Determining the Success of Your Video Emails
For any tool, platform or strategy you implement, tracking its effectiveness is key. Is it making a difference? Where is it making a difference? Is it worth my investment of time/effort/money? Implementing video email into your outreach is no different. In this article we’ll cover:
- Setting expectations
- Tracking your efforts
- Determining your success
- Strategies for impacting 3 KPIs
- What to do if you’re not seeing the needle move
Note Your KPIs in Video Email
To see where you’re going, you have to know where you are! Note your most important KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) as they stand prior to adding video email to your outreach.
This will allow you to make comparisons between your plain text emails and video emails, and is the best way to track their effectiveness.
Example KPIs include: email open rate, click-through rate, response rate, average number of appointments set, average number of deals closed, average deal size, etc.
Industry Benchmarks
Don’t have a good sense of your KPIs? Use these industry benchmarks as a guide:
Traditional averages for plain text cold emails:
- Email Open Rate: 20%
- Email Click-Through Rate: 3%
KPI “Dominos”
Each KPI is impacted by the former. For example, if you increase your open rate, you’ll increase the number of click-throughs on those emails – and so on from there. Just like in dominos, one tile won’t fall before the others ahead of it.
To set more appointments and close more deals, you first have to send more video emails to get opens, click-throughs and responses. This is what Covideo empowers you to do, thereby “trickling down” and impacting your end results.
Crunchin’ Numbers for Video Email
Once you have a good *sample size, you can reflect on your results by using the following formulas and plugging in the stats provided in your Covideo account.
Email Open Rate = # of emails opened / # of emails sent x 100
Email Click-Through Rate = # of views / # of emails opened x 100
Then, compare these figures with your pre-video email KPI benchmarks.
*Covideo recommends a sample size of three months of consistent usage and at least 200 video emails sent – which translates to roughly three per workday during that three month period.
NOTE: Response rate and other KPIs will be tracked by you since reply emails are sent directly to your own email.
Strategies for increasing video email open rate:
- Include a compelling, relevant subject line
- Personalize it with the recipient’s name, company or title
- Work in the word “video”
For resources on crafting quality subject lines, check out these articles:
44 Sales Emails Subject Lines That Get Opened, Read and Responded To
Cold Email Subject Lines: 12 Best Practices & 38 Examples
What Are the Best Practices for Sending “Cold” Sales Emails?
“What if my video email open rate is still low?”
- Revamp your subject line and make sure you’re not using “spammy” words/symbols
- Check your email deliverability score
- Consider the source of your list (Did you cultivate the contacts yourself? Was it purchased? Are the addresses valid?)
- Ask yourself if you’re targeting the best, most qualified prospects
Strategies for increasing video email click-through rate:
- Include a GIF thumbnail for your video in the body of the email
- Hold up a sign or whiteboard with your recipient’s name
- Include a personal salutation
- Write a short line(s) of copy that provides context for what the recipient can expect in the video. Bonus points if there’s a “cliffhanger” that leaves them curious to click and learn more!
“What if my video email click-through rate is still low?”
- Ensure you’re doing everything above
- Always prioritize personalized emails/videos over mass emails
- Check your GIF to make sure it looks appealing, professional and friendly
- Revamp your “cliffhanger” copy
- Again, make sure you’re targeting the best leads/industries/verticals
Strategies for increasing response rates to video emails:
- Keep your video messages short and get to the point early
- Personalize the video (have we beaten this dead horse enough?)
- Consider providing a “give” before an “ask” (information, insights, advice, suggestions, trends, stats, etc.) – anything that would provide real value to your recipient and position you as an expert.
- ALWAYS INCLUDE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION
- Let them know that if you don’t hear from them, you’ll be reaching out again to set the expectation that you’re not going away without some kind of response.
“What if my video email response rate is still low?”
- When you receive the email notification that your video has been watched, pick up the phone and call the recipient as soon as possible. It’s a best practice to do this while they’re engaged and your message is top-of-mind.
- Consider adding a phone call into your cadence before your first video email.
- If you’re connected on LinkedIn, take the same video, and send it in a direct message to your lead. A multi-faceted approach is always strongest.
- Reconsider your messaging to make sure it resonates with your audience
- Pose a question that asks for their input and/or offer to provide them with something on value
- Consider a screen recording that would grab their attention (ex: their website, LinkedIn page, an article that features them/their company, etc.)
Ready to start moving the needle of your sales KPIs? Start your Start a free trial or speak directly with a video email expert.
