Strategic Video Marketing with Jillian Montrello from VideoRequest

I am Jennifer Karpis-Romain , the Executive Director at the Transportation Marketing and Sales Association , which is a trade nonprofit educating and connecting marketing and sales professionals in transportation and logistics , and today on the show I have Jillian Montrello , vp of business development , at Video Request . How are you doing ?

They'll request a video from someone else and then that person will submit in a video testimonial . Folks use us for sales and prospecting videos , which we'll definitely get into during this interview . Really , any type of video , any sort of marketing videos , reels , things like that that you're going to share out to social media .

That's really what our tool is for , and it's super user-friendly . We have a ton of different AI features as well . We have a chat , gpt integration . We actually just added the ability to use your voice as an AI voice font and create avatars through AI so that you can create videos without even being on video or recording it yourself .

So some pretty cool stuff coming on our end and , yeah , basically an all inclusive video software solution .

And one thing I always like about your platform is that there's a teleprompter in there so you can like type what you're thinking about and be looking at the screen at the same time , which is helpful , because sometimes you know what you want to say but you don't want to be looking down or whatever , and so it's really helpful .

, for sure . And how are transportation and logistics companies specifically currently using video requests in their day-to-day operations ?

So if you're sending a video in an email , you can customize the thumbnail maybe with your prospect or customer's name or a little bit about them , just to have that additional personalization piece . And then it does increase click rates as well .

So if someone sees their name , if they see their company name or something like that on a video that they're getting through an email , they're definitely more likely to click into it . So I would say that's a huge use case in sales is the custom videos to prospects .

Additionally , customer service or account managers are using us at transportation companies to check in with their customers and to do and schedule quarterly business reviews and just to check in with them on , you know , an annual or a quarterly basis . Maybe it's like a holiday video saying we wish you a happy holiday , or maybe it's a more specific check-in .

And the last thing I would say that transportation and logistics clients are using us for is those customer testimonials . So sending out a link to a customer anytime , anywhere , and having them have the ability to click on that link , not have to download anything , and easily create a testimonial video , you know , in five minutes or less .

So it's really an invaluable tool in terms of collecting those testimonials . Then you get it back into your account and you can edit it and distribute it out . So I would say those three pieces are the main use cases for transportation customers .

I know you mentioned sales , but is there anything really specific sales , marketing , internal communications ? Maybe a specific example of successful

video ?

In terms of specifics , one of our customers who's a member of TMSA TCW . They have used us for a couple of years now and they have so many success stories Really re-engaging customers that maybe have fallen off or folks that they weren't sure if they were going to re-sign their contract with them .

Being able to re-engage those folks has been a huge use case for TCW . And they've also used us to send out those holiday greetings as well .

So , taking a look at some of the things that they've done and had success with , their account managers are sending out , like you know , a Merry Christmas , you know Happy Holidays , kind of greeting and I think it's been really effective just to kind of build that relationship further with their customer base and I think it just helps the customers just to see them

as people too .

You know , it just helps to deepen the relationships and it's not so transactional , it's really , you know , a deep relationship where they're saying hi with a picture of their family or something like that and saying happy holidays , and that can be really impactful in terms of , like , customer retention , I think that's so important because it is about relationship

building .

people are more inclined to say , oh , that person , you know , I really trust what they're saying . It's not like a highly produced video .

So I definitely think it's interesting to see how the content strategy for a lot of companies has shifted towards user generated content , just because it is a little bit more of that connection , like you were saying , and like seeing that they're real people , so it's a little bit more trustworthy .

So if we don't have the capacity to pick up the phone and just call somebody like , can we do a video , or do something quick , or , yeah , get that that quick testimonial , those kinds of things , they can go really far . So I think that's awesome . Yeah , absolutely .

And if somebody isn't using video yet , um , and they're just they're a little nervous because video seems like more of a commitment , I think , than sending an email .

So I feel like that's a lot like I was even thinking , thinking like I'm not great with the wheels and like the those types of things on the internet , and like I was thinking like I should be better at them , but sometimes it's hard to get started .

So what are some of the easiest and most effective ways a company can start using if they aren't , as um , familiar with how to do it or haven't been using it ?

I think it's always intimidating when you're first starting , especially with video , because you might not want to watch back a video of yourself and there's a lot that comes with it . Right , you might be having a bad hair day and so you might be hesitant to do video for a million different reasons .

I think the people that I've seen that we've worked with having success with video after not using it before is kind of just using a software . Obviously , that helps them . So if they have access to something that could help them more easily create videos , edit videos , that's number one .

But I think , honestly , just biting the bullet and getting started , I think if you are in sales and you want to start using video , pick out your top five or 10 prospects and just take a couple hours to focus on creating custom videos for them , and I think knowing that it doesn't have to be perfect is really important as well . We are all human .

We do all say um and ah , and you don't always have to sound so perfect like a robot all the time . A video that is more just you and how you are , so I think that that is a great thing to remember too .

So , yeah , I think , just like picking out your top prospects or , if you're account management , picking out your top customers and just taking the time to start I think is really the best way to get started is just kind of jumping into it and having a video software that can help you .

And also it can be really helpful to have like select dates , days of the week , to do video . So something that I like to do is I'll be like okay , these days I'm going to record videos , the other days I'm not , so that I don't feel like pressure to be on video every single day .

You want to be camera ready if you're going on camera . And I definitely know I know the days that I do these interviews and I didn't do my hair and it like I always laugh . I feel like like my hair is like a pre-commercial for hair straighteners and stuff , but I mean I love it .

It's big and curly , but I can always like , oh , but so I think that's really good . Advice is like , okay , so you don't want to be camera ready every day , so put these into like what is your big meeting day ? So try to squeeze some time in , or something like that .

And I also like how you said that we are human , because that's definitely something I try to do . When people come on this podcast before , it's really interesting because I interview we're sales marketing people . So a lot of times the sales people , they're ready to go , they're ready to do these interviews .

But I've learned that the marketing people a lot of times it's the first time they're being interviewed like they're used to pushing their sales people out . They're used to pushing their leaders out . No one is necessarily asking them to come on a podcast and talk so they get a little bit more nervous .

But we are all humans , we are all going to say something real and if you do talk like a robot , people aren't going to be as engaged with you . So it's a really solid advice .

That was something that we saw in the results that people are not asking their networks , their partners , their customers , to speak on behalf of them , which is such a miss Because , like you said earlier , people trust what other people are saying . They trust real people , and so what is the best way to ask a customer or a partner for a testimonial

?

But I would say the best way to go about asking is to first pick a handful of customers that you have a really good relationship with and that you know . You know really like working with you because you want it to be a great testimonial , right .

So I would say , pick a handful of customers that you have a great relationship with and then , I think in your quarterly business review or just the next time you speak with them , I would say we're so happy to hear all of your positive feedback about our company . We would be honored if you would potentially do a video testimonial for us . It's very simple .

Here's the link . You can easily , uh , create a teleprompter script , um , kind of emphasizing how simple it is and emphasizing to them that it doesn't need to be perfect .

So kind of going back on what we were saying before too , like they need to know too that it doesn't have to be this perfectly scripted , you know thing um , but another way that you can do it too is you could offer a gift card or some sort of incentive to get a testimonial as well .

But I find that a lot of people that really like working with you they'll just do it and if they're comfortable with it , they'll go ahead and do it . If they're not , they'll ask a colleague to do it .

So I definitely think just finding those key clients that you do have a great relationship with and asking them when the time is right and more of like you know , an in-person kind of ask or through Zoom or whatever , versus just shooting a link out , although it does work in some cases . But yeah , I would say making it a more personalized ask .

But yeah , I would say making it a more personalized ask .

emails of all time and it's like what keeps me going Because it does . You know , these shows we have a very small staff , so like putting them on takes a lot out of us and so , but those emails they're so incredible and I sit in them and I read them , but those are the things that I'm like , hey , do you think that you could say that on camera ?

Or like , can we use that ? And so we've used like text testimonials too and stuff , and or ask people like would you mind doing that in a video testimonial ? That's kind of my strategy for that kind of stuff .

If someone's coming to me and telling me what my business does for them in such an impactful way and they're saying it so profoundly to me , can you say that to other people ? And so , and most of the time they do say yes , they're like , of course , because if they care enough to tell you , well , most of the time care enough .

And of course , I think there's when you get into something more like formal , like a case study there's a little bit more hesitation , because then there's like stats and stuff that they don't necessarily want to share , even though some still will .

But if it's just a testimonial , they're just saying like this is how it helped , or this is how great it is , or I loved working with this person . People are almost always willing to do that , especially if they're reaching out to you to tell you .

So if you're sending it out to a lot of people and you want to make sure you have all of their information , you can do name , email address , phone number , company name . You can do custom fields . So if you have any questions that you need to ask the folks that are recording a video for you , you can put in a custom field on that video request link .

You can also put in a teleprompter script for them . So if they are super hesitant , they don't know what to say , you can always pop in a teleprompter script for them ahead of time . So that's always an option as well . But , yeah , we make it super easy .

You also , on video request , you can have the person check off a consent checkbox that they consent to the video being shared .

You can put your release statement right in there so that you have all your bases covered and you don't have to be nervous about sharing out a video that you get in so tons of different options and ways to make sure that the videos that our customers are getting are what they want .

So that has been really helpful when I've used the platform in the past too , because then you're like , okay , no , I want one minute . So it makes it easier to have , especially in those compilation videos that people are running at the same time , so you don't have like one person talking a super long time and another person just doing some .

So I think that's great too . Yes , that helps so much . I want to talk more like we kind of talked with that stuff with the marketing , the testimonials , but in terms of sales , people are always trying to stand out from the crowd

. You know , reach through in a saturated market . How can sales teams incorporate video in their outreach strategies to really see success ?

You can put your prospect's name in and then you just copy paste it it right into the email and it appears as a thumbnail right in the email . So you can do a GIF thumbnail . You can do a static thumbnail , but it appears as if it's embedded in the email , which I definitely think helps click rates as well .

We don't actually embed it in the email because that might cause it to go to spam , so it is linked out , but the appearance of it in your email is that it's embedded . So I think creating a quick video like that , popping it into an email , it could take two minutes or less and it really really helps improve response rates from cold prospects .

Additionally , I think after a meeting , sending a meeting recap video . Thank you so much for meeting with me . These are the things that we discussed and these are the next steps . I look forward to , you know , speaking with you on X date . Let me know if you have any questions .

Those types of videos are very impactful as well and I think those go a long way again in building that trust and in building that relationship so that hopefully you know this person becomes your client . Additionally , just like follow-up videos , if you haven't heard back from someone , that can definitely trigger a response .

If they see like oh shoot , she recorded me a great video , I feel bad I haven't responded . And then I mentioned the account management videos . Before that a lot of our customers do like check-ins , holiday well wishes , et cetera .

So lots of different ways I would say for sales , specifically like new business , the prospecting videos and the post-meeting recap videos definitely , I think , move the needle .

Then I mean probably , but that it would help really build trust with the prospects , shorten the sales cycle , because they don't have to dig through their emails and figure out what the last thing we talked about was . But you're right there for them .

Or maybe you know , if you are giving like a full recap of the meeting and you know showing them different things through the video , they could easily just forward that on to different colleagues .

So that can definitely shorten the sales cycle and it can just show that you're a customer centric business and so that can definitely help move the needle and shorten the sales cycle as well .

But like , yeah , they can hear directly from you in your voice , to your , your passion and um , get all like the quick hits of what you talked about , but from from your own voice , which could be really helpful too , because I know sometimes things can get lost in translation with that , and so if you're sending that , I think that's great .

that inflection and the highlights .

And I think sometimes with social media and marketing , it's like we might not have things to post about every single day , right , but having short videos ready to go that , like , your staff helps out with that maybe some of those are testimonials , et cetera those can really help to to fill the need of posting on social media .

You know , every day , every other day , whatever it might be .

So we just started the demo track this year , so this is a brand new thing that we've been doing , and it actually came from a conversation with you guys last year , because you had said , hey , we did the thought leadership .

We were just telling people how to use video , but they kept asking us how to actually use our platform and we were trying to be like good , like thought leaders , and not be just showing our platform . What do we do ? And I'm like that's a really , really good point .

We need to give a space for our technology providers to really be able to show how to use their platform . So what are you ?

Um , and yeah , we didn't feel like we could show them cause , you know , we didn't want to be too salesy , but I'm really excited this year to show everyone our platform and I'm going to , you know , go through some stats and how video can help .

But our platform really is so awesome , so easy to use and I think once people see it , it really resonates with how they could use it . And I love doing demos because I'm always getting comments from whoever I'm doing the demo to , and they're like oh , I could use it in this way and it's something I had never even thought of before .

So we're always like jotting down on our shared Google sheet like , oh , this person said they would use it this way , like this is such a cool use case to remember , like different use cases to bring up . So I love doing a demo and I'm really excited to show everyone else .

I mean I think you nailed it on the head before and you're like just do it , but you know , is there any like Any advice that you have besides that ? Because I know people just get so hesitant to jump in the game .

With our team , we definitely take a lot of steps to make sure that people feel comfortable using video . We do an hour long training , we help them get started . We help them build projects out in our software to start using video . So we definitely take the time to help and the feeling of overwhelm will not last long .

Once you get going and using our software , you definitely get the hang of it super quickly and it is so simple . So I would say , yeah again , jumping in , but also finding a tool that works for you and finding a team of folks that will help you kind of get over the initial hump .

making that as a point of the alignment between those departments , I think is really that's so true .

that takes us to the last question that I ask everyone that comes on the show , and if that's , if you could go back and advise a younger Jillian anything and this could be personally or professionally what would you go back to and what would you tell ?

And everything works out for a reason , whether it's like a career setback or even a career high , everything kind of neutralizes right and it all just ends up working out and things go the way that they were meant to . So I would say , yeah , just give yourself peace of mind and understand that things are unfolding the way that they should .

There's been different answers to it , but it's been like trust myself more , care about my own opinion , speak up more , take more naps and like trust the process , really like those are the core components everyone . So it's like basically like relapse and care about yourself nervous society always anxious about something .

Hopefully they take that to heart but , thank you so much for coming on the show and thank you for coming to Elevate , which is just a few weeks away , and we will see everybody hopefully in Austin . And thank you for coming in .