Discover how video has surged in global popularity, and the impact it’s had on sales and will have on the future of sales.
Until relatively recently video wasn’t exactly categorized as a “need” for most sales teams. The value of video has always been apparent, but it was more of an afterthought of a tool than a necessity. That has changed quickly and dramatically in the last decade. Quickly, it has become clear that video is the future of sales, marketing, and business. Specifically, video is now an essential part of selling remotely, along with email, chat, and phone.
You may be wondering why we need to add video in the mix at all. Sometimes in sales there is no replacing seeing each other face-to-face. Video accomplishes this, even for the times we cannot get an airplane and meet in person This is especially true for the end of the funnel when sales teams need to make that personal connection to push the deal through to the end.
Video has replaced meeting in person for countless teams, organizations, colleagues, and clients. Obviously the pandemic forced us all to conduct business differently, and a lot of what we tried has stuck. Video allows you and your client to ensure a sense of trustworthiness with that personal touch, without the need to meet in person.
1. Video is the Future of Sales Because it Dominates All Other Media
Video is also wildly popular across the world, and the surge shows no signs of slowing down. On the contrary, according to Cisco. Currently 82% of the world’s internet traffic is accounted for by video, up from 75% a few years ago. 82% is a significant amount of internet traffic! Right away you can see that if your brand is not included, then you really aren’t playing on a level playing field with the vast majority of other brands. That other 18% really isn’t on the playing field at all. After all, that’s less that ⅘ of brands choosing not to utilize video! Don’t be one of them. In addition, imagine what this number will look like next year, or in 5 years? We are consuming more and more video each year. Every day it becomes more important that your brand jump in there and create valuable video content as well. The longer you take to get started, the more difficult the journey will be and the more time you are spending not capitalizing on this content and its benefits.
2. Proof that video dominates
Also according to Cisco, only 63% of sales and marketing teams used video just 5 years ago in 2017. That has increased to 87% of sales and marketing teams today. You almost can’t imagine a sales or marketing team never leveraging video these days. It is a valuable tool of the trade! Video is the future of sales because it helps these teams demonstrate the value of your product or service much more effectively than other mediums. Writing a long email just doesn’t convey the message the same way as hearing it from a video.
3. Video is trending up still
Video shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. With data, user-generated content, live streaming, influencers, and more, there is no end in sight to the upward-trending explosion of video content being created and consumed. There is no limit to what you can create with video. Content creators can be super creative, and there is always something to spin off or remake or even simply to inspire you. There will be no shortage of future trends and viral videos to work with!
4. Staying on cutting edge will make or break you
As I’m sure you’ve noticed online, there are limitless ways to use video for sales and marketing. It’s important to utilize the most important apps like TikTok and Instagram, and to know what kind of content is hot right now. Take note and advantage of trends, challenges, and what’s popular in the moment. Look specifically for viral content that is being remixed and shared often. Follow content creators that make the type of content you find funny or interesting or compelling. Understand what your customers are seeing online and what they are comparing your content to. Read the comments, and even comment and become a part of the community! Know what the community is looking for and what they want.
5. Video is the Future of Sales Because it Creates the Highest Engagement
According to Hubspot, “Most marketers feel that video is a brilliant investment for lead generation. 86% of video marketers say video has been effective for generating leads, up another 2% from 2021 and up 5% since 2019.” Time and time again, year after year, video proves to engage users more and more. These numbers continue to climb up and up, showing that video now reigns supreme for market engagement and prospecting. Make sure your team are leveraging video content creation in the most intelligent ways!
6. Reasons why video creates higher engagement
YouTube said it best: “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million!” Video gives us more to interact with than still photos, text, and other mediums. We get audio and visual. We can sense the speakers’ tones, emotions, authenticity, personality, authority, and more. We remember more from video than we do from reading text. Our emotional connection to the speaker affects our interpretation and memory in positive ways that can’t be recreated in an email. Nothing will re-create the engagement and connection that comes from video, as opposed to email or print or other types of media. Video is the future of sales because it creates incredibly high engagement.
7. Proof across different platforms
We need not look further than the current list of popular apps and platforms today to validate proof that video creates higher engagement. TikTok and Snapchat dominate the social media landscape, while Instagram created its Reels feature just to keep up. Its algorithm currently prioritizes Reels and video content as part of this effort. Content creators, in turn, have noticed and are pumping out more video content than ever before. Simply put, video is explosively popular and platforms have taken notice.
8. Video is shared exponentially more
Videos go viral. That’s not to say that there isn’t space on the Internet for memes and other viral content. The most memorable viral content tends to be videos, funny videos. Think “Charlie bit my finger” and “David after dentist” content. These are the timeless pieces of content that we remember and cherish, much more so than even a hilarious meme.
9. Video is the Future of Sales Because it’s Inexpensive
High quality video does not require a big budget. In fact, it doesn’t need to require anything besides the tools you already have, like a laptop with a webcam. Don’t stress that you haven’t invested in a mic, lights, or especially a fancy camera. None of that will be necessary to get started.
10. Necessary equipment
Don’t be fooled into thinking you need anything more than a laptop to get started. You don’t need a special microphone or light or anything else for that matter. While those items can help, they are not needed to get started. Simply begin with a laptop with a built-in microphone and video camera. Use a tool that does the rest for you, like Weet.
11. Lower-production quality (compared to top-dollar production-cost content) is relatable and often preferable to audiences
Not only is it not required of you to purchase equipment to achieve super high-end production quality, it can actually work against you to do so. Your audience will connect with someone relatable. Don’t sweat it if you stumble over your words once or don’t know exactly what to say. We all do that! You’re not a professional actor. It makes you approachable and causes people to be empathetic toward you.
12. Video is the Future of Sales Because it Creates a More Personal Touch
Video allows you to connect with your audience because they can see your facial expressions and hand gestures, as well as hear your tone and emotion. Add all of this together and you get a much richer and more clear picture of the story being told than you can with text alone.
13. Video humanizes your brand
Video allows the story of your brand to be told – from your own words. Imagine signing up for a new online service or product. Rather than receiving a welcome email with text – per usual, you receive a customized video for you. Which would you prefer? The video would likely resonate with you more, just as it will with your clients, teammates, colleagues, students, and more. This is because video is ore personal and humanizing. Viewers of your video content will make that connection with your brand!
14. You can ask customers to create video testimonials - crazy high value!
Nothing packs a punch quite like authentic customer video testimonials. Invite your customers to use a super simple video tool that doesn’t require anyone to download software. (like Weet!) Think about times when you heard genuine positive feedback from a happy customer about a brand’s products or services. Think about times you made the decision to give someone your business because of said recommendation. Try to create that feeling for the viewers of your video content. This is another opportunity to point out that you really do not need Hollywood-level production quality here. Not only is that asking a lot for your customers to do (who are already kind enough to film a video review of your product or service), but you also want your brand to appear relatable. A short, simple, well-constructed, honest video review will work wonders.
15. Employees can connect more directly with customers - Founders, Execs, CSMs, Sales, etc…
Video allows anyone in an organization to connect with your brand’s audience. Does the CEO want to address everyone in a thank you video message? Does the Customer Success team want to troubleshoot a complex issue via video rather than email? Does the sales team want to connect more directly with leads? Sales teams can leverage all of this video content for prospecting. Share video content that your colleagues have created, if it’s of value in any way for the client. These assets exist and were made for customers, so you should utilize them if and when the time is right.
16. Video is the Future of Sales Because Consumers Love Video
As I’m sure you’ve noticed online, there are limitless ways to use video for sales and marketing. It’s important to utilize the most important apps like TikTok and Instagram, and to know what kind of content is hot right now. Take note and advantage of trends, challenges, and what’s popular in the moment. Look specifically for viral content that is being remixed and shared often. Follow content creators that make the type of content you find funny or interesting or compelling. Understand what your customers are seeing online and what they are comparing your content to. Read the comments, and even comment and become a part of the community! Know what the community is looking for and what they want.
17. 88% of consumers cite brand videos on social media as part of their decision-making process when purchasing their products.
Think about the last few purchases you’ve made. Did you do any sort of research before making any of them? Did you look up reviews for a restaurant, doctor, veterinarian, hair salon, or more? Most of us do employ a web search or two for some of our purchases. The research above shows that more and more of us are allowing brand-created video to factor into our decision making. 88% is a huge number! Video is definitely something that brands should not overlook or underestimate.
18. The most popular apps make it easy to see that video is more popular than still photos
Video has consistently been on the rise over the last decades, but recent apps have demonstrated and ensured that video is an enormous part of most peoples’ daily lives. Between TikTok, Instagram Reels, Snapchat, and others, most of the content we consume today is video. Instagram, founded upon and once famous for being a place to share still photos, is actively pushing video content over photo content. There’s just no denying that video is reigning supreme, and we know that this trend will continue. Content creators become more creative, cameras get better, videos go viral and are remixed – the content never ends.
19. Mobile is absolutely taking over video consumption - so you should optimize for that
Again, think back to your own experiences. We’ll go with the one above – researching product or service reviews. Did you use your phone to do that? Chances are you did, because most of us use our phones for just about everything. You should plan your video experience accordingly. Optimize viewing for the mobile experience. Better yet, use analytics to find out where most of your traffic is coming from and optimize for that. We are willing to bet it’s mobile. Remember that video is the future of sales and you want to be where your prospects are.
Choose the right tool for your video selling experience. Check out Weet!Hello world!