If you aren’t using personalized video marketing yet, you should be, because it’s an excellent way to communicate with your audience that can boost engagement and conversions.
Think about it- if you signed up for a free trial of a new software, how would you rather be welcomed on board?
1. A generic, automated email confirmation.
or
2. A short, personalized video from the CEO. He answers one of your questions and talks about a use case that’s relevant to your needs.
The second option would be more surprising and memorable. It would make you feel special and pleased to be able to put a face to a name.
I’m going to explain why personalized video is so effective, and how you can incorporate it into your marketing strategy.
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Personalized video sets you apart
Hubspot’s consumer trends report found that video marketing is a clear winner in terms of attracting people’s time and attention.
People love video because it combines images and movement. It’s engaging, stimulates numerous senses and is the closest thing to face-to-face contact that can be achieved digitally. It’s thought to help people retain more information than text.
The majority of marketers agree that video helps them achieve their goals, citing high ROI and increase in user satisfaction and engagement.
Video marketing has grown massively over the last few years. Previously, marketers saw video as a “one to many” tool of communication, but thanks to apps like Bonjoro and Videoask, they are starting to realise the potential of one-to-one video.
However, personalized video is still highly underutilized, meaning now is the time to experiment, get ahead of the curve and set your company apart.
Personalization matters
Hyper-personalization is becoming a buzzword in 2020.
A study from the Epsilon Group found that 90% of consumers found personalization appealing, and 80% were more likely to make a purchase if the brand offered a personalized experience.
Marketers agree that personalization has a huge impact on audience behaviour.
However, generic “Hey, (first name)” emails no longer cut it.
Hyper-personalization could be using sophisticated tech to create highly tailored customer experiences based on rich behavioural data. Think Spotify and Netflix, whose recommendation engines seem to know your tastes better than you do.
Now let’s think about it on a smaller scale.
What better way to show customers that you care about them than taking time out of your day to record and send them a video message?
You might think that sending personalized videos would be too time-consuming, as it certainly takes more effort than automated emails.
However, factor in the average lifetime value of your customers. For a B2B SaaS company, we could be talking about monthly subscriptions worth hundreds of dollars. Even if you’re LTV is much lower, I’d argue that it’s absolutely worth investing a few minutes of your time to bag a new customer.
You don’t need the fancy production and clever editing you might require for your YouTube channel. In fact, your face in front of a decent phone camera with clear audio is good enough.
How to use personalized video
Ok, I hope I have convinced you that personalized videos are a valuable addition to your marketing toolkit.
So let’s talk about how to use them.
For any kind of one-to-one video, remember to keep it short (2-3 minutes max) and speak clearly. Keep your tone friendly and helpful, and your message relevant.
Here are some examples of use cases I have personally tried.
#1 Introductions
A few weeks back, I was preparing to give a master’s course in Business Intelligence. I wanted to get to know all of my students properly first.
The problem was, they all knew each other already, so I didn’t want to waste class time asking each person the same questions.
So, I decided to use VideoAsk to record a personalized video for each student, welcoming them to the course and asking a few questions. I was amazed by the response. Every student came back with a video and telling me all about their dreams and goals.
It worked brilliantly as a way to get to know people and much more engaging than email.
Next time you win a new customer or welcome people on to a course, why not send a quick video of thanks and introduction. Ask key questions so you can provide the most valuable service.
#2 Warming up leads
A promising lead has gone cold. What do you do?
First, research their behaviour and try to figure out why the lead went cold in the first place. Where in the funnel did they drop off?
Then, try to understand their motivations. Perhaps they had unanswered questions, a lack of communication from the sales team, or an issue with pricing.
When you’ve figured out what’s missing and what they might need to convert, you can provide that information in a short video.
Address their questions and doubts, demonstrate how they can get value from your product, or even offer a special deal.
Be sure to be friendly and focus on providing help rather than selling.
#3 Onboarding
You need to onboard a new customer. Hopefully, they are excited to start using your product, and you can kick off the process with a video.
Make it super relevant to your customer’s needs. For SaaS products, you can include screen shares and instructional content that directly deals with their use case.
Be sure to keep the lines of communication open and make it very easy for them to come straight back to you with any queries they may have. You can even elicit a video response from them.
#4 Recover customers at risk of churn
One way to reduce your churn rate could be through personalized video sent at a crucial moment.
Set up a workflow that notifies you any time a customer displays “risky” behaviors that you recognize as warning signs of churn. This could be low engagement or frustration with your product or service.
This workflow should trigger a reminder to send a video to these customers, to see if you can win them back with a personal touch. The key is to reach out quickly and offer something exciting to convince them that they are better off staying with you.
#5 Interviewing candidates
Personalized video is not just for customers.
All companies should be concerned with employee branding and attracting the best talent. Incorporating a video message into your recruitment process could be a unique way to do this.
When you have a shortlist of candidates, you could communicate with them through direct video. This gives you a chance to sum up your brand mission, vision and values in an authentic way, and helps them prepare for their interview.
Make your message inspiring and engaging to get them excited at the idea of joining your team.
#6 Team communication
There’s a lot of talk about “meeting fatigue” or meetings that could have been emails. Therefore, instead of planning a meeting, maybe you can say what you need to through a direct video.
Personalization is less important here, as you can certainly send the same video to multiple employees. You’ll still have the advantage of a more personal connection and it’s quicker to get your point across.
I think this works especially well when you want to show an employee how to do something. Explain it through video as you share your screen, make it simple to understand and they’ll be able to reference back to it as needed.
The best tools for personalized video
There are plenty of tools out there for creating your personalized videos, but I’m going to talk about the three main ones, that I have tried.
Bonjoro
The name speaks for itself - Bonjoro is great for reaching out to customers and subscribers to say hello. It’s easy to use and integrates seamlessly with tools like Hubspot, ConvertKit, Shopify and many more.
Bonjoro allows you to track key metrics like open rates and views so you can see whether your videos are effective. You can also set up workflows which trigger you to send a video message when a certain action is taken - such as a new subscription.
I use Bonjoro to send a welcome message to everyone who signs up to my newsletter.
VideoAsk
VideoAsk is created by Typeform and is ideal for embedding a video on your website. Think of it as a bit like a chat window, but with video instead.
I have one of these on my website, where I have a welcome message which visitors can send a video response to.
This app is perfect for asking and answering questions in a more exciting way.
Loom
I think Loom works best for explanatory or instructional videos.
You can use the Chrome extension or desktop app to create a screen-sharing video, where you can walk through different processes. This is very useful for communicating with remote teams and onboarding new employees or clients.
The Video Bot
We know that personalized videos can be time-consuming.
The Video Bot hopes to solve that problem with text-to-video software that allows you to make more videos in less time.
They currently have a free trial so you can test this product here.
Conclusion
Now is the time to set your company apart with hyper-personalization through video. Recording one-to-one videos might seem time-consuming but when it comes to conversion you’ll see that a personal touch goes a long way.
Here are my top tips for reaching out through video:
- Choose the perfect moment. This could be immediately after a purchase, when a lead has gone cold or when you identify a customer at risk of churn.
- Be professional, friendly and natural.
- Focus on solving their problems or offering your help.
- You don’t need fancy production values. Just plan what you want to say, speak clearly and keep it short.
- Experiment with different tools on the market to discover the one that works best for you.