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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.

For more information: www.gosimian.com