Video for sales in 2023: the complete guide

Updated on April 1, 2021

Reading time: 9 min.

For the past couple of years, video content has been an increasing and integral part of marketing strategies. Not surprising when you consider a person spends, on average, 19 hours per week consuming videos online.

But what about video selling?

More and more sales teams are using videos throughout their sales process, from outbound sequences in emails or LinkedIn messages to actual proposals.

Why is video in sales important?

To create a sale, there must be a challenge that you can solve. A common sales tip is to focus on the customer’s pains. The sale is not about you and your product, but about the challenge your customer faces.

The same is true when linking video content to your sales process. It's not about you, but about your customer. Your customer will more likely engage with a personal and authentic video that quickly conveys the information they are looking for.

Many salespeople use video in their sales process to increase engagement, build relationships and meet their customer’s needs.

According to a study by Sales Research Labs, 77% of sales leaders find the use of video in the sales process important or highly important.

Although a strong amount of sales leaders highlight the importance of video, our own data at GetAccept shows that only 10% of customers currently use video in their sales process.

When they do use it, they see real impact: adding engaging communication channels like video increase the hit rate by 30.4%.

Benefits of video selling

• Shorten the sales cycle Most busy professionals don’t take time to read a lengthy message or sales proposal, but they will take a few minutes out of their day to watch a quick video introduction or a walk-through that summarizes the highlights of your proposal.

• Build trust & enhance relationship Today, as salespeople, we mostly use emails, phone calls or screen sharing, rather than meeting our customers in person. A personalized video helps you build an instant connection and trust with your customer from the get-go.

• Cut through the noise Most executives receive more than 100 emails, and a similar amount of social media messages every day. Especially as an introduction message, video can put you in front of the competition.

• Convey your message precisely Unlike text messages, prospects can simply click the play button and hear exactly the message you want to convey. And points don’t get lost in translation because you can add extra details and visuals.

• Have better response rate Your potential customers will be positively surprised and instantly appreciate the extra time & effort you have put into preparing the video. And this will significantly improve your response rate.

When to use a video in your sales process

• Prospecting
  Use a video from your very first cold outreach, be it on social media or via email.

• After the phone call
  You just talked to a prospect. It went well, they seemed interested, but they wanted to see some material from you.

• Before the meeting
  Finally, you got that meeting in the calendar. The meeting is in the future. Let’s say in a week. The day before the meeting, you will send the agenda together with a short video.

• After the meeting
  The meeting is done - it went well! Now it's about keeping momentum.

• In the proposal
  The sales process is moving forward - they are interested and want to see an offer from you.

How to use videos in sales

There are a couple of important rules to follow when creating sales videos:

• Personalize the video Don't make one generic video and use it for mass send outs. You will create more impact if the content in the sales video is personalized to the prospect.

• Add a clear call to action A video is great to grab attention, so maximize that moment by informing your prospect of a clear next step.

• Give value Simply adding a video to your outreach won't change your prospect's interest in going further along the deal cycle with you.

• Be natural Don't read off a script. Try to be yourself and don't fret about it being "perfect".

How to improve video click through

Again, you should always have a purpose behind the video. But for the recipient of your video content to actually see it, here are a few things to consider in order to ensure they click and watch the video.

• Thumbnails
  Logically, before the video even starts playing, the first “visual” a recipient will see is the thumbnail.

• Personalized CTAs
  From a marketing perspective, we know the importance of CTA’s (call to action); the same can be applied to sales videos.

• To the point
  Time is money! Sales reps know this.

• And smile!
  Interestingly - whether or not someone presents happily with a smile was also seen as extremely important.

The best video selling tools

There are a lot of online tools and platforms that allow a sales rep to record a video.

Top tools for video in sales

• Loom / Vidyard
  Perfect for prospecting, these tools allow you to record your screen and add a personal touch to your content.

• Chorus / Salesloft
  Sometimes using a clip from a call recording can be a good enough reminder to your prospect on why they should continue the discussion with you.

• Videoask
  This tool allows you to exchange communication by video (or text).

• GetAccept
  If you are already engaged with a prospect and want to centralize all communication, then a digital sales room may be what you want.

Example of video selling

Here's an example of a video from our colleague Jason, sent to two prospects as a follow up to a meeting.

About the author

Thomas Igou

Thomas heads the content team at GetAccept, in charge of positioning the company as a sales engagement leader. He started his career in sales, in a boiler room-style team, before moving to content and pursue his passion for writing.