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This week's newsletter features insights from our research on how to use video as a format to send a fundraising or sales pitch. Also, we share recent startup fundraising trends, an investors' perspective on how to raise funds without intros, data on fundraising trends by diverse founders, and early stage fundraising metrics across 64,000+ startups since 2010.

How to use video analytics to improve your sales or fundraising pitch strategy

With pitch deck reading time down, there’s never been a better time to try a video pitch.

Sales pitch metrics are down across the board. According to our December 18 Pitch Deck Interest metrics report, VCs are now spending an average of 2 minutes and 18 seconds on startup fundraising pitch decks — an all-time low that may reflect the state of sales proposals in general. 

The good news is you can recapture attention for your sales and fundraising pitch through video. Sales teams of all types have been using video proposals to close deals for years, and we now have the data to say with confidence that the approach works. According to Proposify, video proposals close deals 26% faster than written ones. 

With pitch deck reading time down, there’s never been a better time to try a video pitch. Here we’ll guide you on how to create the ideal video pitch for closing deals, and how you can use video analytics to optimize your strategy as you improve.

The anatomy of a video sales pitch 

If your lead targeting is on point and you know your audience, you’ve already completed half the work of a video sales pitch. 

The content, length, and personalization of your video sales pitch will change depending on who you’re pitching — so if you still have a lot to learn about your audience, stop reading this article and get to work on that first.

But if you feel confident about your prospect knowledge, you’re ready to put together a good video sales pitch. Here’s what it should look like:

Length

Your video sales pitch should be no longer than two minutes, but there are always exceptions to this rule.

If your prospect is almost ready to buy, you may add more details about the features of your product or service to close the sale. If your prospect isn’t familiar with your company, you’ll want to keep your sales pitch short and sweet — think, “How do I trigger a conversation?” more than, “How do I give them all the details they need?”

• Tip: If you want to add length, add a customer testimonial. The change of speakers will hold the viewer’s attention for a (slightly) longer amount of time, and testimonials add credibility to your pitch.

Content

Your video sales pitch will vary depending on use case, but at its foundation it should contain three things:

• A personable hook: Demonstrate you know something specific about your prospect’s needs. Be equally as specific when explaining how you’ll address them.
• Clear benefits: Your prospect should walk away from the video pitch knowing exactly how your product solves a pressing issue for them.
• A call to action: Your prospect should know exactly what you would like them to do after watching the video pitch, whether it’s to book a meeting or ingest more material.

Personalization

For best results, personalize your video pitch for every prospect.

Sure, it may sound like more work to record a separate video for every prospect, but think of it this way: When you address one person, you can tighten your pitch to what speaks to them, rather than recording something longer that addresses general needs.

Quick tips for personalization:

1. Use the prospect’s name right away.
2. Mention a problem the prospect has publicly talked about online.
3. Mention a mutual connection that shows you’re not a stranger.   

Video analytics: Which ones matter and how to use them

Now that you know what a good video sales pitch looks like, we’ll walk you through using video analytics to improve and eventually perfect your pitches.

Heads up: DocSend video analytics can help you craft the perfect video sales pitch. Here we’ll break down which ones we’ve seen matter the most, how to interpret them, and how to switch up your strategy based on the results.

User information

If you’re not sending personalized video pitches for whatever reason — resources, testing, etc. — user analytics are a good proxy for knowing your viewers. User analytics include:

• Location
• Email address
• Device and operating system

Tip: If you’re seeing more viewers from a certain location, create a separate video sales pitch for that market.

Playback time percentage 

Playback time percentage shows how far viewers are making it through your pitch. If your playback time percentage is high, your video length is fine,  but if it’s low you’ll need to tighten your pitch and release a shorter version.

• Tip: Test 30, 60, and 90 second versions and see whether or not there’s a large difference in playback time percentage between the three. You may not need to sacrifice as much on time as you think!

Playback details 

Playback details are what happens when someone actually views a video, like pauses, rewinds, and skipped sections of content. Here are some ways to assess playback details to improve future versions of your sales pitch:

• Skipping: Skipping is self-explanatory — these are parts of your video viewers are skipping over or scrubbing through to get to other parts. If you start to notice a pattern of skipping with a particular section, that’s your cue to rework that content. 
• Rewinding: If prospects are rewatching certain parts of your video, it’s a sign they’re interested in what you’re saying — or that you may need to expand and clarify some points.
• Backgrounding: Video views are one thing, but they may not indicate whether or not someone actually watched your video. Backgrounding is a great video engagement metric for assessing whether you’ve truly captured someone’s attention. If you notice a lot of backgrounding while your pitch is playing, you may not have a closer on your hands just yet.

Pitch Deck Interest Metrics Update

Founder and investor activity both ticked upwards last week, although levels still lag behind 2022’s hot pace. VC's pitch deck interactions rose by 7.36%, founder pitch decks sent are up 4.35%, and VC time reading these pitch decks had no change.

Here's the full analysis of last week's activity.

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Trends From Analyzing Every Pre-Seed & Seed Round Since 2010

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