Video emails prove more effective than text-based emails, with video templates achieving 67% engagement, compared to just 43% for text.

At SayNine, we conducted an innovative neuromarketing experiment aimed at uncovering the secret behind the answer rate increase from 1% to 10% in our cold sales outreach. This may later be used for link building outreach as well, given the scale in results.

The Tools We Used

We used the following tools for the experiment. 

• EEG (Electroencephalography): We used this tool to measure brain activity and track emotions like focus, excitement, stress, and relaxation. 
• Eye Tracking: This tool revealed where exactly our respondents were looking. Did they focus on the subject line, the intro, or the video? We could track it all in real-time.
• Emotiv EPOC X: This headset measured levels of engagement, relaxation, excitement, and focus during the experiment, giving us detailed emotional responses.

Who Were Our Respondents?

We wanted our experiment to be as relevant as possible, so we chose ten decision-makers from IT companies (or businesses related somehow to IT) to match our ideal persona. 

In other words, these were the exact people who would typically receive our cold outreach emails, so their feedback provided the most accurate and valuable insights.

The Process: How We Ran the Experiment

The experiment tested three different email templates:

• A text-based email: Just plain text, no visuals. 
• An email with a bad Loom video of us discussing the participant’s website issues using Ahrefs, potential improvements, and our solutions. The video was bad in terms of quality and information.
• An email with a good-quality Loom video, where we did the same—analyzing their website with Ahrefs and suggesting improvements. The information here was more and much better. 

Emails were personalized for each participant, and the Loom videos provided insights into the company’s website metrics.

Here’s What We’ve Found

After testing the different email templates, here’s what we learned.

• The eye tracker showed that participants focused mostly on our faces which appeared in the video and their website landing pages when watching Loom videos․ Stress and interest levels were similar in both the text-based and Loom video emails.
• Excitement and engagement were higher in the Loom video emails, while the text-based emails had lower levels of both.

The self-reported data backed this up, with 70% of participants saying the first video template was the most engaging. It’s clear that visuals make a big impact!

Clarity: A Split Decision

When it came to clarity, the results were a bit more mixed. The second video template (with good quality) had a split preference, with half of the participants favoring it over the first video template.

Interestingly, the text-based email came in last, with 0% of participants choosing it for clarity. This highlights the importance of not just having video, but ensuring it’s of good quality and easy to understand.

Likelihood to Respond: Mixed Feedback

As for the likelihood of responding, the second video template came out on top, with 40% of participants saying they were more likely to respond to it, followed by the first video template at 50%. 

The text-based email had a lower response rate at just 10%, which proves that while text-based emails might have a place, video content is key to capturing interest.

EEG Dynamics: Real-Time Insights

Looking at the EEG dynamics, it becomes obvious that the second video template consistently outperforms the others in areas like engagement, excitement, and interest. The excitement levels were particularly high throughout the video email, showing that participants were not only paying attention but actively engaged.

The dynamic graphs further showed that the second video template kept participants’ interest levels high, with steady engagement scores throughout the video.

In contrast, the text-based email showed fluctuating engagement levels, with a clear drop in excitement and interest.

The “Ah-Ha!” Insights

“These findings confirm that answer rates increase when engagement and excitement levels increase,” said Georgi Mamajanyan, CEO at SayNine.

By applying insights from neuromarketing, SayNine is refining its cold outreach strategy, focusing on elements that generate higher engagement and better results.