When I take my car for a service these days, the garage sends me a video of the car up on the lift with the service technician giving me a quick walkthrough of any findings. It’s an awesome service. Presumably the software to automate the recording and messaging process cost the dealership some money, but the time and effort required for the staff to produce each video must be low, and my guess is that it pays for itself directly. On top of that is the retention of my business: why would I go anywhere else when you get this sort of personalised feedback?
An unrelated company sent an engineer friend of mine a product demonstration video a few weeks ago, but it was one with a difference. The format was a salesperson holding the product and talking to camera, but it started off with them addressing my friend by name. Wow. Was this just a one-off, or did the salesperson make a video for every prospect?
I looked carefully, and it’s noticeable that after the initial introduction, the video cut to a close-up of the product. Of course! The salesperson had just recited personal introductions to all of his prospects in turn, and then had launched into the demonstration. Afterwards, the video’s editor went through and created a personalised video for each recipient just by cutting out all the unwanted introductions. Two snips. Easy. Was it worth the effort, compared to just sending a generic video? They obviously thought so.
Interestingly, the video reinforced its personalisation by ending with the salesperson saying: “If you want me to drop by with more information, you know where I am”. Exactly the sort of thing you’d say to someone who knew you already.
The main point here is that this sort of marketing approach is being used increasingly, and video is just another outlet for it. If you’re not personalising your marketing more in 2020, just remember that your competitors may well be.