How Igloo Boosted Email CTR by 189%: 3 Tips for Engaging Customers With Video

Video is changing how we do business. At Igloo Software, we wanted to make video a priority, so we could boost employee engagement and build stronger customer relationships. Here’s how we went from zero to more than 200 videos in just 90 days.

Using Video to Increase Employee and Customer Engagement

As the leading provider of digital workplace solutions, Igloo Software is growing rapidly.

The more our development team makes strides with our product, the more opportunities we have to communicate our value.

For example, we pride ourselves on our amazing service, but we can always do more to boost customer engagement and further solidify our leadership position in the industry. We saw a huge opportunity to use video to help both our customers and our employees succeed.

Why Video Matters

Video is shaking up the marketing world.

Last year, consumers viewed 20+ billion videos per day on Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube alone. Since video is so ingrained in our lives as consumers, we now expect it from both consumer and B2B brands.

While we recognized the growing importance of video, we needed help getting started. 

A Local, Kitchener-Waterloo Partnership

When we decided to purchase a video management platform, Vidyard was a natural fit.

Vidyard’s office is located across the street from us in Kitchener-Waterloo, the unofficial tech capital of Canada. I felt that working with them would make a great local partnership. I met one of my Vidyard friends for coffee, and we discussed how both of our companies see video as a progressive business tactic. I saw that Vidyard would keep us on the cutting edge as we grew our company. 

When it came to features, I appreciated that Vidyard is easy to use. I knew that we wouldn’t drive adoption unless our team could quickly create videos. Plus, Vidyard made it easy to centralize the management of our existing video assets.

It was clear that Vidyard could help us boost engagement with our prospects, customers, and employees. 

Giving Customers a Better Experience

Vidyard has allowed us to improve our customer experience. 

For example, sales reps use video to introduce customers to their success teams. These videos smooth the transition between Sales and Customer Success and let people put faces to names.

We also occasionally send customers videos when they reach milestones, such as their Igloo anniversary. Our employees get together to congratulate them personally. These videos are a lot of fun and show customers that we care.

Our Customer Success team also uses Vidyard’s screencasting feature to give demos and help customers achieve more value from our software. 

Boosting Employee Engagement 

The Igloo office has expanded, and we now have separate floors with employees spread throughout the building and working remotely. While expansion is exciting, it can create communication challenges for any business. 

Vidyard has given us a visual connection as we grow. For example, we occasionally make video blogs to share information and project updates internally. The videos are more compelling than lengthy, internal memos that people might not have the time to read.  

We also have a monthly internal video series called “Underneath the Banana Tree.” Every month or so, I interview employees and executives underneath the office banana tree – which was grabbed from reception as a last-minute prop (and the name stuck). These videos build employees’ understanding of our mission, vision, values, product strategy, marketing approach, and more. For example, I recently interviewed our Product Marketing Manager about a product launch while we made a pizza. We received a lot of positive feedback on the video. 

My Top 3 Tips for Engaging Customers and Employees With Video 

I have learned a lot about video in the past 90 days. Here are my top tips for creating a successful video strategy:  

1. Make a company-wide plan.

Before we brought in video, we evaluated the areas that would see the most value from it. We primarily looked at customer success, employee engagement, marketing, and business development.

If you’re getting started with video, I recommend that your strategic review includes all areas of your business could benefit from video. You might be surprised by the number of teams that want to use video—such as recruitment and product development. Be sure to include everyone in your long-term plan.

2. Identify champions.

You need more than one internal advocate when you move to a video-first culture. Different areas of your business have different goals, so it’s important to find at least one champion on each team.

We first identified champions among our leadership who saw the importance of investing in video. Once we implemented Vidyard, we identified power users who loved the technology. When you bring in a new technology—such as video—ask your power users to get others on board. 

We plan to meet with our Vidyard champions monthly to share successes, challenges, and further drive adoption within the business. Our Vidyard reps will join us quarterly to answer questions and help us succeed. 

3. Coach your team. 

Not everyone in your company will be thrilled about video. 

Some people may not like the background noise. Others may think that a quick video isn’t polished enough. Others may dislike how they look on camera. 

To overcome these challenges, you’ll need to educate your team. For example, you should explain how instant video communications boosts customer engagement. You may also need to help people feel more comfortable in front of a camera. Practice helps a lot, so consider team exercises and friendly contests.  

Achieving company-wide adoption takes time, but the results are worth it.

Boosted Email CTR by 189% 

We started using Vidyard on May 1, 2017, and have produced more than 200 videos within our first 90 days. These videos cover many areas of our business, including Customer Success, Sales, Marketing, Support, Recruitment, and Partnerships. 

Our customers and employees love interacting with us through video. In fact, we’re surprised by how much video has shot our engagement rates through the roof. Our email open rates are up by 204%, and our click-through rates increased by 189%.

Vidyard had shown us case studies and told us to expect huge lifts in our engagement rates. I thought they sounded too good to be true, but now I see that these results are real.

In particular, our customers love that they get to see their reps. Vidyard has helped us give customers a more personal, positive experience and show them the people behind our logo. Some of our customers have even downloaded the Vidyard plugin, so they could create videos to send back to us. We are thrilled with the increased engagement.  

In the future, we want to track how video is impacting our business. We’re looking at how it affects our revenue, Net Promoter Scores, and ticket resolution times.

A Good Problem to Have … 

We’re excited about our initial results and look forward to giving video an even larger role in our business. We are working with our champions and Vidyard to further drive adoption among all of our teams. 

We also want to reorganize our rapidly growing video library. If a sales rep creates a demo, we want to make it easily accessible by others. That way, we won’t need to duplicate someone’s earlier efforts. 

But having too much video content is a good problem. 

We are all bombarded with emails and phone calls. Sending someone a video, instead of a lengthy email, is a great way to stand out from your competitors.