VideoemailAttracting new customers is in general quite challenging for any business and particularly exhausting for SMEs. Exhibition booths and business visits are for most of them out of the question due to the high expenses, therefore acquisitions are often done via post, telephone and email. But those who want to generate new orders and stand out of the crowd must be innovative today.

Emails with videos or voice messages offer creative solutions for acquiring new customers through the Internet.

Fujitsu, for instance just made use of a new video presentation detailing the company's industry-leading technologies, products and processes, from ASIC platforms and Custom SoCs, to IP and design services. The portfolio features high-speed ADCs and DACs for optical networking, high-speed interfaces, ARM™ CPU sub-systems, multimedia codec and encryption engines and many other design IPs. The leading edge IP enables customers to create next-generation products and get them to market quickly and present the company's portfolio in a better and more convenient way via video.

Domino's Pizza on the other hand demonstrates how to use advanced technology by launching voice ordering for its iPhone and Android apps. Created in partnership with Nuance, this new offer redefines technology convenience and puts Domino's at the forefront of an intuitive ordering method that is a true first within both traditional and e-commerce retail.

Domino's new voice ordering platform, powered by Nuance's Nina Mobile, is an intelligent virtual assistant that leverages speech recognition, speech synthesis and natural language understanding technologies. Together, the platform delivers a human-like, conversational customer service experience that allows users to speak an order and quickly add items to their cart and we will see how fast customers will become familiar with the new ordering feature. It’s a fact that convenience is what translates to increased sales and customer satisfaction.

"There will be a day when typing on keyboards or with thumbs on mobile devices will come to a close; we want to be the ones who continue to advance the technology experience – hand-in-hand with our customers," said Patrick Doyle, Domino's Pizza president and CEO. "Our mobile app users who are a part of this launch are truly helping set the foundation for the innovations of today, that will soon enough become the standards of tomorrow."

Video emails and voice messages don’t get lost so easily in the text flood

The fact that emails are free of charge and can easily be sent in bulk is of course tempting but also encourages inconsiderate actions. Especially freelancers and SMEs often send standardized messages as a commodity, in the hope that it leads to new business, but mostly without success. Other entrepreneurs make the mistake to invest a lot of time and effort into their cover letters just to be very frustrated later about the meager response.

The problem is that the email inboxes of the company are overflowing and the internet floods its users with a gigantic tidal wave of text and information. Whoever wants to stand out from this mass, can revert to video emails or voice messages, because they offer several advantages over conventional acquisitions:

Lasting images and haunting words: Texts are often skimmed over and aren’t always interpreted as the writer intends it. A video, however, is linking texts with images and emotions - and the more positive images and emotions a message evokes in the viewer, the more they raise awareness and the better they will be remembered.

Or just consider how often you get emails with videos compared to text messages? Video emails and voice messages pique the recipient’s curiosity, since they are not commonplace, yet. And since it’s not even necessary to read yourself, but the information gets delivered in picture and sound, the probability that the "play" button gets pressed and your performance is listened to and watched increases enormously.

Videos speak a thousand words and add value: By using video emails you can present yourself as a personality and give the company a face as clients get addressed on multiple sensory channels. You decide in what tone the words are transported and how you present yourself and your business.

For instance, show the audience around the production halls, your employees at work, or explain especially the benefits the recipients get from your product or service. In addition, you have the option to include graphics and effects in a video to present hard facts in a catchy way. Of course, high-quality brochures and smartly designed cover letters for customer acquisition aren’t obsolete, but video emails and voice messages usefully complement these methods.

By Daniela La Marca