How to Use Video for Sales Emails: A Comprehensive Guide

Using video in sales emails is an incredibly powerful tool to help increase prospect engagement, decrease the length of the sales process, and improve information retention.

However, not enough companies utilize video for sales emails as a regular part of their marketing and distribution process.

While creating the right video for your sales emails takes time and a little bit of skill, the effort you’ll put into the process will pay off by saving you time, money, and work in the long run.

In this article, we’ll explain what video for sales emails is, why it would typically be a valuable addition to your prospecting, and best practices for sales emails that include video.

What is Video for Sales Emails?

Sales videos are pretty much what the name implies: Videos that salespeople use in the sales process. They’re either sent directly to prospects or presented during sales meetings.

To make the most of a salesperson’s time, sending sales videos is the ideal route to take. Having a collection of videos that can be sent to a prospect, either via email, social media, or another channel, frees up your salespeople. 

This way, they can actively answer questions or walk prospects through the purchase process rather than constantly repeating the same information to every person.

Using a video management platform helps you store, sort, and share your video for sales emails even more quickly and efficiently.

6 Key Benefits of Using Video in Sales Emails

Opting to include video in your sales emails may feel a little impersonal at first, especially if you’re used to a very hands-on sales team.

However, leveraging modern technology in your sales process holds many benefits for you and your business, as well as for the potential customer.

Opting to include video in your sales emails may feel a little impersonal at first, especially if you’re used to a very hands-on sales team.

However, leveraging modern technology in your sales process holds many benefits for you and your business, as well as for the potential customer.

It Commands Attention

Emails are still a great way to market your products and services, even when recipients have inboxes overflowing with new offers.

However, in order to get noticed, your emails have to stand out from the pack. Traditional text-based emails aren’t going to do that; instead, you need to add an element of interest and engagement by including your sales video.

Studies have also shown that including video in your emails and using the word “video” in your email subject line can have positive impacts on your email open and click-through rates.

Using the surprise factor of sending a video in an email to your advantage can pay off big time for your sales team.

Friendly Faces Build Connections with Customers

Emails can be cold and boring, or you can run the risk of being perceived in the wrong light if you try too hard to be “cool” and “edgy” in your emails.

Instead of spending tons of time carefully crafting your sales emails to make the right impression, sending short videos via email allows you to let your personality shine while also selling your product.

Your prospects will enjoy being able to put a meaning, a face and a voice to the name and can help improve their recall of your product and its features.

Email videos also allow you to show, in real-time, the features and benefits you’re claiming your product or service offers. This helps to overcome more barriers prospects may have when making a purchase and gives them a more personal connection to your offerings.

When your customers feel they have a more personal connection to your sales team, they’re more likely to have a positive impression of your company. This makes them more likely to purchase or recommend you to their friends and family.

More Convincing Than Cold Calling

Using video in marketing is a powerful sales tool, with 87 percent of respondents in a 2021 Hubspot survey saying video provides a positive return on investment.

Now, we know that video is a great tool in marketing campaigns on newer platforms such as social media. Similarly, it can have a positive impact when used in older forms of sales outreach such as cold email.

Which would you be more likely to respond to? Text emails that offer the solution to all your business problems thanks to a suite of accounting software, for example, or a video that actually shows you that software, and shows the face and voice of the person sending you the email?

Video is more engaging than traditional text emails, or even a cold phone call. It provides a higher level of proof that the person sending the communication exists and works for the company they claim to.

For this reason, using video in sales emails can increase trust and confidence in your business, even when sending cold emails.

Video Sales Emails are More Engaging

Reading a long email that talks all about the benefits and features of a product may work great for some people. However, most individuals aren’t going to take the time to wade through blocks of text without any visual break.

Instead, send short video sales emails that present the same information in a much more immersive, and engaging format. This will increase your viewers’ comprehension and provide a better understanding of what you’re offering to them.

This increased understanding can make your sales process easier. It may also mean you being able to overcome objections to making a purchase than you would if you sold or used other methods.

Additionally, using video in your sales process allows you to reach all types of learners.

Whether the recipient learns best by seeing something demonstrated, hearing the information, or reading about it, video can help you reach all three types of learners. This takes the burden off your sales team to find new ways to explain your product or service.

Gives You Access to More Tools to Make a Good Impression

First impressions are incredibly important, especially when you’re competing for attention in your prospect’s crowded email inbox.

Rather than just sending boring plain-text emails that don’t catch their interest, sending short videos via email gives you an opportunity to attract their attention and get them to watch.

Your sales video offers a chance to show off your personality and your likeability, something that regular emails may not get through. Starting your relationship with a prospect already feeling as if they “know” you from your video helps make your sales process easier and smoother.

Thanks to your great sales video emails, you’re able to show your prospect your friendly smile, get them used to your voice, and tell them why they should choose your product in just a few moments’ time.

Gather Data to Improve Video Sales Emails Over Time

Every process in your business can be improved by collecting and analyzing data and adjusting your process in response to the data.

If you’re sending out video sales emails using a sales video platform, you’ll be able to gather valuable data about your video that can inform your strategy going forward.

Some of the data you can collect include:

• How many prospects watch your video
• How many watched the complete video
• How many stopped watching after a short amount of time
• How many took an action linked in your video, such as scheduling a consultation

These data points will show you what is and isn’t working in your sales emails. And, if you create a few sales emails with slight variations in order to A/B test them, you’ll be able to effectively see which emails perform better.

Best Practices for Sales Emails

Your video sales emails need to be informative, engaging, and concise. You don’t want to be sending prospects a 10-minute explainer video that they’re never going to open!

Instead, follow these 8 best practices for sales emails to get the results you want:

Make the Subject Line Worth a Click

Whether an email gets opened, regardless of its contents, often lives and dies on the subject line. A boring subject line, or one that is too controversial or “creepy,” could spell disaster for your video email prospecting.

Try to craft a subject line that’s interesting and grabs the attention of your prospect, but carefully toes the line between attention-grabbing and off-putting.

Giving them a peek at what they can expect to see inside the email, especially adding “[VIDEO]” to your subject line, can improve your open rates.

Test a few subject lines when sending emails and see which ones get the most people to open your emails. You may find that the most unexpected subject line is the one that gets the most people to click.

If you’re using an email marketing platform — and to collect solid data we recommend you do —  gathering the information on open rates for each of your subject lines is much easier.

Keep Things Short and Sweet

Long emails certainly have their place, as do long explainer videos, but a cold sales email is not the time to get too in the weeds.

Instead, pack as much as you can into that initial sales video email. Make sure you introduce yourself and your company and provide some information on what you offer and how that product or service can help the prospect.

Be sure to wrap things up by giving the prospect a specific action to take. This includes instructions on exactly how they should go about completing that action.

A good rule of thumb is to keep your sales video around 2 minutes in length. This gives you the opportunity to cover the basics your prospect needs to know without getting too wordy.

The goal of your video is to interest your prospect enough to reach out and talk with you. This follow-up conversation then gives you the opportunity to pull out all those brochures and sales information that go more in-depth into the features and benefits of your product or service.

Add Social Proof to Build Credibility

Recommendations from friends and family — and even strangers — are a big factor in how people make their purchasing decisions.

This extends to the B2B world of consumer side, too, with testimonials from other happy customers proving highly beneficial in selling a product or service.

Whenever possible, include facts, figures, and testimonials from your current customers in your sales video emails. You don’t have to pause to read out someone’s entire Google Review, either. Instead, make use of customer feedback or results when discussing specific features of your offering.

For example, rather than simply saying, “I’d love to give you a demonstration of our amazing accounting software,” you could say, “I’d love to give you a demonstration of the accounting software (customer name) says decreased their payroll processing time by 3 hours!”

Make the Words and Video Complement One Another

When creating your video and the email that comes with it, you want to ensure that the two pieces complement one another.

For example, use your email subject line and any email text to entice the reader to click and watch the video. If you pose a question in your email, tease your video as the way to find out the answer.

Curiosity is an effective motivator, and making use of your prospect’s need to find out the rest of the story can help get more eyes on your sales video. The same goes for planning your video to help complement the copy in your email.

If you mention specific actions you want your prospects to take, or reference additional information in some of your printed marketing assets, be sure to include links or attachments that provide that information to your prospect.

This allows you to give the prospect more information than you can cram into your short introductory video without sending a follow-up email or waiting for them to contact you for more information.

Get Creative

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your sales emails. You want to use your video as an opportunity to grab your prospect’s attention and be memorable enough that the prospect reaches out to continue talking with you.

Some ways you can get creative in your sales video include:

• Incorporating your prospect’s name in the video somehow, such as writing it on a whiteboard at the beginning of the video
• Using a prop in your videos, such as wearing a hat or sports jersey
• Adding catchy music to the beginning and end of your video
• Using humor in your video
• Adding eye-catching graphics to your video

This video is your opportunity to showcase your personality to your prospect, so make use of the time you have to forge a connection.

Just be careful to not go too overboard with the gimmicks or border into potentially offensive humor. It may be best to have your video reviewed by a few other people to ensure you don’t accidentally cross a line.

Never Forget a CTA

The whole goal of sending your sales video email is to get the prospect to sign up to take some action at the end.

Whether you want the person to book a consultation call with you, check out more information on your product, or take some other action, be sure your video leads the prospect to this action and gives them clear instructions on how to take it.

You can refer them back to the body of your email by telling them they’ll find a link to your calendar or a PDF of your sales brochure there. Or, if you or someone you know is tech-savvy, you could include a link in the video itself to decrease the chances you’ll lose them before they take action.

Be as specific as possible with the action you want them to take for better results, too.

For example, rather than just asking your prospect in the video if they’ll have “some time next week” to chat, specifically saying, “Does Tuesday at 2:00 work for you?” may increase your chances of booking that sales call.

Share Your Video for Sales Emails Best Practices with Your Team

Figuring out the formula of best practices for sales emails can take a lot of trial and error. But if your whole team is testing videos in their sales emails, sharing the knowledge can help everyone succeed.

You may find, for example, that a specific segment of your prospects responds really well to references to memes. If you share this knowledge with the rest of your sales team, they can integrate that into the videos they send to a similar segment and potentially increase their success rate.

Sharing this information becomes even more powerful if you have data to back up your assertions. Such as the numbers on how long one video was watched as opposed to another, or how one email subject line saw more opens than another.

As time goes on, you or members of your team should be able to begin putting together a selection of best practices for sales emails that can be shared by the whole team.

Put Key Information First

Once you get the prospect to the point of pushing play on your video, you’ve got just a few seconds to grab them before they back out and delete your email.

You need to start with the most important, attention-grabbing information first in your video to decrease the chances that you’ll end up in their trash.

Craft an opening statement that’s impactful and full of information, and that focuses on the prospect instead of on you. Maybe your product can help them get more time back in their day or can increase their profits.

Put that information first, loop back to introducing yourself and your company, and then go into more detail about the benefits of working with you.

Video Sales Letter Template

While you should make your video sales letter as unique and different as you and your business are, there are some things to keep in mind for the best results.

Here are a few things every video sales letter should have:

• A personalized hook: Whether you’re writing your prospect’s name on a whiteboard at the beginning of your video or addressing them directly in the subject line, make sure they know the video is crafted just for them.

• A quick intro to you and your offering: Introduce yourself and the reason you’re reaching out as quickly as possible. Focus on what you can offer them, and minimize the use of “I’d like” or “I’d love.” Instead, use concrete, action-oriented language.

• Add social proof: Whenever possible, use a brief story of how your company helped a similar business solve a problem. Numbers, facts, and other concrete examples work best, and trying to match your story to your prospect’s industry, company size, or use shows you did your research before cold emailing.
• Include a call-to-action: Before you end your video, make sure you’ve given the prospect directions on the action you want them to take. If you want them to book a consultation, tell them how to access your calendar or give them a date and time you’re available. If you want them to read more information about your business, tell them where they can find it.

The more time you spend working on your sales video and the email that accompanies it, the less time you’ll have to spend convincing your prospect that you can help them. Don’t be afraid to use attention-grabbing items in the body of your email, either, such as bulleted or numbered lists, bold text, and headings.

The easier and more interesting you can make your email to read, the more likely your prospect is to pay attention to it.

How to Get Started with Sales Email Videos

Here’s a simple three-step guide on how to get started creating videos for sales marketing emails:

Step 1: Choose your list of contacts: You’ll first need to come up with a list of prospects that you’d like to prioritize for the week or month. If you’re new to video email marketing, it’s advisable to try it on new prospects first. 

Step 2: Gather the material you need: You’ll need some tools and a device to record your videos. This includes a computer with a webcam, video and screen recording software, an audio recorder device, and a well-lit room, among other things. You’ll need to make sure the clarity of your video and audio is top-notch.

Step 3: Craft a script: You’ll need to craft a compelling script for your video, whether it’s a one-off campaign or a repeat one. Write down your complete script on a page and rehearse it to improve your delivery.

FAQ

1. How might you best use video in an email?

Here are ways of making sure you make the most out of your sales email videos:

• Use a catchy subject line worth clicking on to get your audience to open your email
• Keep your email body and video short to hold your audience attention
• Add social proof like consumer reviews to build your credibility
• Make the words in your email and video content complement one another
• Get creative with your video to make it more interesting, for instance, by using humor
• Never forget to include a compelling call to action 

2. How do you use video in the sales process?

Here are a few ways you can use videos in your sales process:

• As supplementary content to impress your subscribers
• To add a human touch to your marketing campaigns
• You can use a video in email content to showcase company culture
• Videos can be best for introducing a new product or line to customers

3. What is a video email in sales?

It refers to when salespeople record videos and include them in their email marketing campaigns to get more responses through email distribution, schedule more meetings, and close deals faster.

4. Why use video in email marketing?

Here’s why you should use videos in email marketing:

• Videos make your emails more engaging to your audience
• You’ll be able to create a more personal connection with recipients
• To command more attention to your product

5. What are the different types of emails for sales?

There are different types of email for sales you could send to your prospects and include videos. These include:

• Sales prospecting emails
• Transactional emails
• Re-engagement emails
• Event emails
• Email newsletter and more

Conclusion

When cold emailing prospects, it can be difficult to break through the noise in their inboxes and get noticed. But creating a sales video in your email automatically sets you apart from the pack of text-only emails. The goal is to make your offering more likely to catch their attention and get your prospect to book a sales call or make a purchase.

To help you manage your sales videos, you need a platform you can trust to store, organize, and collect data on your sale videos, improving your success rate. With Dacast, you can do just that, in addition to storing all your other marketing videos.

Try Dacast free for 14 days to see if it’s right for you. You won’t have to sign a contract, pay a pricey start-up fee, or give us your credit card number. Just create an account and get started.

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