Personalized video is a video that's customized to an individual viewer. It's a virtual version of sitting down with someone at your kitchen table, chatting about your business, and really giving them insight into what you're about. It helps build trusting relationships with your audience and future customers.
After all, everyone likes to feel special — especially your audience. Your audience has their own wants and needs, tastes and quirks. That’s why personalized video marketing is a growing trend that has a lot of potential for any business.
Plus, personalized videos are a great way to attract more visitors to your website, improve your lead generation efforts, increase email conversion rates and boost other sales goals.
And it's an essential part of your video marketing strategy.
What Is Personalized Video, And Why Should I Care?
Personalized videos are a great way to stand out from the crowd. They can be used for sales, customer support, or team communication. Personalized videos are recorded and sent to individuals for a variety of reasons.
When you say “personalized,” we don’t just mean adding someone’s name into the title of the video. It means speaking directly to a specific person one-to-one with a message tailored just for them. Using tactics such as an eye-catching video thumbnail with their name written on a whiteboard, incorporating a prop that will grab their attention, or even creating a screenshot video that hovers over their LinkedIn profile or company website personalizes the experience that much more.
There are countless creative ways to approach personalized video, and there’s tons of proof on why personalized video can help you cut through the noise and shine.
According to buyer data, 93% of internet users felt they weren’t getting enough personalized outreach when making a purchase — and 90% were annoyed with irrelevant messaging.
This shows that, although we understand a personalized experience with our business improves engagement and increases sales (sometimes as much as 20%), there is still room for improvement on this front.
Personalized video allows us to connect with customers in meaningful ways at all stages of the customer journey. Sales teams haven’t been as quick to adopt personalization, and those that do successfully incorporate personalized video in their sales processes stand to benefit greatly from it, while those who don’t risk falling behind.
Benefits of personalized videos:
- Builds a more personalized, genuine connection with your audience and customers
- Stands out more than any other type of marketing follow-up or communication
- Increases email open rates
- Generates more leads and closed deals
- Increases click-through rates and bookings
Personalization works because it's more memorable, which makes it more effective.
People crave personalized experiences. And marketers are giving them what they want: In the last year alone, business video creation increased by 135%.
Your customers are seeing a lot of videos in their inboxes—but they're also seeing a lot of emails in general.
That's why video-based marketing has a leg up on the competition: Not only does it pique your recipient's attention to open and click, but it also reduces inbox fatigue and helps them retain more of the message when compared to text-based email.
Our brains are programmed to store visual memories, and studies show that people are 13% more likely to remember details from video emails over text emails.
Plus, capturing and maintaining your audience's attention serves a bigger purpose in your marketing — being a guide to your customer's along their buying journey. With these methods, you build a direct connection that can help anyone feel more positively about your, your company, and your product or service.
Create Your Personalized Videos
Personalized videos are the most effective way to connect with customers, because they allow you to speak directly to the people who matter most.
That’s why personalized videos are so popular, and why we’re seeing them used in so many different ways. Let’s dive into the most effective ways you can use personalized videos in your sales process.
Follow these ideas for how to create more effective and personalized sales videos.
Always have your gear set up
Whether you’re using your phone, webcam, or a professional camera, make sure to always have your gear setup so it’s easy to hit record and publish within seconds!
The perfect combo of gear to have on hand for your sales, follow-up videos include: camera, audio, and lighting.
When it comes to choosing a camera, the best camera you have is the one you have on you. Most often that’s your phone. And most phones record high-resolution video. So start there.
Alternatively, you can buy webcam upgrades by going with Logitech for a higher-quality image coming from your desktop or laptop computer.
My favorite is to use a more professional camera and connect it as your webcam. Trust me, on every client call, follow-up or recorded video you’ll get positive comments of how great you look!
At Video Supply, we recommend Canon but all camera brands can work including Sony, Blackmagic, Panasonic, Red, Arri, you name it.
To capture more professional audio for your videos we recommend buying a microphone for your computer. This may look like a headset, podcast-style mic, or simply being close enough to your phone while recording.
And then for your lighting, the easiest solution is to use natural lighting from your window by facing the window when you record any video.
You can also use a lamp or white, bright computer tab to brighten up your face which should be the brightest part of your frame.
You can explore all recommended gear options here.
Messaging: Know what you’ll say
Do some research before you start filming about your audience.
Feel confident about your messaging so what you say will resonate with your ideal customer.
Go to your prospect's company website, Instagram, or LinkedIn profile page to get an idea of who they are, and identify some details you can use in your video message, follow-up, or pitch.
For example, if your prospect mentions they're a big fan of movies, then try to weave that into conversation.
If you've done your homework, these little details will help you connect with them on a personal level and make them more likely to respond positively to your outreach.
Don’t stress over trying to say everything perfectly while doing multiple takes of the video. If you need to, write down a few talking points, notes, or word-for-word script to guide what you will say.
In fact, there are even apps out there that can help prompt you while recording.
Where to Use Personalized Videos
Once you’ve recorded a video for outreach, follow-up, or closing a deal in your sales process it’s now time to distribute it so your ideal prospect will see and engage with your message.
Here are a few examples of ways to incorporate personalized videos into your existing marketing and sales efforts.
Lead Generation Campaigns
Did you know that adding video to your landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%?
So, if you're trying to get more sales, it's important to leverage video at every step of your customer's journey. A message that speaks directly to their needs and interests.
You can add videos to your landing pages or send them directly via email, so users get the information they need when they need it most. You can even use AI tools to personalize your videos based on user data and preferences.
Consider powerful tools like:
- Vidyard
- Wistia Soapbox
- Vimeo
- Any in-app social media messaging tool for DMs
Screen Share and Tutorials
When it comes to introducing and educating your prospect on your product or service so they feel more confident buying it, use personalized videos of course!
When it comes to recording your video, there are two main approaches: selfie-style and screen share.
A selfie-style video is an easy format to record. All you need to do is set up your webcam or phone facing you, then make sure your lighting is good, check that your microphone and audio work, and hit record.
A screen share video is when you record what’s on your computer screen, along with audio from your microphone. It’s a great way to show and tell. Screen share videos are often used for demos, webinars, presentations, and explainer videos.
Direct Messages
Sending direct messages (DMs) on any social media channel can be most powerful with video. That way potential customers can see your face and feel connected with your genuine follow-up.
Think platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or any other platform your audience spends their time.
Deliver your message directly to them.
Email Campaigns
Use personalized videos in email while doing prospecting, engagement, and onboarding so new users can learn more about how to best use your product or service
Onboarding is one of the most critical moments in the customer lifecycle, and it's also a time when you have the opportunity to make a great first impression.
Make sure your onboarding process is as inviting as the sales process by creating a personalized video welcome for all customers. You can also set a reminder in your calendar to create personalized video contract renewal reminders, product release announcements for top-tier accounts, and yes, even holiday and celebration videos.
Customer Support
You've got a great onboarding process, and you know you have to make it as inviting as the sales process is. But how do you do that? With a personalized video welcome for all customers!
That's right—you can set up reminders in your calendar to create personalized video contract renewal reminders, product release announcements for top-tier accounts, and yes, even holiday and celebration videos. That way, your customers get the personal attention they need from the moment they sign up.
But what about when things go wrong? When customers need troubleshooting or product help, customer service reps can create screen share videos to illustrate how to navigate an issue or fix a problem.
It’s Time To Personalize Your Videos
Gone are the days when you could simply use a canned email template and cast a wide net in hopes of getting your buyer’s attention.
It’s imperative that you get creative as a salesperson, or any member of your company, and find ways to not only use personalization in your written outreach and engagement, but incorporate it into your video efforts as well.
So whether you're using it for sales, marketing, customer support, or internal communications, personalized video is the tool to help you grab attention, create connections, and build trust.
Video Supply provides marketing strategies, insights, and services to help you personalize videos for your entire sales process so that you can close more deals and grow your business.
Contact us today to get started to learn more about our video production services!
