RevBoss’ing: Best Tactics to Increase Lead Gen for Ecommerce Video Companies

Note from the editor — we used to do a lot of cold email reviews and we got a lot of positive feedback on the content. We decided to revisit the idea, but instead review our stuff.
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Here’s how to bounce back when economic struggles force your hand. We helped a client focused on marketing and ecommerce video production boost their lead generation amidst a pandemic.

Overview:

Our client, Mirror of Erised, not only generated 9-10 leads 3 weeks in row in the fall of 2019, they also closed over 5 of those leads during our year long partnership. We love to see a client succeed and thrive, but the truly special part of what we do is helping our clients weather any storm. With 163 total leads despite taking a temporary break from the campaign, it’s easy to see how perseverance and trust builds great business.

Here is a rundown of our tactics:

• Target Company: B2C, luxury goods, home furnishing, ecommerce/online store (revenue is $3 mil+)
• Target Prospect:  Ecomm managers and directors, CMO, C Suite, Digital marketing managers and VPs, Founder titles
• Messaging Strategy: Using an ecommerce and founder’s story angle (including targeting companies who use ecommerce tech like Shopify, Magento, Klayvio, etc.) to portray the usefulness of product videos for better marketing, SEO, and brand awareness.

Flow #1 — Original Founder’s Story

Subject: video at [company name]

I’m [Rep], nice to meet you.  I lead Mirror of Erised, we do product videos for e-commerce brands like Disney, Fruit of the Loom, BabyTrend, and 100s more — [click here].

I started MOE after 10+ years working in e-commerce marketing/tech.  The best performing brands I worked with integrated video deeply into the site, so my partner and I started the agency to focus 100% on visual commerce.

Do you have a few minutes for a call?

No sales pitch — just want to get on your radar for any video projects you have coming down the pike.

What We Learned:

Here are our numbers pre-COVID: 

— Opens: 3325 (48.28% open rate)
— Replies: 497 (7.22% reply rate)
— Leads: 136 (1.97% lead rate)

Let’s be honest, we soak up these moments. But even a well-running outbound email campaign was affected by the economic reality the world faced with the onset of COVID-19 — a temporary pause on the campaign was necessary.

• Their lead rate was healthy (averaging about 3-5 leads a week) up until the last few weeks before the team at Mirror of Erised decided to delay sending. The noticeable and consistent drop in leads per week (averaging out at 0-2 leads a week), as well as MOE’s own clients experiencing global manufacturing issues, forced us all to reevaluate our strategy. This client in particular was the first to mention the impact of COVID.
• Prospecting and messaging were clearly working, but to reflect our client’s new marketing pool after the initial shock of the pandemic, we needed to really focus ecommerce technologies/platforms in our messaging and targeting — specifically Shopify.
• The “anti-sales” approach to the messaging copy was well-received, and would only need minor tweaking to express that the ecommerce industry would indeed bounce back. With our client’s credibility as a talking point (15 years in the business), mentioning how useful product videos are to boost marketing efforts and brand awareness during this time would prove extremely valuable.

What We Did:

First step: new messaging copy. Our client’s rep and leader reassured us that the ecommerce industry would certainly rebound. In order to reassure the prospects we were sending to after the pause, we emphasized this veteran’s advice as a crucial credibility point.

This meant taking a proven foundation in our outbound email strategy and making it that much better by emphasizing the stability that the ecommerce industry showed as the world adjusted. Highlighting the rep’s experience and citing the big brands that they have worked with in the past further showed how sturdy and trustworthy Mirror of Erised has consistently been. 

Mentioning outright that the economy had struggled was important to our client, as honesty and relationship building are priorities to us both. As for our prospecting efforts, we needed to go after the right people, those using ecommerce technologies like Shopify and Klaviyo, during a time of remote working. 

With slight targeting edits and a seasoned leader at the helm, we were ready to restart the campaign and try a new flow.

Flow #2 — Seasoned Founder + Shopify

Subject: video at [company name]

I’m [Rep], nice to meet you. I lead Mirror of Erised, we create product videos for eCommerce brands like Disney, Fruit of the Loom, BabyTrend, and 100s more — [click here].

As an industry veteran, I found that the best performing brands I worked with integrated video deeply into their eCommerce channels, so my partner and I started MOE to focus 100% on visual commerce. 

I know it’s a challenging time in the world right now and online sellers are feeling the economic impacts of Covid-19, but the silver lining is that eCommerce is going to rebound quickly as shoppers are purchasing online more than ever.

I’d love to chat to see if we can help [prospect’s company]. Do you have a few minutes for a call? 

No sales pitch — just want to get on your radar for any video projects you have coming down the pike.

The Numbers:

Seeing the stats reflect pre-pandemic rates has been a relief and a testament to the resiliency we all share as a team. 

The numbers speak for themselves, but what speaks volumes is the relationship and trust we have built with Mirror of Erised, as well as the willingness of their leader to refer our services to other people in his network. We have been able to gain clients from our own clients by simply doing what we do best, the RevBoss’ing way.

We learned a great deal from this client and in return, we generated a substantial amount of leads and meetings that led to closed deals with companies like Gerber and DrVita. Some reassurance, trust, and faith in what good business can bring has gone such a long way, and we can’t wait to see what is in store for MOE next.