At the virtual Manchester HUG in October, we were joined by Yaniv Siegel, Vidyard's EMEA Sales...
Your email inbox. You try to stay on top of it but it quickly gets out of control. A day filled with meetings or, worse, a day on annual leave and forgetting to put your OOO on and BOOM: Inbox armageddon.
And you know, in amongst all the crap, will be some emails which you really wanna spend time enjoying and getting stuck into. That newsletter, the report summary from a colleague, the sales email from your favourite clothes store.
The nicely presented video message that helps you learn or complete a task without having to spend ages reading another long-winded email.
That's why we still see the benefits of using video marketing and sales emails... We can feel that our engaged recipients will appreciate the value we're giving them. The stats show that using "video" in your subject line increases open rates.
Now, thanks to Vidyard and B2B DecisionLabs, we have scientific proof of what we've long suspected...
Your email inbox causes stress - but video marketing and sales emails make people feel calmer
Background on the study
Vidyard teamed up with b2b decision labs to prove the hypotheses that video emails are better than text emails.
Throughout the summer of 2021, Vidyard have really upped their content game when it comes to showcasing the power of video communication. For example, their Netflix-documentary-style film, re:connection, was a great presentation of the power video comms has in the modern world.
Inside the Buyer's Brain, this most recent study, puts some real tangible proof behind what we all sensed to be true: video > text when it comes to email.
The theory was based on known data in regard to using video in email messaging;
- 71% of sellers who use custom recorded videos say that video emails produce more opens, clicks and responses than text emails
- But fewer than half (49%) of B2B sellers that Vidyard surveyed use custom videos in the sales process
- Emails with "video" in the subject line are 5x more likely to get opened
A group of participants were rigged up with:
- An EEG (electroencephalogram) cap for recording brain waves
- An ECG (electrocardiogram) for recording heart rate
- A GSR (galvanic skin response) for measuring skin conductivity
- And eye tracking equipment for recording the gaze and where the eyes fixate
Very clever stuff. Participants were then subjected to a range of tests that compared different types of email formats and delivery.
The tests were looking at:
- Simulating a single video-based email landing in the inbox
- Comparing a video and text version of the same email
- Compared different context settings of both video and text emails
So, what were the results and how can you make sure you get the benefits?
And, why limit this to sales team? We use email automation for nurturing marketing prospects before they get handed to sales, so why leave the video email benefits just to those teams?
The science-based benefits of using video marketing and sales emails - and how to get them
Here's what the Inside the Buyer's Brain study found when it came to the email inbox and the impact it had on recipients. And in bold is a way to use this to your advantage.
- The email inbox evokes negative emotions. Participant stress levels increased when working through their inbox.
By being a calming, non-pushy email sender, your message will be viewed as tranquil relief. - In short, participants felt positive and happy when viewing video emails.
Researchers noted that participants were noticeably more stressed when reading text-based emails and this reduced when receiving video-based messages. Video better-helped recipients transition out of a negative space into a more positive one.
As well as ensuring you deliver emails with a calm tone, including video will enhance the connection you make. People respond to smiling faces more positively.
And being a short distance away from the camera dupes the brain into thinking the smiley, friendly person is actually conversing with them. This makes the recipient less stressed and views you and your message more positively.
They might not remember what you say, but they'll remember how you made them feel. - Eye-tracking data showed email readers concentrate mainly on the beginning of paragraphs. This is true no matter how long or short the sentences and paragraphs.
Keep your paragraphs and sentences short because the reader will read more of your message. They'll just skim anything longer and you'll have less impact. - Linked to the above point, using precise and concrete language means your email text is more likely to be remembered. The study showed 46% memory traces when emails used this tactic.
Yes, generally, video is more memorable than text, but text in your emails is still necessary. Keep the text clear and concise and you'll make more of an impression. No waffle. - 59% of people forget the content of emails after 48 hours. But those participants who could remember email content remembered the video emails better than the text ones. When there was a video included with a title that matched the subject line, participants recalled the email more readily.
Link your subject line and video title together. The repeatability combined with the power of video will result in your being more memorable than the dozens of other emails viewed in that inbox session. - Whilst people skim text emails, a speaker-to-camera video holds the recipient's gaze. This is because the human-brain is hardwired to look at the friendly face in front of them. We naturally pay attention to the speaker on screen as our instinct takes over.
This means by including a video message, you've got a longer-hold of the recipient's attention. You're building more familiarity with your message and your company than the countless other text-based emails can hope to achieve. - Video emails with a slower-paced ending left the recipient in a more positive state of mind and more likely to absorb the message.
Bring your video message to a slower, more comfortable ending. It leaves time for the viewer to wonder what's coming next and gives their mind time to process your message before diving back into the inbox.
Once again, this helps you have more of an impact. But, for the full impact, you can't just rely on the benefits of using video marketing and sales emails.
Use video marketing and sales emails as part of a wider video strategy
Using video emails in your marketing and sales efforts is a great tactic. But for video to reach its full potential, you should view it as a business-wide strategy, not just a standalone tactic for sales or marketing comms.
You can find out how to do this in our all-in-one resource for all things inbound video. Take a look:
