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? Am I getting a good ROI? Implementing video emails into your outreach is no different.

Note Your KPIs 

To see where you’re going you have to know where you are! What are your most important KPIs and how do they currently look? Knowing this information will allow you to make comparisons between your plain text emails and video emails – it’s the best way to track their effectiveness!

KPIs could include things such as email open rates, click-through rates, response rates and average number of appointments set.

Don’t have a good idea of your KPIs? Finding out your industry benchmarks is a great place to start and they can act as a guide to see how successful your videos generally are.

KPI Dominoes

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. Just like in dominoes, one tile won’t fall before the others ahead of it.

To set more appointments and close more deals you have to send more video emails to get opens, click-throughs and responses. This is what App2Vid empowers you to do and it positively impacts your end results.

Crunching numbers 

Once you have a good sample size* you can reflect on your results by using the following formulas and plugging in the stats provided by your App2Vid 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.

*A recommended sample size would be three months of consistent usage and at least 200 video emails sent. This 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 emails open rate:

• Include a compelling relevant subject line.
• Personalise it with the recipient’s name, company or title.
• Work in the word ‘video’.

“What if my video email open rate is still low?”

• Revamp your subject line and make sure you’re not using spammy words and/or symbols.
• Check your email deliverability score at www.mail-tester.com.
• 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 qualified prospects.

Strategies for increasing video emails click-through rate:

• Include a GIF thumbnail for your video in the body of the email.
• Add a visual to the intro that includes your recipient’s name.
• Include a personal salutation.
• Write a short line 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 prioritise personalised 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 or industries.

Strategies for increasing response rates to video emails:

• Keep your video messages short and get to the point early.
• Personalise the video.
• 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 best practice to do this while they’re engaged and your message is top of their 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, for example, their website, LinkedIn page, an article that features them/their company etc.