Company’s new Info Graphic reveals best practices in
building and emailing presentation reels.

Laguna Niguel, Calif.—Creative
companies seeking to boost sales may find that the solution lies in the subject
lines of their emails.

According to new analytic research conducted by Simian, the
global leader in creative workflow and media management solutions, companies
that email video and presentation reels to prospective clients are likely to
have those emails opened when the subject lines are between 21 and 30 characters
long. Emails with subject lines that are longer or shorter than that are apt to
be ignored or deleted.

For companies
in the advertising, film, television and new media industries the emailing of
presentation reels is a key part of their sales efforts, but ensuring that
those emails are opened and the reels viewed can be tricky. To learn what
companies can do to make their sales outreach more effective, Simian studied
anonymous analytic data from thousands of reels compiled by creative companies
worldwide. It then packaged the results into an Info
Graphic that serves as a primer for best practices in sales and marketing.

“There is a science to everything,” says Simian COO Brian
Atton. “Even with something as simple as emailing a reel, it pays to know what
has been proven to work…and what has not.”

Simian’s research turned up some surprising results. Fully
90 percent of all emails containing reels are opened (although not necessarily
viewed). The peak day and time for viewing reels is Wednesday between 5:00 and
9:00 a.m. While the average runtime for a reel is 7.7 minutes, the average time
a recipient spends watching a reel is just under five.

Behind all the numbers, Atton sees insights that companies
can use to up their game. “On average, 60 percent of all videos are viewed
while just 18 percent are viewed again,” Atton observes. “That shows how
important it is to ensure that what you send is relevant to the recipient. If you
are pitching an agency that is known for automotive advertising, don’t send
them health care spots. You may have a very cool reel, but if it doesn’t relate
to the project you’re bidding on, it’s going to end up in the forgotten zone.”

As with other aspects of running a successful business, the
details are important. Attaching an effective subject line to an email can make
the difference in a sale. “The subject line needs to grab attention, like any
good ad,” Atton explains. “21 to 30 characters is the sweet spot. It’s concise
and to the point. If it’s less than that, it’s not descriptive enough. Too much
and it becomes gibberish and people won’t take the time. On the other hand, if
you have an interesting, descriptive title, your email is going to be opened.”

Simian’s ever-evolving media management platform is used by
creative companies worldwide to manage their media assets, build reels, manage
sales programs and organize projects. The company is also the industry leader
in providing its clients with analytic tools that they can use to gauge the
effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Simian users have access to data that
can tell them if reels have been received, opened, viewed, reviewed and
forwarded. Some of the newest features can be used to show if small segments of
individual videos have received special attention.

Atton says that Simian plans to conduct additional research
in order to help its clients further refine their sales strategies. “We want to
develop protocols for best practices and provide actionable data to our users
on an ongoing basis,” he says. “We want to provide people with the data they
need to create better reels and marketing plans that will ultimately, lead to
more jobs.”

About
Simian

Simian™ takes the business of managing digital media to the
next level with an ever-evoloving workflow and ideation platform designed by
industry leaders for industry leaders. Simian’s streamlined, yet highly
flexible platform has set the industry standard for online media sharing and
workflow solutions for creative companies.