email Archives

Tips for Better Open and Click-Through Rates using OneMob

September 30, 2020September 30, 2020 Rob Richute

Getting a hold of your customer’s attention is hard. It doesn’t help that average email open rates are low and email click-through rates are even lower. Fear not, email is still an effective way to reach your audience so I put together some tips and features you can use in OneMob to help increase those open and click-through rates.

Subject Lines

Every article you read about email open rates is going to tell you all about subject lines. Unfortunately, there is no perfect subject line to insert into every email you send that will up your open rate to 100%. At OneMob we’ve noticed that personalized subject lines tend to be opened more. When sending an email directly from OneMob try adding a mail merge field to bring your customer’s name or company into your subject line automatically. In addition, if you can backward engineer your subject line to solve a potential customer business problem or pose a question that your customer would be interested in hearing the answer to you’ll more than likely see your open rates improve.

Looking for more suggestions? Take a look at some of these articles.

Add a Watermark

OneMob allows users to add watermarks to their videos. Watermarks are like a branded sticker that goes on your video. Watermarks are usually seen in your thumbnail which is the image that your recipient will see in their email. Adding a watermark with a company logo or branding can improve click through rates and give your recipients the confidence to click on your link knowing it will not be a malicious link. In addition, instead of using your company’s logo as a watermark try making a customized video and using your customers logo as a watermark. When they see their recognizable logo on your video it will be hard for them to ignore getting the rest of your customized message.

Learn how to add a watermark to your video here.

Green Screen Images

Using a green screen to add a video or image to your OneMob videos is a great way to increase your click through rate. Try including an image of your customers building or job site or even add a video of your customers commercial or YouTube video behind you. Adding these familiar elements to your video will peak your customers interest to watch the entire message. Just make sure your thumbnail looks great so your audience can see what is behind you.

Learn all about OneMob Green Screening here.

Add Text to your video and animate your thumbnail

If you are recording using OneMob’s mobile applications on iPhone and Android you have the ability to add text on top of your video. Try adding some text with your customer’s name, company name, or even a call to action that will prompt your audience to click through to your page. If you save your video to mobile drafts you will have the ability to customize that text every time you send it out. So you can have one generic video that you use over and over again but your customers think it’s customized to them because of the customized text you add to the video before sending.

See how to leverage mobile drafts to re-use a video and edit the text on the video.

OneMob also recently added the ability to give your thumbnails a little more life by turning them into animated thumbnails.

See how to switch to an animated thumbnail here.

Add a video to your email sequence

OneMob has integrations with XANT, SalesLoft and Outreach IO. If you use these email platforms OneMob’s integration makes it very simple to drop a OneMob video and page into an email cadence or sequence.

Check out these video tips from SalesLoft.

Email isn’t working? Well….DON’T SEND AN EMAIL!

OneMob links can be added to text messages. Thanks to our friends at ZipWhip we know that “Nearly 98% of texts are read, usually in as little as 90 seconds.” That is NOT a typo, 98%! What are you waiting for? Create a link in OneMob and start texting away.

Not ready to plunge into the world of text messaging just yet? Why not try sending a direct message via LinkedIn? OneMob’s LinkedIn integration allows you to slide into someones DM’s….IN STYLE. Include a personalized video to create a warm connection with a new contact or send a video to a customer you haven’t heard from in a while.

See how to drop a OneMob video into a Linkedin Private Message here.

Looking for more email tips? Check out this page with tips from Vengreso, SalesLoft, and Dave Kurlan.

Download Now- OneMob for Outlook is here!

February 26, 2016February 26, 2016 Sati Hillyer

Outlook users, we have good news for you! OneMob for Microsoft Outlook 365 and Outlook Client 2013 and 2016 is available now.

With the OneMob for Outlook app, you can access all your saved video and voice messages right inside Outlook and easily embed them in your email messages. For real-time tracking, select which Salesforce Lead(s) and Contact(s) you want to email and you’ll get real-time notifications when your video is played and responded to. The best part? It’s all automatically tracked back in Salesforce.

To download OneMob for Outlook, visit the Office Store. If you need more help with installation, visit our support page. Happy video messaging!

Watch Me OneMob – Pt. 3, Email, Social & Beyond

December 17, 2015February 10, 2016 Sati Hillyer

You know how OneMob helps you engage with prospects and keep up with customers. But did you know how video can enhance your everyday email communication, social media presence and more? Check out our tips below to easily make video a part of your everyday.

Over Email

Give your text-based emails a much needed facelift.

Signature line: Whether you include your own message or your company’s latest marketing video, a video thumbnail image below your name drives more engagement.
Auto reply: If you’re out of office, let your contacts know when you’ll be back and how to reach you. If you’re out for the holidays
Adding a new person to a thread: Eliminate any confusion by introducing new characters to the conversation.

On Social Media

Become the ultimate social seller.

Twitter: Whether it’s one to one or one to many, express yourself beyond 140 characters.
LinkedIn profile: Let your connections meet the real you with an intro to yourself and projects you’ve accomplished.
LinkedIn InMail: Not a contact in SFDC? No problem. Link a video in your message to make a warm introduction.
Facebook and Blog: Have your own blog or page? Stand out as your own thought leader by creating your own video and viewing experience.

Everywhere Else

When you realize how easy and fun it is, you’ll be looking for excuses to use it.

Invitations: Drive registration with personal invitations to your next summit or show.
On the floor: Capture the moment at trade shows and events.
Hiring: Connect with potential candidates.
Training: Reps can practice their sales pitch or customer request responses for managers to assess progress and provide training.
Internal messaging: Make announcements from leadership, send updates to teams, add to your monthly newsletter or
Marketing: This one’s a no brainer. Adding visual content to your campaigns increases opens, engagement and conversions.

For more examples of how you can use video, check out our Ideas Gallery below. Or, contact us to start using video with OneMob today.

The Anatomy of the Perfect Prospecting Email

December 11, 2015December 14, 2015 Sati Hillyer

The ability to deliver an effective email is critical in today’s selling scene. Phone calls are proving ineffective, taking an average of 22.5 dials before meaningful contact is made. The voicemail is on it way out too, with companies such as Coca-Cola and JP Morgan eliminating it from their communication entirely. This tells us that connecting through email is more important than ever. But thanks to marketing automation, buyers are being inundated with hundreds of emails a day. And although it’s tempting to spray and pray, we all know that method is ineffective. It’s not sending emails, whether it be 10 or 100, that matters. What matters is getting a response- and a meaningful one at that. Because if you can start a conversation, you’ve successfully broken through, meaning your chance of closing that deal increase exponentially.

As we’ve said before, if you’re unable to break through the noise, your emails are being ignored. And if you’re going to stand a chance, you need to be different and offer real value. So how? Incorporating video into your email outreach is the solution, but there’s more too it than throwing a YouTube link in the body of an existing email template. We’re here to help you get started by building the perfect prospecting email- from subject to signature line.

Subject Line

Shorter email subject lines directly correlate to an increase in open rates, with six to ten-liners finding the most success. This is tied to mobile, since more than half of emails are read on mobile devices. Most mobile screens and email service providers such as Gmail and Outlook only display the first four to seven words of the subject on mobile, so keep it short and sweet.

Include the words Videomail, Video Message, or just Video and the recipient’s first name in your subject. This will catch your recipient’s attention and help you stand out from the 100+ emails that land in their inbox every day- because emails with personalized subject lines are 22.2% more likely to be opened. Here are a few examples:

Personal Videomail for John
New Video Message for Heather
[Video] Salesforce/OneMob Meeting Recap

Email Body

When using video, keep the text portion of your email body brief as well. Use this space to initiate the conversation and lead into your video. Whether you’re breaking in or following up after a cold call, remind prospects why it’s worth their time to speak to you. The body should lead the recipient to watch the video, driving more watches and getting your message both seen and heard. No need to repeat the content of the text and video twice. Keep it down to 1-3 lines, then let your video do the talking- literally.

Video Content

Your video should obviously be the star of your email. If it’s your first break in attempt, then all the more important to make a good first impression. There are 3 key things to include in your video- the introduction, trigger event and call to action. What’s the reason for contacting them? Did they download a piece of your content? Were you referred to them? Or did you notice a certain commonality? The real engagement comes from your call to action. With OneMob’s built in response form right on the Engagement Page, you can tell your recipient where to reply to you or set up a time to talk if they want to continue the conversation. For prospecting new leads, keep the video around 30 seconds. Once you’ve engaged, length can go into 60 seconds with more detail

What Next?

When you send a video through the OneMob platform, you’ll know who opens, watches and responds to your videos. With all this information tracked in your Salesforce account, you’ll gain actionable insights to help you determine the next steps in pursuing your prospect. You’ll also be able to tell which type of videos drive the best results for you- whether they be personal or product focused. Remember that the goal is quality, not quantity. With OneMob, our aim is to help you deliver a unique email experience to your prospects, and in turn receive quality responses that ultimately lead to quicker closed deals and increased revenue. To learn more and start engaging your prospects through video, sign up for a free trial.

Get it – The New Gmail Plugin

November 24, 2015February 10, 2016 Sati Hillyer

We’re all about giving you choices here at OneMob. Whether it’s in-app, through Salesforce, on social or by email, we let you send your videos however you like. With the addition of our new Gmail plugin, you can send videos to any of your SFDC leads and contacts directly from your Gmail account.

Using other plugins and extensions? No problem. Add videos to your favorite templates and send as usual, with all the viewing activity written back to your Salesforce account.

To start sending your videos through Gmail, download our plugin from the Google Chrome store. Happy video messaging!

Did You Know? Adding OneMob to Email Signatures

November 20, 2015February 9, 2016 Sati Hillyer

If you think video messaging is just a sales tool, think again. With a little thought and creativity, the possibilities for implementing video in your everyday business applications are endless. Thankfully, we’ve done all the brainstorming for you. Each week, we’ll bring you fresh ideas on how you can use OneMob everyday, in every way. First up: how incorporating a video improves your email signature.

For most, email is the main method of workplace communication. Given its high volume and wide reach, there’s a lot of opportunity for sharing content and increasing brand awareness. Opportunity also lies beyond the message of the email body itself. Maybe the phrase “email signature marketing” rings a bell. You may choose to promote your company’s website, blog, social media channels, upcoming events, new marketing offers, product demo, free consultations, etc. Without making your email signature longer than your actual email message, video is an unexpected but effective medium to share something extra. It’s also beneficial for you as a professional. Adding a video thumbnail makes your signature more attractive and personal, allowing you to really introduce yourself. Most importantly, video helps increase engagement, drive opportunities and promote brand awareness. With OneMob, you have the ability to track this activity, with all the analytics written back to your Salesforce accounts.

Make the most of all your digital communications with a personal touch, even in your signature line. To learn how you can link your OneMobs to your email signature, see our support page.

“After the Beep, Shoot Me an Email”

November 17, 2015February 9, 2016 Sati Hillyer

Cold calling. You’ve done it a million times, and will probably do so a million more. But we keep hearing same the questions pop up in trending sales discussions and articles everywhere. Is it effective or is it outdated? Will we ever move away from it? Is there a better method? A practice endangered to extinction, social sellers everywhere are pronouncing cold calling nearly dead. With so much back and forth, what’s a salesperson to do? The answer isn’t to stop cold calling- it’s to stop leaving voicemails.

The Challenge

As every salesperson knows, making initial contact is the hardest part. Picking up the phone has long been the first step in this process. If someone answers your call, great. But when you’re sent straight to voicemail, that’s where things start to go downhill. It used to take about three to four calls to reach a prospect. Given our increased mobility and new modes of communication, the number of attempts has doubled. On average, less than 1% of calls get returned and less than 2% of those calls result in booked meetings. So what does this mean? It means that there’s a fundamental hole in the way sales teams are reaching out to prospects.

Communication is Broken

Simply put, leaving voicemails is no longer very effective. We’ve all been in the situation where, upon seeing a missed call and voicemail from a friend or relative, you choose to call back without listening to the message. “Did you get my message?” they ask. “No,” you reply, “but I saw that you called.” Unfortunately, the business world doesn’t operate in the same way, and your prospect is not going to call you right back. According to Business Insider only 33% of people listen to voicemails from business contacts daily, and only 18% listen to voicemails from numbers they don’t recognize. Meaning, four out of five of your cold voicemails aren’t even being played. I’m not suggesting that you put down the phone indefinitely. Real-time verbal communication is absolutely essential. But when you do get sent to voicemail dungeon, you need to be more strategic with your follow up.

Resolution

As evidenced by text and email, much of our communication has evolved from verbal to visual. InsideSales reported that the top three forms of messaging that people respond to are email, office phone calls and cell phone calls. Clearly, people are choosing their email inboxes over their voicemail boxes. But even those are becoming inundated with mass amounts of generic messaging. As text becomes less compelling, what is the next medium that will catch, and hold, our attention?

It’s time to take a step back and re-examine our methods. Don’t let an unreturned voicemail slow down your sales cycle. Following up with email is still more effective, but even those can get lost in the mix. So how can you ensure your emails are not only being read, but eliciting more and higher quality responses?

Personalize Your Outreach

Putting a face to a name goes a long way. When someone sees a smile and hears a voice, a sense of trust and a layer of objectivity is established around that individual and their context. Not like in an email, where a text-based barrier makes it difficult to accurately express yourself in letters, fonts and whitespace. And more often than not, your messages are being misinterpreted. With video, this is unmistakable. You’re essentially unmasking yourself and gaining more credibility with your viewers. People don’t want to be sold to. Buyers want to be engaged on their own time, in a new way that’s more dynamic, less about products and more about their business application. They’ve gathered enough information on their own to form an educated opinion. What they need is an expert, trusted advisor and source of guidance. So how are you going to elevate yourself, get more attention and receive more responses? By personalizing your outreach.

Thankfully, we live in an age where new tools and technologies are making communication easier, more engaging and enjoyable. Video messaging allows people to record, send, watch and reply to each other whenever and wherever it’s convenient for them. Technology has advanced enough to the point where we’re not limited to recording videos on our webcams and uploading them to YouTube. Nor are we required to own expensive DSLRs to record high-quality videos. Look no further than to your smartphones. You use it every day, in x amount of ways. The practice of moving the phone from the ear to the front of the face is becoming less of a novelty, and more of a norm.

At OneMob, we practice what we preach. By incorporating video into our email outreach, we’ve seen increases in our open rates, click-through rates and higher quality responses. See how our customers are getting results with video messaging and contact us to learn more.

Send Emails that People will Actually Want to Open (and Watch!)

October 29, 2015February 9, 2016 Sati Hillyer

Can you remember the last email that stood out to you? Given that we receive so many emails that are solicitous, transactional and dry, it’s hard to recall. As any professional, this is the last way you want your messaging to come across. Luckily, there are ways to rise above the rest. Taking a few minutes to spice up your emails has proven to make a big difference. The numbers don’t lie- personalised emails deliver 50% higher open rates and 22% higher reply rates. Here are some themes to keep in mind that will make people remember, reopen and refer on your emails

Be Straight

Cut to the chase. Our attention spans are short, so you have a limited amount of words and time to catch and keep someone’s attention. A simple message, without too many ideas and directions, is the easiest to remember.

Make them Unexpected

People expect lame emails and pitches. What they don’t expect is a sharp subject line, a funny GIF or a dynamic video- and those are what stick out. Be counter-intuitive and send something unexpected.

Stay Authentic

Forget the technical jargon, product features and bulleted statistics. Images and videos bring an email to life and encourage engagement. Visual content is substantial, and can translate an idea or experience instantly into a memorable and meaningful concept.

Establish Trust

With consistency comes credibility. Sending current and relevant content on a regular basis builds up your integrity with customers, and will make them more likely to pay attention to and engage with your content.

Evoke emotions

A successful company doesn’t just sell a product, they sell an experience. In the B2B space, it’s buying into relationships as well, which are formed through discovering mutual commonalities and connections and take time to nurture. It’s not enough to communicate and engage through text. Step up your messaging with engaging content in a dynamic format that will truly resonate.

Tell a Story

Relating to my previous point, emotional appeals increase engagement and build rapport. Creating a narrative around your brand captures these emotions and experiences, and takes your viewer on a journey. Make your story about the customer and tailor the information to the individual. This will encourage not only reaction, but action as well.

There are many mediums out there that can capture these ideas, but only one is capable of embodying all five- and it’s video. Video puts a live face to the name, connects sounds and visuals to the story and triggers emotional reactions through the senses. A dynamic video will inform and engage your audience, keeping relationships strong through the entire customer lifecycle. It doesn’t require a lot of time or resources either. There are a number of video platforms that you could choose as your host, but only OneMob gives you the tracking, analytics and freedom of mobility. For tips on how to improve your emails and examples of video use cases, check out our support page.

Video Messaging – the New Kid on the Block

October 27, 2015November 12, 2015 Sati Hillyer

If the rumors are true, then Sales Enablement 3.0 is upon us, and this puts us sales and tech professionals at yet another split in the road: to continue down the current path with our social selling and email tracking, or take a slight left at the bend and see what new concepts have surfaced.

If you’ve had your ear to the ground lately, you’d agree we’re moving towards heavier sales automation, predictive sales intelligence and video messaging. Given sales automation is the most established, and sales intelligence is difficult enough for the wisest and most experienced — take a go with video messaging.

Primarily, we need to understand what video messaging is to the B2B space and then what value it provides to sales messaging and pipeline generation.

What is it?

In its simple elegance, video messaging is recording and sending sales and marketing messaging via email. Sending video in B2B sales, as prospects have told me, is a novel concept. The goal is to create a video for your audience, whether it’s to set a new meeting to a specific person or to promote awareness for your event/cause to a broader audience.

How does it work?

There are a small handful of video messaging platforms for recording and sending video messages. Features and quality vary, including CRM integrations, mobile apps, corporate branding and even DNS set-up for the enterprise crowd. With OneMob you can have all of these features, plus the technology for a recording and sending solution that is both trackable and scalable.

Why would I do such a thing?

1) Video thumbnails deliver the highest CTRs

This is where message differentiation comes into play. The majority of buyers already think you and your competition are more-or-less the same (via The Challenger Sale). If your messaging looks alike, then they’re ignoring your email all the same. That being said, there’s no better means of driving high CTRs than a video thumbnail (MarketingProfs). So if you need your initial message to be received, include a video. This is a personal, digital approach and is best for top tier accounts. Since great sales people take the time to know their audience and tailor their message, do yourself the favor and give your great messaging the best odds of being seen.

2) It doesn’t get more personalized or trustworthy

Sales automation has made sales people seem like robots. There’s minimal room for personalization, so most emails look the same at first glance. Seeing a smiling face, a company logo, plus physically hearing and seeing the sales person carries weight — the type of weight sales people long to replicate via their rare and invaluable face-to-face meetings. If I had a dollar for every time a prospect noted I’m “the guy with a beard from the video” as we began our first meeting, I’d have enough dollars for Chipotle for me and a friend, plus guac.

Keeping in Mind…

Video is an additional outlet to phone calls and emails that go hand-in-hand with any sales position. In a time where sales automation is becoming bigger than ever, video is pitching value via a wider and more consistent net. While phone and email aren’t going away anytime soon, video is looking to be the next accepted addition, creating the Big Three in foundational sales outreach. So, while the sales effectiveness space is preaching volume, video is singing personal touch.

About the Author: Devin Reed is the newest member to the Sales team at OneMob as a Sr. Account Executive and author of The Reeder. Having spent his career in technology sales, specifically on ROI-focused software selling at the executive level, he credits audience analysis as the success of his outreach, along with overcoming the fear of clicking “Send” on those not-so-ordinary emails to top executives.

Social Selling in 5 Minutes

October 20, 2015February 9, 2016 Sati Hillyer

In the first of a three-part series, OneMob Sr. Account Executive, Devin Reed, shares his philosophy and methodology for sales communications. Here are his tips for making the most of social selling.

“Break through the noise” is the newest catchphrase in sales departments. But while sales leaders tell you to make your messaging standout, what they really mean is get creative. The desire to have a unique approach has become a need to have rather than a nice to have. Why?Buyers have more options than ever, and are being flooded with more attempts to grab their attention than they can honestly handle. So it’s up to you, the seller, to get crafty. And that’s where social selling comes in.

Social selling is much simpler than its reputation portrays. With all the LinkedIn training available, plus the numerous 3rd party social selling companies offering training, mastering this new communication strategy can seem overwhelming. And while it’s becoming the newest, and nearly expected, form of literacy within Sales organizations as it gains traction — it doesn’t take long to become effective — nor does it require knowing the full product suite of LinkedIn.

Here’s my definition: social selling is finding actionable information related to a prospect and/or company that is relevant to your value proposition, and most importantly, initiates and accelerates engagement while building rapport. It’s that simple.

In my opinion, the end goal of a “social selling touch” is to (1) set a new meeting,(2) be referred to the person you wish to contact, or (3) build credibility — in no particular order. The key to being effective is not always getting exactly what you want when you want it, but any response, for even a quick “no” saves time and money for any sales professional. I’ll break them down a bit further:

1) Setting a new meeting — this one is most obvious. It’s what sales reps live for and what sales leaders love seeing (and hearing). First, or Net New, meetings are the lifeblood of every hunter’s pipeline and the foundation of success for every closer.

2) Reaching your ideal contact — There’s no shame in asking who the right person is, though some would argue you should already know via LinkedIn. But if your product needs that special someone — the person in charge of webinars, evaluating sales enablement tools, or putting pen to paper for every key purchase — it helps to triangulate that person to ensure your outreach is landing on that ideal contact.

3) Building credibility — I loop this in with “accelerating deals” because it’s an outcome of becoming credible in the eyes of your buyer. If you see a prospect post an article, give it a quick read and comment to let them know that not only did you read and enjoy their post, but you’re smart enough to give some insight into how it pertains to them. The more they trust you, the faster they’ll move, and they less they’ll push back since they’ll view you as a consultant.

The Tools for Social Selling

First is LinkedIn. If you don’t have their Sales Navigator, get it. It’s the base for all my social selling. It’s a fantastic software and the best for locating target prospects, but it really only tells us what they’re current responsibilities are in their current/past roles, shared connections and their collegiate alma mater. It tells us who to contact but rarely how to engage. It provides relative topics and talking points regarding their interests and focuses that can be leveraged to initiate a conversation, and hopefully, a two-way relationship.

Next up is Twitter, my personal favorite. This is a great tool to use in addition to LinkedIn , since most peoples’ Twitter feeds are loaded with both professional and personal posts. This could range from their company’s new product offering, updates and events, to their opinions, interest and hobbies. These are the best feeds of information as an outsider looking in and should be treated as such. Take time here to find relevant information, creatively tie it into your ask, then make your outreach entertaining to read and relevant to them. This is how we come full circle, combining our foundational LinkedIn information to more useful and personal content from our prospect.

Lastly, we have content. This isn’t so much a specific “tool” so much as an aid, per se. This is why we reached out. This might be their personal blog, an interview they’re mentioned in, an article featuring them, or simply something that you know pertains to them. It’s a win-win because you’re always in the know about current events in your space, and you get to leverage this knowledge for your own benefit.

images-3

Between LinkedIn, Twitter, and relevant content, the rest is up to you. Use your personal flavor to come full circle with a detailed and personal message. Deliver a message that can’t be ignored. Basically, be the the cool rep, the prepared rep that’s hard to say “no” to. Before long, you’ll find your responses will be more frequent and with a tone of sincerity not commonly offered over the first exchange.

Lastly, be weary of when you turn on the “sell” switch and start pitching directly. The fastest way to become a corporate social leper is to blatantly pitch your product prior to your audience’s consent. Social forums like LinkedIn (not including InMail), Twitter feeds and comment sections for articles are not the places to deliver your value prop. Instead, offer relatively unbiased opinions or thought leadership that justify your ask for their time and attention.