It’s that time of year where people are off doing their holiday shopping, meeting up with old friends, making cookies, or doing other things to experience the holiday cheer. The week leading up to Christmas is the most traveled in December, and let’s face it, it’s a difficult month to keep in touch with your customers and prospects. That’s why we’ve dedicated this blog post to equip you with the tools you need to keep in touch as both you and your prospects try to create a work/life balance during the holidays.
Video is a powerful and engaging way to interact with people who don’t have the time or means to meet in person. And, if you do it right, it can be just as engaging as meeting in person. Using video as a follow-up or simply checking in can be a key strategy to building relationships with your customers and prospects this month.
To give you an idea of different ways you can engage with your customers and prospects, here are three different ways to use video to reach out to customers and prospects virtually.
1. Interactive Video
With interactive video, distributors can reach out in a personal way to help their business grow throughout the holiday season. You can use interactive videos in conjunction with other marketing strategies such as email campaigns or text messaging. Not only that, but Interactive Video Marketing offers some advantages for distributors: it's easy to set up and manage and has high return rates. When used properly, Interactive Video Marketing can make an impactful difference in your bottom line this holiday season!
When it comes to video marketing, 43% of people prefer interactive video to static video because it gives the viewer the power to see what they’re most interested in. With an interactive video, you can send a personalized video to someone who needs a follow-up and invite them to view attachments through customizable interactions. They can watch the video on their own time, and depending on the software you use, you can see what interactions they clicked on. Interactive videos are a great way to get around asynchronous meetings as you both participate in the interaction.
Even better, you can send an interactive video to other distributors to check in with them and see how they’re faring with their clients. Overall, interactive video is the perfect way to stay connected with those who don’t have aligning schedules.
2. Live Video
You can use live video to connect with your customers in several different ways. You do not need to be a professional video producer to make an engaging live video that your customers will enjoy watching. In fact, we’ve found that people appreciate it when creators are real behind the camera. Customers want genuine messaging, the ability to trust a brand and create a personal connection with their customers. The joys of live video come from feeling like you’re a part of a group, not just coming as a bystander.
With live video, you can engage with your customers in real-time, and they have an opportunity to ask questions and get answers right away. You can also send them content to look at and give any additional information. And hey, it’s the holidays. Might as well sprinkle in some extra holiday cheer in a creative way.
3. verbMAIL
verbMAIL is new to the Verb platform, but we’ve already received positive reviews from customers and employees who enjoy the convenience of sending an interactive video email right in their Outlook account. verbMAIL allows you to embed interactions so you can invite viewers to schedule a demo, view a product listing, open a PDF, connect via, and more, all without leaving the video. And you don’t need to use verbMAIL just for business purposes, you can also use it to simply connect, wish your prospects well, and initiate that personable interaction to keep up your relationship with them. Virtual holiday cards, anyone?
With that said, it’s important to consider some of the best practices for connecting with customers over the holidays. Connecting with them is a customer retention strategy, but it’s also a way to express gratitude and appreciation for them and the ways they impact both you and your company. Here are our top three best practices for accomplishing that this season:
- Keep it short 🎄. Whether it’s a video or a message, make sure your messages are quick and to the point. You want your audience to think that your message was thoughtful and kind. You wouldn’t want your message to get added to their list of to-dos because it was longer than something they could quickly look through.
- Tone down the sales talk 🎅🏼. Your message is about wishing them well this holiday season, not a last-minute sales pitch before the new year. Instead, asking them what your company can do for them during the holidays is a nice touch.
- Personalize the greeting ☃️. Your customers love to know that you’re thinking of them specifically, not sending out something generic for the masses to sift through. Regardless of how you deliver your message, mentioning your customers’ names can make an impact.
Connecting with prospects and customers throughout the holiday season means you can use the New Year as an initiative to move the sales process along with your prospects or offer deals to your existing customers. Whatever route you choose to connect with your customers throughout the holidays, know it will improve your sales outlook in the coming months!
The holiday season is a great time to reach out and make connections with your customers, prospects, and leadership team. One way you can do this is through interactive video both live-streamed or prerecorded. These strategies will help improve customer relationships and accelerate your business towards the new year.
Here at Verb, we’re happy to help in any way we can (it is the season of giving after all). Verb offers interactive video, live, and verbMAIL to improve your customer outreach this holiday season. Reach out for a demo today!
About the author:
Wife, supermom, foodie, and talented critic, Heather Hanson, is a skilled veteran in copywriting, editing, creative writing, and social media outreach. She brings a lot to the table with Verb and has been recognized by our company as our National Treasure