By now, you’ve heard all kinds of things about virtual selling using video. With many people working from home (at least partially) for the foreseeable future, video is the best way to reach right through prospects’ computer screens and grab their attention.
And if you’re not using video yet…Well, your quota is just a suggestion, right? (Wrong.)
We’ve assembled 25 eye-popping sales statistics to show you what the future of virtual selling will look like, why video is such a core part of the virtual sales process, and how video has propelled sellers just like you from merely surviving to thriving in this brave new world. Ready to learn more? Keep reading.
More of a visual learner? Here’s all 25 stats packed into a single slide deck:
25 Virtual Selling Stats That Prove You Should Be Using Video from Vidyard
Part 1: Peeking into the Future of Virtual Selling
#1: Over 66% of sales pros report their team will stay remote or work in the office part-time in the future. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: If your company has transformed into a hybrid or fully remote work environment, you’re not the exception—you’re the norm. The same is true for your prospects. Many businesses aren’t going back to the office in a full capacity, so you need to rethink all those tactics you used to use back in the days when you could find your prospects at their desks.
#2: 63% of sales leaders say virtual meetings are equally or more effective than in-person meetings. (HubSpot, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Hope you weren’t banking it all on that flawless handshake. Most of your sales calls these days are probably over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, so you need to learn to shine through a digital connection. (Tip: Make everyone’s day easier by turning those synchronous video meetings into asynchronous video round-ups that they can watch at their own pace.)
#3: More than three-quarters of buyers and sellers prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions. (McKinsey, 2020) Tweet This!
What It Means: It turns out that the whole “remote engagement” thing is better for everybody involved. Prospects like it better, and it’s easier for sellers to make inroads. Thus, don’t expect things to go back to the in-person status quo any time soon.
#4: 75% of decision-makers think remote engagement serves customers just as well or better than before the shift to remote. (McKinsey, 2020) Tweet This!
What It Means: Virtual sales really greases up the selling process. Going virtual makes it easier to do things like provide additional context, get together for those milestone sales meetings, and stay connected with your prospects.
#5: 76% of sales leaders believe that remote sales interactions are equally or more effective than traditional in-person engagement when prospecting for new customers. (McKinsey, 2020) Tweet This!
What It Means: Is virtual sales engagement actually better than in-person engagement? A lot of sales authorities say so. Virtual selling isn’t a band-aid fix or a temporary measure—it’s a concrete way for sellers to score better sales results than ever before.
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Part 2: How Many Virtual Sales Pros are Using Video?
#6: 93% more people report using video in customer and sales conversations year over year. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: In just a year’s time, video selling went from a niche tool to a must-have. It became so much more difficult to connect with prospects using traditional means. Video ballooned to fill that gap, helping sellers reach prospects even if they can’t meet in person.
#7: Nearly 50% of sales pros leverage video in their sales process. 53% of reps that aren’t using video plan to do so in the near future. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: With almost half of all sellers already using video for virtual selling (and many more planning on giving it a shot), any sales pros who aren’t on board with video are getting left behind.
#8: 72% of sales pros now use video because they saw or heard about others doing it. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Video is taking off because it’s really working. (See the sales stats in Part 4 for more on that.) As more sellers pick up video as a viable tool, other sellers are seeing its success and adopting it for themselves.
#9: Social media, prospecting conversations, and email are the top three distribution channels for sales videos. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Video is a great fit for all three of these channels. On social media, it grabs your prospect’s attention as they scroll by. In emails, it sets you apart from the hundred other text-based messages in the prospect’s inbox. In prospecting conversations, it builds a personal connection by showing prospects who you really are, instead of just your name, title, and profile photo.
#10: 60% of sales pros define their video recording and editing skills as emerging or proficient. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: While some sellers’ video skills are still rough, many are quickly getting pretty good at video. Whether that’s slick filmmaking or creative video ideas that grab attention, virtual sellers are finding ways to increase the quality of the videos they’re making.
#11: 61% of sales pros send an average of 1 to 5 sales videos per week. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: For many sellers, the sweet spot seems to be around 5 videos per week—using it as a surgical tool rather than a prospecting shotgun blast. However, there’s still tons of room for nascent virtual sellers to grow with video, incorporating it even more deeply into their day-to-day processes.
Part 3: Why Video Makes Sales Prospects Pay Attention
#12: People are 13% more likely to remember details from video emails over text emails. (B2B DecisionLabs, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Our brains retain more information when we actually see something instead of just reading about it. If you really want to impress a point upon your prospects, transmit that information through a video instead of a text email they’ll just skim.
#13: Video email can reduce inbox fatigue and help recipients retain more of the message when compared to text-based email. (B2B DecisionLabs, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Looking at your inbox actually puts you in a negative emotional state. However, watching a video helps reverse that negative effect, leveling out your emotions. Thus, a video email is a great way to break up the monotony of your prospect’s inbox, putting them in an emotional state where they’re more inclined to listen to your pitch.
#14: 58% of viewers watch a business-related video all the way through if it’s less than 60 seconds long. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Sending 10-minute video epics? Don’t. The shorter, the better. Get your message across in a minute or less, and your prospects will be way more likely to watch it through to the end.
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Part 4: Video’s Impact on Virtual Selling
#15: After adding video to emails, ReviewTrackers saw a 22% greater open rate, a 4% larger click rate, and 92% higher reply rate. (JB Sales Group, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Adding video to your emails gets results for marketers and sellers alike. Want prospects to open your emails and send you replies? Trying adding a video.
#16: Over 70% of sales pros report that video email performs better than text-based email. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: It’s increasingly clear that text-only emails are dull, uninspired, and bad at catching attention. Video, on the other hand? Sending one to your prospect makes them sit up and pay attention to what you have to say.
#17: More than 70% of sales pros who leverage video report that it has increased response rates. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: A huge majority of virtual sellers are seeing great success with videos. The stats don’t lie: Receiving a personal video makes prospects more likely to reply.
#18: Over half of sales pros report that hybrid video delivers the highest response rate. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: What’s a hybrid video? It’s a video where you show both your webcam and your recorded screen. Example: Showing something that caught your attention on your prospect’s website or LinkedIn profile, while including your talking head in the corner. It’s a great way to communicate information while flexing your personal charisma, and it’s far better than a faceless voiceover.
#19: 56% of sales pros report that video has helped reduce the need for lengthy emails and chat messages. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: You can pack a lot of information into a video. It’s an easy workaround to long back-and-forths with prospects. Videos are especially powerful for answering FAQs—just record a video answering the most common questions and send it off whenever those questions come up.
#20: Over 50% of sales pros who leverage video report that it has increased their close rates. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Videos are great for connecting with prospects, but they remain just as useful all the way through the sales cycle. It’s like a personal, almost-face-to-face check-in at every stage of the process, instead of just a brief, emotionless email.
#21: Nearly 60% of sales pros who use video report that it has increased their productivity. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Recording videos can seem intimidating, but once sellers get their technique down, they can produce and send off videos just as quickly as (or maybe even faster than) writing an email or making a sales call.
#22: 48% of sales pros say custom-recorded videos shorten their deal cycle. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Videos show your sincerity, demonstrate what makes your product different, and cement trust. People are more inclined to buy from people they know and trust, and video is a shortcut to establishing that familiarity ASAP.
#23: Nearly 90% of sales professionals report the importance of accessing video viewing data to qualify leads, engage prospects, or influence deals. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: If you’re just sending a video and hoping for the best, you’re not even remotely getting the most benefit out of video for virtual selling. Invest in tools (like Vidyard) that let you see who watches your videos and how engaged they are, helping you follow up with the right prospects and deals.
#24: Sales pros who always or often achieve their quota are more likely to report that adding video to their sales process has made them more efficient. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Virtual sellers who more often hit quota make more use of video, and that’s no coincidence. Video helps them make better use of their time, and is a big factor in many sellers’ success.
#25: Two-thirds of sales pros report they’re satisfied with their use of video. (Vidyard, 2021) Tweet This!
What It Means: Virtual selling experts spill a lot of ink extolling the virtues of video for sales, and for good reason—video really does work! It’s a key tool for any virtual seller trying to make it in this wild new world of sales. The sooner you get on board, the sooner you’ll start seeing the same results.
Kickstart Your Virtual Selling Strategy
Feeling enlightened? We hope that these virtual sales statistics spark some ideas for bold new selling ideas.
The stats tell the story—video is incredibly effective as part of your virtual selling strategy. Want to start exploring video for yourself? Sign up for Vidyard and take advantage of the free video creation and sharing tools that thousands of sales pros already love.
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