Drift, which has quickly established itself as a leader in the chatbot space, is upping the ante by integrating video and chat.  Users will be able to share and record videos via a Chrome extension or mobile app.  Recorded videos can then be dropped into emails and sent to customers or prospects.

Videos are “private and secure” with single sign-on functionality from Okta, OneLogin, and Microsoft Azure.  Users can restrict viewing to a specific email or email list and “everyone else will have to request permission, just like you would with a Google Doc.”

Drift suggests three sales use cases for video: as a conversation starter, as a second chance to refine a message after a call, and as a group selling tool (team share).

Drift Video provides real-time desktop and mobile notifications when viewed.  Users can immediately start a conversation while somebody is viewing their video “so you can reach out and say hello or follow-up at the perfect time.”

It is the immediate notification element which Drift claims to be its product differentiation.

“There are a few good software products out there that make it easy to capture and share videos.  But we took a look around the market and noticed one big thing missing: none of those products create a better buying experience because they don’t actually help you start conversations with potential customers.  You still have to make a video, send an email, and hope to get a response.  But with Drift Video, you can get a notification in real-time while someone is watching your video and then hop right in and say hello.”

Drift Website

“Since starting Drift, we’ve said there are two mega-trends that would shape the future of B2B sales and marketing: messaging and video,” said CEO David Cancel.  “Over the last few years we’ve built an industry-leading messaging platform used by over 150,000 businesses, and now we’re expanding our Conversational Marketing platform by adding video.”

Video is driving global IP demand.  According to Cisco, one million minutes of video will be crossing the Internet every second by 2020 and 82% of all Internet traffic will be video by 2021.

Drift video is available today as part of the Drift offering.  There is no surcharge for video functionality for up to ten videos per month with a chat option embedded into the video.  For $12 per seat per month or $120 per annum, reps are provided with a Pro license which includes unlimited HD quality video sharing and storage.  Only the Pro version restricts video sharing.

Future features include Team Analytics, Book Meetings from Video, and integrations with Salesforce, Pardot, and Marketo.

“We’ve spent the last year working on Drift Video and it was one of the main reasons for raising our Series C in April 2018,” stated Cancel.  “In looking at the market over that time, we saw that while there are many products that make it easy to create and share videos, none of them were built to help to start conversations and create a better buying experience.  After a private beta with some great early customers, that’s what we’re bringing to market today with Drift Video.”

Drift has integrated video in its own sales process with 50% of Drift revenue “influenced by video in the selling process.”

“Video is the greatest conversation starter in B2B buying,” said Alexa Nguyen in a Drift video.  “In a world of faceless phone calls and emails, video has helped us build trust, and video has helped us close more deals.”

Video is another way for salespeople to engage with their prospects outside of the norm.  Prospects are constantly bombarded with emails and phone calls asking for their attention.  But it’s hard to cut through that noise because they don’t trust easily.  In order to build that trust, you need to build a personal connection.  And all personal connections start with a conversation.  Video allows people to be personal, show that they’re human, and help build that connection that might be lost through text in an email. 

Lacey Berrien, Drift’s PR Senior Manager

According to research from Forrester and Boston Consulting Group, 75% of B2B transactions have little or no sales interaction.  Thus, video offers a valuable channel through which sales reps can avoid being disintermediated.  However, sales reps could push this functionality too far.  While chat functionality sounds like the next step for video, reps should be careful not to step over the line from personable to creepy. 

When prospects view an email, most understand that the act of opening an email triggers a notification to the sender, but they don’t expect that the viewing of a video will be treated as a real-time permission for a call or chat.  Immediately reaching out to customers and prospects may be viewed as a non-permissioned extension of an asynchronous communication into synchronous.  Drift does not discuss GDPR in the announcement, but this seems to cross the boundary into non-permissioned communications and the release of personally identifiable information (“John@B2BProspect.com is viewing your video.  Call immediately”).  The video privacy permissions are focused on the seller (ensuring they aren’t shared with others), but there does not seem to be any functionality to limit the “call me back” immediacy of the service.  If anything, the immediate messaging will drive down the open rate of all embedded video and kill its efficacy.

When I raised this concern to Drift, they offered a best practice to address this issue.  Lacey Berrien, Drift’s PR Senior Manager, suggested that sales reps could either wait for the contact to initiate the chat or use a message such as “Thanks for watching my video!  I’m here if you have any questions.”  This approach makes sense.  By utilizing a generic message that sounds automated, it feels less invasive.  This may be a situation where a generic message may be welcome as it serves as an invitation to chat while a personalized message may be off-putting.

The user can take one of two roads — proactively engage with the video viewer while they’re watching via the chat functionality OR not engage at all and allow the video viewer to chat with them at their own discretion…Other customers have gone the route of not messaging and just offering the viewer another channel to engage with them outside of email or a phone call.  Buyers have all of the power.  And the ultimate goal is to meet them where they are…and to always be available to help.

Lacey Berrien, Drift’s PR Senior Manager

There appears to be a Gresham’s Law of MarTech (“Bad money drives out good”); an effective channel or marketing tool quickly becomes overused or misused, resulting in lowered efficacy.  Embedded video could quickly convert a golden channel into chaff through overuse and perceived creepiness.  What makes embedded video so compelling today is its ability to personalize and deliver a relevant message on a 1:1 basis.  If embedded video overwhelms prospects or is seen as inviting immediate, unwanted contact, it will kill the golden goose.  A softer touch is likely the best practice.  If viewers maintain the control and opt into contact, then it will enhance the value of a video by providing a Call to Action that the prospect controls.