One of the best tools in your company’s sales enablement toolkit is video. An effective sales enablement video can support the needs of both sales and marketing resulting in impressive ROI for your business.

Video can empower your salespeople in ways that slide decks, sales sheets, and brochures can’t. And a great one can even be used in prospect and client meetings.

Here are six key reasons to include video in your sales enablement strategy.

1. People want to watch videos.

As you may have read ad nauseum by now, people want to watch video. When given the option of reading text or watching a video on the same topic, 57% of executives in a recent study chose video.

It’s hard to get folks to read training materials as it is. Give your salespeople the information they need to properly sell in a format that they want to consume.

2. People process visuals much faster than text.

Video allows us to show instead of just tell. They help us communicate more (and higher quality) information faster – 60,000 times faster according to a recent study.

This is a great benefit when you’re trying to connect with a sales audience who has limited time and attention. Salespeople are busy and always on the go. Give them a tool that’s easy to digest and respectful of their time.

3. Videos are easy to watch, save, and share.

Videos can be watched anywhere and are easily shared or “left behind.” And emails with “video” in the subject line increase open rates by 19%.

In addition to educating sales teams, a great sales enablement video can also be used in client and sales meetings. An engaging video sets the mood and tone for in-person conversations, whether they happen directly after viewing the video or months later.

How many times have you had someone tell you that your product sheet really blew their socks off? Me neither. But what about for a video they watched?

4. Videos create emotion more quickly than any other medium.

While the words “sales enablement” and “emotion” don’t always seem to go together, they should when you’re trying to make an effective sales enablement video.

A sales job can often be challenging and thankless. Productive sales and marketing relationships require salespeople to feel educated, confident, and supported.

Video allows you to show things like “a day in the life” or a real story that creates an emotional connection with your salespeople first and educate second. Nobody likes to be told what to do by people who don't “get it.” Start from a place of empathy. Show your salespeople that you get them and want to help (instead of just pushing more PDFs their way).

Here’s an example of an emotional sales enablement video we made for the MassMutual Trust Company to help their brokers start product conversations with clients.

5. Sales enablement videos can repurpose existing content to be more effective.

Repurposing content is an important part of any marketing and content strategy. It can help you create additional content efficiently (and sometimes more effectively).

While sales enablement videos shouldn’t be a hodgepodge of old content, they do provide opportunities to repurpose content in a more digestible format.

If you’re finding that printed or other materials are not being used by your sales teams, look at the content that needs to be included, and strategically identify what information could be included in a video instead. Every video doesn’t have to start from scratch!

6. Sales enablement videos get sales and marketing teams on the same page.

When asked about their biggest challenge to improving performance, both sales and marketing teams cited poor communication.

The lack of alignment on things like business and marketing strategies, key initiatives, and the approach to client needs results in less than stellar business results.

Creating a sales enablement video as a joint venture is the perfect opportunity for sales and marketing to work together. A group effort allows you to understand the needs of the project, develop a video strategy designed to meet those needs, and create materials that make everyone better — and sell more!

Once you’ve created a video together you can take stock of what worked, what didn’t, and how you can make even better materials for the future.

And there you have it! Practical, strategic, and people-centric reasons why video belongs in your sales enablement toolkit.