimer: These pieces of advice aren’t industry secrets or anything. They’re just the tips we use at Leadfeeder to make your video sales prospecting work. 

Choose your thumbnail wisely

We've all fallen for this trick: you click on a video hoping to see something exciting, but it turns out to be clickbait. All thanks to attention-grabbing thumbnails. 

Basically, with video prospecting, you should do the same but remove the part about fooling people. I mean, use the most interesting and attention-grabbing frame or even GIF from your video, but don't try to trick a prospect into thinking there’s something else. 

Putting cute puppies as a thumbnail and then monotonously talking about CRM systems is odd. 

Instead, use an image of you waving and smiling in front of a whiteboard with the prospect's name or illustrate the main topic and ideas of the video. This way, you’ll attract a prospect's attention and not disappoint them with the information you deliver.

Always send follow-ups

Don’t forget to send follow-up videos with a summary of the achieved goals and future steps. This will help you and your prospect communicate effectively, keep things clear, and show that you care about their time.

A video with the details you missed or didn't have time to mention lets you avoid extra meetings. And you both can forward these videos to colleagues or bosses. After all, sharing is caring.

Include a supporting text

Video sales prospecting is not just about video; it entails some writing too. First, you must choose an intriguing subject line to entice a person to open the email. Then, you’ll need to write a few sentences to give the prospect some context. Nothing fancy: just say hi, shortly mention what's in the video, add a call-to-action (CTA) after it, and say bye. 

Here’s an example. 

Always include a CTA

You send videos in emails hoping to direct prospects to the next stage of the sales process. So help them take it by including a CTA in the video and the message. 

It can be anything, depending on your goals. You can write, "Thank you for your attention! Please let us know your opinion on this offer." and add a link to the questionnaire or a Google Form. Or just ask them to reply by email. 

Edit your videos for cold outreach vs. warm leads

Your cold and warm leads perceive you and your emails differently because they have different levels of trust. This means you should have several versions of the video, even if you convey similar information. 

Videos for cold sales outreach should be short (up to 60 seconds), personalized, and attention-grabbing. But remember not to be too personal even if you did your research with tools like Leadfeeder. Including the name of the company or/and its representative and some general pain points of the industry is enough to keep their attention.

With warm leads, you can show off less, as they already have some level of trust toward you and your company to click on the video. You can make the video a little longer, but only to personalize it more by discussing the prospect's specific pain points. 

Here’s how we did it. 

Keep it short

And I, too, will be short with this one. If it's impossible to squeeze or cut out any information, advise your prospects to watch the video at 1.5 speed. And no, you won't sound like Eminem. 

Use handoffs with your sales teams

Handoffs are just like follow-ups — they help you avoid misunderstandings and show your care for the prospect. All you need to do to transfer a customer to other salespeople is send two videos. 

In the first one, the current specialist responsible for the client notifies them about the upcoming changes and thanks them for their cooperation. In the second one, the new specialists introduce themselves. 

Pre-record video explanations from different departments

Videos are good for all kinds of explanations, especially if you need to clarify some perplexing details. And since you probably already know what confuses prospects most, why not pre-record explanations to common legal or technical questions to quickly give your prospects answers? It's much easier for clients to understand data privacy protection measures when they’re coming from a real-life person. 

Use video outreach sales tools

Outreach sales tools for video-making have many brilliant functions to enhance your content. For example, the Loom desktop app allows you to circle and highlight things to focus viewers' attention. Vidyard offers templates to make a perfect video and tracks how many people watched and shared it. 

Now that you know these tips, you will hit fewer bumps down the road and get good results from video prospecting on the first try. But to be sure of your success, always track your metrics. 

Metrics to keep track of

Of course, you can say video prospecting is working when more prospects get converted into customers. But many factors affect this result, so keep an eye on the following:

• Open rates — how many prospects opened your email and watched the video.

• Click-through rates — how many people clicked on links in the email reacting to your CTA after watching the video.

• The number of views at different stages — use tagging to see at what stages of the sales cycle prospects watch your videos most.

• Sales cycle time — the time from the first contact with the prospect to the sale.

By tracking these changes, you can promptly identify problems and fix them. For example, prospects open videos 1.5x more often when they see your face in the frame. So if this rate is much lower, something might be wrong with the thumbnail. But if video tracking shows that prospects do watch your videos but don’t react to the CTA, you’ll probably need to change its content. 

And one more thing! If the sales cycle didn’t change or became longer, your video prospecting may not be working. So double-check all metrics, learn a few tricks to accelerate your sales pipeline with videos, and find things to improve, for example, by using video-making software.

Helpful video prospecting software

Dozens of apps, extensions, and add-ons can help enhance your video prospecting skills. I’m won’t get into their individual features or pros and cons, but I’ll give you the names of the video prospecting tools I like the most:

• Loom

• Vidyard

• Hippo Video

• Screencastify

• CloudApp

• Vimeo

• Descript

• Screencast-o-Matic

• Rewatch

At Leedfeeder, we mainly use Loom, but you can choose any other app depending on your needs and budget. The bottom line is, how you prepare for video prospecting matters more than the software you use.

Conclusion

Video prospecting improves more than the response rate; it increases the prospect's trust. Plus, it shortens the sales cycle, saves time, and allows you to show your friendly face to a potential customer.

Video works. And what I love most about video prospecting is that its effort-reward ratio is amazing. Just do your research, use good lighting and a small microphone, and don’t forget to track your metrics. Your prospects are sure to have a great experience with video emails.