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Digital Selling with Video in 2021

The most influential tool for sales success in 2020 was video conferencing. According to Hubspot, “74% of leaders who outperformed targets this year said virtual meetings were “as or more effective than face to face meetings.” In the same article, a spokesman for Zoom assures us that video is 34X as effective! Anyway, we can all agree that video is effective.

More show-and-tell

People involved in the sales process are much more comfortable turning on their webcams than they were a year ago because putting your professional self out there can increase trust. They are using better lighting. They are paying more attention to what’s in the background. In 2021, the most successful presenters will add more show-and-tell — beyond PowerPoint — to the mix.

Anything that moves — video clips, whiteboard scribbling, objects held up to the camera, household pets (used judiciously) — can liven-up a meeting.

Salespeople as content managers

It didn’t take long for “Zoom fatigue” to enter the lexicon in 2020, and there’s no reason to think that people will be eager to take on a heavier schedule of teleconferences in 2021. So, to keep up a schedule of sales nurturing, more content will be needed. Especially if you’re selling to IT, the more information you can offer buyers, the better.

Obviously, video is a great type of content to share, and it’s easy to share short videos on a schedule. Just make sure they communicate valuable information.

Video FAQ galleries

Product pages, especially those for technology solutions, often list features and benefits alongside videos summarizing the same product features and benefits.

A better approach — more browsable for customers and useful for sales communication— would be to create a video explaining each feature/benefit clearly and concisely. They needn’t be expensive or elaborate. Animation is a relatively inexpensive way to break down hard-to-grasp concepts and show what it’s like to use a technical product.

Make video a competitive edge

In 2020, the pandemic forced everyone to use video more frequently in sales. Most companies found that it worked quite well. So 2021 is likely to be a year in which the companies making the most imaginative use of video in sales stand to gain a significant competitive edge.

Bruce McKenzie

A writer with a background in public broadcasting and corporate marketing communications, Bruce McKenzie pioneered the “2-Minute Explainer®” brand video for technology businesses in 2004. Customers have included numerous enterprise technology companies (Cisco, IBM, BMC, Brocade/Broadcom, Software AG, CA Technologies, CompuCom) as well as B2B startups. Rebranded “Technology Business Video” in 2017, the company today produces a variety of “tactical” videos to reach buying team members throughout the sales cycle. We take everything marketers want to say and transform it into short videos that communicate stuff buyers want to know. It’s basically what good writers do, made visual. Visit www.techbizvideo.com to learn more or set up a chat about tactical videos with the Technology Business Video professionals.

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