Debunking the 5 Most Persistent Myths about Video for Sales

Video is making an impact in every industry. It has been weaving its way into the sales process for years.

Marketers have largely embraced video for its proven ROI benefits:

  • Landing pages featuring videos conversion rates by up to 80%.
  • Social media posts with video have 48% more views.
  • Adding video to your  marketing emails can increase click through rates by 300%.

Sales professionals, on the other hand, often remain skeptical.

But video has already earned its place in the sales process. 21% of B2B sales professionals already use video to solve business problems and simplify decision making.

 

Online video has provided a four-fold increase in sales opportunities for HubSpot. It carries the same potential for B2B vendors in every industry. Yet many B2B sales professionals still aren’t buying in.

 

 

man looking at mobile

 

It turns out that there are five major arguments video naysayers commonly use. These arguments aren’t nearly as rock solid as they might appear to be at first glance:

1. Video content Is too expensive to produce

Big-budget Hollywood movies are expensive. Super Bowl commercials are expensive. Your B2B sales videos don’t have to be.

Many sales professionals believe that video content has to be perfect. They imagine spending thousands of dollars and hours of time polishing every minor detail in order to get a tiny revenue boost.

Nothing could be further than the truth. Video’s ability to capture nuance and personality makes it the perfect format for accentuating the very things perfectionists try to hide.

Honest, authentic video content does not need to be expensive. Don’t get bogged down by the idea of over-producing every piece of content you put up.

 

An unpolished, conversational video featuring a relatable human being can do more for your brand than a huge Hollywood-style production.

 

You can even make one right now. RecTrace is a free extension that creates screenshare streaming videos directly in Google Chrome.

 

earphones black guy

2. Video content requires hiring new talent

This often goes hand-in-hand with myth number one. Sales professionals who assume that every piece of video content has to look like a blockbuster movie also assume they have to hire blockbuster talent and a production team to make it happen.

In reality, the vast majority of successful B2B sales video campaigns are made by technical amateurs. Modern technology has made marketing and sales video production cheaper and more intuitive than ever before.

This is because it’s not the video that makes the sale – it’s the salesperson. Video is just an incredibly engaging way to connect audiences to salespeople. There’s no need for special effects or complex post-production tricks.

 

Shooting a quick thank-you video for new customers is actually simpler and less time-consuming than writing out emails. It’s easier to automate, too.

 

Even if you do need cheap video production services for a sales campaign, you don’t need to hire new employees. Freelance video professionals will help you achieve your goals for a fraction of the price of hiring a full-time employee.

 

finger computer

3. Video conversions can’t be tracked

Oh yes they can. Modern video hosting platforms can and do track viewer data. Sales teams with an eye for analysis can quickly see which videos perform best and why.

Sales videos can generate a great deal of data when used with the right video hosting platform. Video engagement rates can tell you exactly where customers are dropping off. This gives you the data you need to optimize your content for conversion.

The more your marketing strategy and subsequent sales processes rely on video, the better your user insights will be. You can find out which videos perform the best on certain customer segments.

 

You can identify the best sales videos for email campaigns. You can even find out which leads are re-watching specific videos and then reach out to them.

 

These are all powerful advantages for any sales professional to leverage. Your video content gallery can become an important tool in your overall sales campaign.

 

man waves

4. Only actors should be on camera

We’re bombarded with high-fidelity and high quality video content featuring professional actors every day. It’s natural to assume that if you’re going to be on camera, you should have some of the skills they do.

And although it certainly helps, acting talent is by no means a dealbreaker. Acting is necessary when you are playing a role on-screen. If you are simply being yourself, there is no need to act. You’re already there!

Comparing your B2B sales video campaign to the latest Netflix hit series people watch can be discouraging. But the fact remains: they are two fundamentally different things.

 

Your video content doesn’t have to be entertaining or artistic. It doesn’t even really have to be all that creative. It just has to be authentic and engaging – the way a good conversation is.

 

Any sales professional who can hold a good conversation already has what it takes to succeed with B2B video sales.

 

man looking at mobile

5. Our industry doesn’t take video seriously

We get it. Most of the organizations embracing video today have a pretty specific company culture. They tend to be younger, more laid-back, and less formal than the status quo.

But that’s true of early-adopters of every kind, in every industry. The fact is that video is quickly becoming more than a quirky medium for plucky startups. It is becoming its own cultural institution, like pager-beeps and faxes used to be.

 

No industry is too white-collar for video content. It is transforming communication in the financial services industry. It’s changing public messaging from government institutions. It’s revolutionizing education, healthcare, audit and consulting firms – you name it.

 

If you really are the first person in your industry to implement video in the sales process, that’s a competitive advantage. It’s going to position your organization as a forward-thinking innovator who embraces technological and cultural change – instead of being left behind by it.

Emerson Swan increases sales with Cincopa

This leading manufacturer leverages Cincopa's video weapons
Read the customer story!

Want to start really using video for sales?

Leverage RecTrace to smash those quotes!
Learn more!

Originally published on September 11th, 2023, updated on January 20th, 2024
The Blog

Debunking the 5 Most Persistent Myths about Video for Sales

by Austin Jesse Mitchell time to read: 4 min
0